He snatched the clipboard up, a smile spreading across his face–one of his rare genuine smiles, which chased the mordant glint from his eyes. It was in that moment that I realized two thing: one, I had done magic; and two I was beginning to have feelings for Havelock Renard. I had no idea which was more upsetting and incomprehensible.
page 192
Table of Contents
Why Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter?
I first read Heather Fawcett’s work when I read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries back in the beginning of 2024. I loved that book and it just so happened that the sequel Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands was coming out the week after so I ended up reading those two books back to back.
I didn’t end up enjoying the final book in the series as much as I enjoyed the first two. However, Heather Fawcett was definitely an author I wanted to read more from so when I heard cari mention that she had a new cozy fantasy novel coming out in 2026 in her 2026 anticipated releases video, I immediately put in a library hold for it.
So without further ado, let’s get into it.
The Book
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter is a cozy fantasy novel set in 1920s Montreal. It tells the story of the titular Agnes Aubert, a meticulous cat lady who runs a cat shelter who due to a incident involving some magicians is looking for a new place for her shelter. As it so happens, the only place willing to rent to her is run by a magician by the name of Havelock Renard.
I’ll start with the things I liked. Agnes is great, I love my autism spectrum coded cat lady. Her desire for order with her checklists and her graphs is adorable and I loved the way she interacted with the world around her. Agnes’ sister Elise is also fantastic, fiercely protective of her sister and with an ability to charm and lie out her way out of any situation, we love to see a younger sister who definitely gives off older sister vibes.
There are also the cats. We have Agnes’ cats – Her Majesty and Banshee, both of which are precocious creatures along with the other cats in the shelter. This is my most favourite aspect of Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter. It does a superb job of portraying a variety of cats with different (and realistic) personalities and the cats very much felt like active characters in their own right. I love them all.
I loved that this book was set in Montreal, I visited Montreal last year for my birthday vacation and it was nice to see references to places I have been, namely Mount Royal which I ended up taking the stairs up to the top. It made for a very good workout, I’ll tell you that much. The view from the top is also fantastic. I want more fantasy books to take place in Canadian cities, I feel like we don’t get nearly enough of those.
Now for what I did not like as much namely – Havelock Renard and the romance between him and Agnes. I wasn’t a fan of how the relationship developed and Havelock himself as a character isn’t one I particularly liked. I never felt that there was any actual yearning or chemistry between them and when Agnes mentioned having feelings for him, my reaction was “…why?”. Wendell from the Emily Wilde series was a far more interesting love interest (and character).
Magicians did not wield magic so much as summon it from some mysterious otherworld and bind it to our own, via vessels they called Artefacts. Anyone could cast a spell, which merely involved speaking a word to release magic from a vessel, be that a pendant or ring, book or decanter.
page 37-38
To Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter‘s credit, the romance subplot was never offensively bad, I just didn’t find it compelling. I would have preferred the relationship between Havelock and Agnes’ to be one of a slowly thawing friendship instead of the romance we got. I would have also liked the book to focus a little bit more on the fantasy elements, namely the magic system and world of magicians. There is potential there which isn’t going to be developed further as this is a standalone.
Concluding Thoughts
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter was fine. It was a very light and easy read and it was exactly the kind of palate cleanser I needed after my last book. I ended up finishing it in one day. I loved most of the characters, especially Agnes and her cats and the setting. However the romance subplot felt very much undercooked and I had rather the book spend more time exploring the very interesting magic system it presented.
My opinion of cozy fantasy as a sub-genre remains unchanged. It is a sub-genre I return to mostly as a palate cleanser than anything else. I don’t find it particular appealing otherwise. That said, I think Heather Fawcett’s writing in this sub-genre is good enough that I wouldn’t mind reading more of it in the future.
That’s all from me, see y’all in the next one.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Please consider supporting my writing work directly through Stripe or Patreon. Additionally, please share this post on your socials and/or with your friends. It really helps! If you have any thoughts/feedback/thoughtful criticism to share, feel free to use the handy contact me page to send that to me.