This is the start of a great middle grade graphic novel series. Brina must decide if she wants to be a wild (ex-domesticated) cat or continue her comfortable life with her awesome owners. She throws in with a cat gang and spends the story getting into trouble and learning lessons. The lesson of this story is that everyone has a reason for being the way they are and it is important to understand where other cats (people) are coming from before accepting their views on life. A great start to a wonderfully illustrated series :) ( )

The middle grade graphic novel about a cat wanting freedom is cute and simple. When Brina's owners take her on a vacation into the mountains she is happy and content - that is until they take her outside and she can play. Then she never wants to go back in. One day she runs away and decides to run around with three outdoor cats and join their little gang. At first it's all fun and games, but after a while she starts to miss her owners and she realizes that the stray cat in charge of the gang is a real jerk. Brina's human owners meanwhile have been gong nuts looking for her. Is it time for Brina to go home? Will she miss the freedom of outside? This graphic novel answers a lot of questions that kids may have about their cats. Cute and easy. ( )

A city cat goes on vacation in the mountains with her family and falls in with a group of strays who want her to ditch the owners and lead a life of freedom and crime and ruthlessness. Didn't Disney already do this as Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Big Adventure?

This is one of those kids books that is painful in how much the author (via translator) is writing down to the audience. It's sappy and heavy-handed to boot. ( )

"There are no cages smaller than the ones we make inside ourselves, my friend."

[rating from personal enjoyment: 2.5 ] ( )

Brina the Cat is a charming graphic novel about the misadventure of city cat Brina while she and her family are on summer vacation in the mountains. Her owners - Sam & Margaret decide to let Brina outside after her very vocal protestations of being left alone inside. While exploring nearby she happens to meet members of The Gang of the Feline Sun. The gang influences Brina into escaping her owners to become as they are - free cats. After Brina makes the decision to leave her comfort zone in trade for freedom and adventure her owners are devastated. Did she really sign up for freedom and adventure with the gang? Brina will have to make a choice between what her human family offers and what the gang expects from her.

Some of the interactions between Sam & Margaret seem off topic and a little disjointed. I know it's a graphic novel for kids but as a parent I would expect it to make logical sense no matter who's reading it. As the story progresses it does flesh out the backstory to give more depth to the characters which helped lessen the disjointed feeling. There are some leaps in dialogue where the characters never discussed their cats but somehow Brina's owners know information regarding other cats? Overall, this graphic novel is what feels like an introduction to Brina and is a very cute and heartwarming tale told from feline and human perspectives.

This graphic novel reminds me of a very scaled back version of Erin Hunter's Warriors series. Brina the Cat is written by Giorgio Salati and illustrated by Christian Cornia and was originally published in 2017 in Italy as Brina e la Banda del Sole Felino. The illustrations in this story are beautiful and charming - the mountain scenes are very picturesque. The cats and images are bright, eye catching and very well drawn. The story text is easily readable even after magnifying the PDF to make it larger on my screen. I would highly suggest this to fans of the following: cats, children's graphic novels, stories told from animal POV, parents of children who love cats and Erin Hunter's Warriors series. I would read this to my own daughter but as she's two - I don't think we're quite there yet but I do know that she would love it. As always, a big thank you to NetGalley and Papercutz for the opportunity to read this story in exchange for an honest review. ( )