You Are a Cat! (Pick-A-Plot!) (Paperback) - Common

Pick-a-Plot! #1

by Sherwin Tjia

Meow, mewl and maul, only you can do it all. The original catventure book where you make the choices that pick the plot. You will need all nine lives to navigate the back alleys and dysfunctional family that takes you in. You are a cat!

Genres: Choose Your Own Adventure, Fiction, Cats, Graphic Novels, Gamebooks, Humor

200 pages, Unknown Binding

First published October 21, 2011

Reviews

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly fun - and frankly odd - venture into the genre of interactive fiction, in this case being a story which places you in the paws of a furry feline. What makes this so unexpectedly appealing, though, is how blithely it plays the conceit completely straight; this is not, after all, a book in which you play a cat in the throes of an action adventure (aside from moments when you might be on the run from malicious dogs or foul-mannered people). Instead, this is a book where you decide whether to stroll the neighborhood or take a nap indoors; whether to fight with an alley cat or turn tail and flee; whether to purr when your owner pets you, or sit in impassive, stony silence.

And though this sounds like a hilarious gimmick, it also sounds fairly one-note. Thankfully, however, it's not! The author's inviting prose enlivens both humdrum and kitty terror alike, and the fact that all (non-lethal) plot branches eventually feed back into the same ending makes the re-selecting of alternate choices far easier than usual. Speaking of the ending, by the way, be prepared that the incredibly detailed family dynamic that's described over the course of the story ends up boiling over into an unexpectedly dark climax, but at least there is one not-quite-as-bleak ending (in addition to the one that very much is). A bit of a surprise, to be sure, though not one that necessarily detracts overmuch.

Enjoyable, hilarious, and greatly amusing. Very much like a cat!

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a bit of a beef with this book: it is very obviously catered to "cat people" and yet it is filled with scary, sad cat fates.
While it is a cute, fun premise it is far more depressing than I had imagined. Of the 10 endings, 9 of them (no coincidence on that number) end in your cat-self death. While I didn't find myself sobbing, I did find that this failed to be light-humored and fun and instead left me feeling terrified to ever let my little buddy out of my sight. Not what I expected.

Hard to rate because I am happy I own it for novelty-sake but kind of wish I hadn't read it for my hearts sake.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun choose your adventure book from cat POV

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love cats! I think being a cat would be fun! Reading You Are a Cat was fun! Except it's not really just about beings cat, ts also about moments where people do things when none else I around... Except maybe a cat. I would call this Six Feet Under as a choose your own adventure. Fun stuff!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian bought me this for Christmas. A really fun parody of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books of my childhood; this author must have spent a lot of time observing cats. :)

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Интересно организованная книга: можно выбрать один из вариантов сюжета и прийти к совершенно разным концовкам. Ну, в смысле, концовка-то всего одна, но в некоторых местах что-то может пойти не так и ты (кот) умрёшь, после чего автор советует воспользоваться одной из своих оставшихся 8-ми жизней и начать с первой страницы. У меня получилось прожить обычную кошачью жизнь и прийти к правильному концу с первого раза. Потому что я руководствовалась общечеловеческой логикой, разумом и гуманностью. Автор как бы намекает, что жизнь кота, вообще-то, полна ответственности: вовремя не потёрся об хозяина - он впал в депрессию и погиб. Тяжело быть котом.
Нашла я и "пасхалку": страничку, на которую по ссылкам никак нельзя попасть. Там говорится, что кот забрался в тихое укромное местечко, где его никто не беспокоит, а в конце её можно отправиться на любую страницу.
Интересная идея. Попробовать раз можно. Но я бы не стала охотиться за другими книгами серии.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Choose Your Own Adventure for adults where you get to spend the day as a cat. Holden's adventure can include: meeting other animals, finding food at the bookstore, avoiding a young boy who is a little to eager, and learning about the family. A family crisis is what brings the story to an end; there is one bad ending and one good. There are mature concepts strewn throughout.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely unique. Good use of the concept, and definitely some unexpected things. I was sucked in, but it was over so quickly. I would have liked if the pages were were thinner and the text slightly smaller, you could have fit so much more into this book. Also, throughout, much darker than expected. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but, be prepared.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun take on the Choose Your Own Adventures books we used to read as kids.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious.

