Review - How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You

How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You
by Matthew Inman
Date: 2012
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
Reading level: A
Book type: comic collection
Pages: 141
Format: e-book
Source: library

Jesus Rollerblading Christ--another helping of TheOatmeal! Mrow, MOAR kitty comics. Mr. Oats delivers a sidesplitting serving of cat comics in his new book, How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You.If your cat is kneading you, that's not a sign of affection. Your cat is actually checking your internal organs for weakness. If your cat brings you a dead animal, this isn't a gift. It's a warning. How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You is a hilarious, brilliant offering of cat comics, facts, and instructional guides from the creative wonderland at TheOatmeal.com.

How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You presents fan favorites, such as "Cat vs. Internet," "How to Pet a Kitty," and "The Bobcats," plus 17 brand-new, never-before-seen cat jokes. This Oatmeal collection is a must-have from Mr. Oats! A pullout poster is included at the back of the book.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I'm probably not the best person to be reviewing this, as I don't like cats. Like, at all. While I can appreciate that other people do, and I have, on occasion, liked a cat character or cat book, books like this one are just a little too feline for my taste.

There are some funny comics in here. I liked the Bobcats series about the two office cats who are constantly overstepping and wreaking havoc at the workplace. And the series about if we treated our cats like they treat us was pretty astute.

However, if you're not a cat person, this sort of thing is probably best taken in small doses. I'm reminded of the Grumpy Cat book, The Grumpy Guide to Life: the first few pages were cute, but after that it got old... fast. This one is much the same. If the thought of a litter box makes you shudder rather than squee, you might not find some of these comics that funny.

This will probably find its audience with cat lovers, but it'll have limited appeal for everyone else. Even the illustrations aren't good enough to make me want to rate this any higher; they look like they were done on a laptop with a copy of MS Paint.

Quotable moment:

Writing & Editing: 2/5
Illustration: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 ladybugs