Book Review: The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat (and Pokey!)

Did you know that everyone’s favorite grump has her own comic book? Well, she does, and it is a pretty fun read overall.

I am talking about Grumpy Cat, of course, and the book is called The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat (and Pokey!). In this collection of comic book stories, Grumpy Cat plays herself and Pokey plays her happy, energetic (and therefore often annoying [to Grumpy]) foil. The book includes eleven stories in which the two cats go on adventures ranging from visiting a haunted house to becoming superheroes to traveling in time. They even play with a cell phone and encounter aliens (though not at the same time, though we can imagine a scenario in which Grumpy is abducted by aliens and uses a cell phone to “phone home”—writers, are you listening?).

We really enjoyed the artwork in this book, and we had several moments of turning the page and breaking into laughter at seeing the new situation the cats had gotten themselves into. Some of the scenes are just hilarious. We will probably never forget our first sight of Grumpy Cat in her superhero costume.

And then of course there are the one-liners Grumpy is famous for. We wrote a bunch of them down, but somehow they fall a little flat when taken out of context—and without the accompanying artwork. Speaking of falling, though, there is this line Grumpy Cat utters when Pokey is preparing for an attempt at superhero-style flight: “Maybe you’ll catch the essential forces of nature on an off day.” Ha! Imagine that line delivered in deadpan style moments before an overachieving cat falls off the roof. Ha, ha, ha!

Some of our favorite stories were “Paws of Justice,” in which Pokey and Grumpy become Super-Pokey & Grumpy Cat and take on a pair of criminals; “A Grump in Time,” in which our feline friends go out exploring and end up going a little farther than they’d planned (Grumpy’s parting shot to Tesla is especially funny; if you don’t know who Tesla was, it’s worth boning up on him—and Edison); and “I Know What You Did Last Summer…I Just Don’t Care,” in which the not-so-dynamic duo visit a haunted house and find something truly unexpected (the last panel in this one is just too funny, if you get the reference).

Although this book has lots of hits, there are a few misses as well. For example, we were enjoying the first story, “Treasure Map” (in which Pokey finds a map that indicates treasure is to be found in a haunted house), until we hit the last couple of pages, which give the explanation behind this haunted-house adventure. The explanation was a little too much explanation and left the story with a flat, disappointing ending. There was also one story, “A Grump in Time,” that we wished had been pushed a little further. Grumpy and Pokey returned from their time traveling a little too soon and with not enough of an adventure for our taste. (Nevertheless, this story was one of our favorites.)

Overall, The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat (and Pokey!) is a lot of fun to read. Yes, there are a few moments that didn’t quite work for us, but what we really remember are the funny moments, the panels that made us laugh out loud—Grumpy Cat in stereotypical superhero getup or detective garb. We’ll certainly be reading this one a second time, and maybe a third, just to relive some of those moments.

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!