[Kait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny
Creepy
Weird

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this thinking it would be a cute/funny little cat adventure. It was very different.
This is way darker than I expected it to be.
The adventures take you through some very heavy adult themes including alcoholism, dysfunctional families, suicide, adultery and animal cruelty.
Most of them ending in a very negative way.
I think I would have preferred this if it was a little lighter in tone.

The writing is really good and does a great job of putting you in the mind of a cat. The illustrations that accompany it give you an excellent cat-like perspective of the 'action' and are very well drawn.

I recommend this to those who are looking to get out of their comfort zone who don't mind heavy themes. Do no recommend for children at all or really intense animal lovers, some of the adventures might disturb them.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview:
This book is not your average book. Instead its a pick your own plot book. Meaning, instead of the author guiding you through the beginning, middle and end. You choose and make your own story and choices and see what ending you end up with.
Which is really fun and neat.
In this book you are a cat named Holden Catfield. And you get to decide the adventures and actions you are going to do for the day.

Thoughts:
I really enjoy these books, I enjoy the adventure and I would love to get the other plots that Sherwin Tija has written as well.
I do admit that there are some dark themes in this book and dark endings that you should be aware of. Such as, death and suicide But overall it is a fun book and fun to have that kind of control in a story.

[Jess Whittle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a lot darker then I expected it to be, only experienced two of the possible endings and they are not what I expected at all, will return later to see what the others are like
It's a good book but don't read if you expect a happy day in the life of a cat... His family got issues

[Shawn Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exactly what you think it is. A choose your own adventure where you play as a cat, unaware and apathetic to the world around you. You see many things that the humans are doing that you don't care about or understand and it's overall really fascinating.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you rate something that transcends literature?

I laughed. I cried. I meowed.

[Jay Semeniuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

weirdest and best book ive read in a long while!

[degelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I was a cat, but if I remember right, I was also brutally murdered at the hands of the neighborhood psychopath. I actually said out loud, "Geez, this is pretty dark for a gag gift."

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing how dark this book gets, and then looking at other titles that Tija has written… god I’ve gotta check some of these out

[Betheny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely was not expecting how funny and dark this adventure book gets. What a wild ride you take being a cat.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

So... this wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Much darker than I thought a choose your own adventure book starring a cat would be. You are warned.

[Jeane · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok, so I normally don't give bad reviews but wow, this book was really bad. Let me explain, I saw this book and was intrigued and thought that it sounded hilarious! I mean, a Choose Your Own Adventure style book, as if you were a cat! I turned to page 17, I think, and it sounded funny! (Something like, "if you want to stay on the boys lap turn to this page, but if you want to bat at the dot flying on the screen turn to this page"), so I picked it up and was so excited to read it and mail it to my best friend who is a big time cat lover. I started reading it and it got DARK FAST! First off this book is definitely rated M for mature, there is a lot of unnecessary swearing (I don't care about swearing in a book unless you're doing it just for the sake of doing it which this book does). Every single human in this book is completely F'ed up, like seriously messed up. I just wish I would have read more of the book before I spent WAY TOO much money on it! if I could trash the book I would, that's how much I disliked it!

[Dylan Sievert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story brings you into the world with the eyes of a cat hence the title, however this interactive book is a fun ride to see what things other than humans do, and the choices that are important to them. The illustrations seemed to be a bit more folk-tale like, I was not a huge fan of the book but It was done very well, and the writing was very good. Interactive books read differently and this one made me think more like a cat, "what would an actual cat do".