Review by hanmajo -- Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F. Kristi

[hanmajo]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Diary of a Snoopy Cat" by R.F. Kristi.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

After moving from Paris to London with her family, Inca the cat finds herself involved in several local mysteries. These mysteries, spun alongside Jorje Valle’s illustrations, are what bring R.F. Kristi’s children’s novel, The Diary of a Snoopy Cat, to life. Although this book is the fifth in Kristi’s Inca Book Series, readers are given detailed descriptions about each character, as well as their backstories, throughout the novel. These descriptions allow for the book to be read independently from the rest of the series.

As the title alludes to it being, The Diary of a Snoopy Cat is a diary. It captures not only Inca’s voice, but her adventures, goals, desires, and opinions. After the introductions are wrapped up, Inca writes about her first mystery: the disappearance of Raoul. Shortly thereafter, Inca introduces her second mystery: Mr. Finchley’s missing will. Most of Inca’s diary is dedicated to finding where Mr. Finchley’s will went. Was it stolen by his nephew? Did his caretaker misplace it? These are questions that she and her detective crew must discover the answers to together.

While Inca’s energy keeps the diary lighthearted, Krisit’s novel actually explores a variety of heavier themes including greed, death, and racism. For example, early in her diary, Inca states that cats generally think poorly of dogs. She expands this notion by confessing that she never befriended dogs before moving to London because she believed that they were dreadful to spend time with and unintelligent. However, after meeting several great dog detectives, Inca recognized that her opinion was not true. Incorporating themes like these can challenge kids, and help them to comprehend difficult situations that they may be encountering or witnessing in their own lives. It’s one of the reasons I love children’s novels, and I was thrilled to see Kristi put this type of depth into her work.

It’s clear that Kristi put a lot of thought into The Diary of a Snoopy Cat. She provided detailed backstories, created a distinctive voice for her narrator, and wasn’t afraid to put her characters into difficult situations. What wasn’t on her side was editing, which did not work in her favor. It’s the exact reason why I rated this book a two out of four stars. Kristi’s editor doesn’t seem to follow any style guide, resulting in inconsistent grammatical and stylistic errors. As a matter of fact, there were so many errors in the published version, that I felt like I was editing the book, not reading it.

There is no doubt in my mind that the editing took away from other elements in this book. It lessened the quality of Inca’s narrative voice, it lessened the quality of the plot, and it even lessened the quality of each page’s appearance. While a couple of mistakes won’t make or break a work, publishing a book that is filled with them can. All in all, if The Diary of a Snoopy Cat had a stronger command over its grammar, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

******
Diary of a Snoopy Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like hanmajo's review? Post a comment saying so!