Sacred Cat Island

Sacred Cat Island, Book 1

By: Harmon Cooper

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

2021 Winner of the Independent Audiobook Award (Best Gamelit/LitRPG category)

When Rowan and Toro are brought to Sacred Cat Island by their father, the two brothers expect to hate the place. They quickly discover that the island has untold mysteries and magical secrets just waiting to be explored.

What starts as a small Dad Quest quickly turns into the adventure of a summer as the two brothers help their father open a general store, befriend the villagers, and find themselves in the middle of an epic mystery that has to be solved before they go back to the mainland.

Help Rowan and Toro unearth the hidden truths of Sacred Cat Island in this grand slice-of-life story starring an all NPC cast. Escape with them to an island full of fantastic critters, frightening spirits, and colorful characters that LitRPG and cultivation listeners are bound to fall in love with. Discover the magic of Sacred Cat Island.

Inspired by the magical realism of Studio Ghibli films, this story by best seller Harmon Cooper was also influenced by The Wandering Inn, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing.

©2020 Boycott Books (P)2020 Podium Audio

Much better than I expected

If you've read a ton of LitRPG and you're going through the beginning of this book, you'll start to wonder if it was false advertising. Sure, there are stats but they don't really matter other than being a goal for the protagonists. But then you keep reading and the wonderful writing shines through. Plenty of mysteries kept me reading and I binged this title in two days. I'd be curious enough to get a sequel if one comes out. This is also a better coming-of-age story than most with characters that act their age and none of them are morons with plot armor. Travis Baldree is, of course, a wonderful narrator once again.

The story drew me in, but where is book 2?

Enjoyed the light mysteries throughout the story. Kinda stumbled over the character stats without a reference point as to what they meant. So I spat out the bones and Enjoyed the rest.

it's good but not for me

I would read this to my kids. it is well written and interesting but far too about young kids. litrpg narnia.

Like a Studio Ghibli LitRPG

You've got a few kids investigating a mystery while experiencing a whole new mystical world, so it sort-of reminds me of totoro and spirited away. I really loved the story as it unfolded and certainly will get any follow-on books in this world.

So very good

I lived this booked. It’s not something I thought I would like. It’s cute and a little frivolous. Travis Baldree could make just about anything appealing.

I could’ve used a little more action, but very good

I thought this was a well written, well thought out story. I felt a lot like how I did in my childhood, but also was just entertained by the whole thing.

This is not, however, a litrpg in the normal sense. There are stats, but besides that and a few small things, not a whole lot of a sense of progression. Besides that though I thought it was great!

Worth the credit if you have one to spare.

Fun, sweet audiobook!

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. The narration, plot, and characters were fantastical and wonderful. But now I need the next book because that can’t be it!!!

A YA Whimical Wonderland

Harmon Cooper crafts an almost wonderful coming of age story of a family on the brink of collapse due to life's pressures that finds the dad and their two sons on a strange island mostly inhabited by senior citizens and lots of cats. There are a few oddities with this story as it relates to the litRPG genre in that while all of the people are sentient and sapient humans, they are all NPCs with, seemingly, only adults knowing the reality of this and kept from the children. The story is primarily focused on the dad's two adolescent boys and their adventures in discovering the surprises and dangers as they explore the island.

I had two major issues with the book. One, the tendency to explore stats too often; especially since there was never any obvious correlation level gains to improved performance. The other was the use of an ID app that would allow the characters to view all of the cats details in a pop-up screen and since there were many cats on the island, including the cats read-outs often broke the flow of the story. Regrettably, the two combined gave the impression of the author word-stuffing to meat some book work count requirement.

Travis Baldree's performance was very well done but couldn't mask the faults in the novel.

I won't be following the series.

Warm hearted, well imagined story

This is a wonderfully imagined world brought to life by the great and always entertaining Travis Baldree. I felt like I was on an adventure with the brothers, reminding me why I miss my sibling and the best times of childhood. Plus cats.

it was good

I enjoyed it but I thought the writing was good and the storytelling was good but I think it feels a bit unfinished I wish standing would have had a bit more finality to it