Lara The Runaway Cat by Dion Leonard

Lara The Runaway Cat: One Cat’s Journey to Discover Home Is Where the Heart Is by Dion Leonard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 288

Publisher - HarperElement

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Lara the Runaway Cat tells the story of Gobi, the loveable pup who followed Dion Leonard across a gruelling 155-mile trek across the Gobi Desert, and her mischievous cat sister, Lara, who runs away from her family, seeking a courageous adventure and different life.


Lara doesn’t realise how good she has it in her home in Edinburgh with her owners, Dion and Lucja, and of course her sister, Gobi. If she’s being honest, she’s jealous of Gobi’s fame and the international attention she has received ever since Dion found her. Okay, Gobi may have survived an ultra-marathon across the Gobi Desert, but it’s not as if Lara doesn’t earn her fresh prawns! She dreams about the day when she can go outdoors and see the world, discover new friends and be free to make her own name.


But Lara’s wishful thinking gets the better of her as she takes a leap into the unknown and is forced to decide between her loyalties to her family and need to experience an adventure to rival Gobi’s. Join Lara in her eventful travels from Edinburgh to France, Beijing to Australia, where she is faced with challenges that will change her life forever.


Following on from the astounding real-life story of Dion Leonard, this fictionalised tale is a must-read for animal lovers everywhere.


My Review

Gobi is the famous dog who has her whole book and came home to Lara's family, Lara is a cat by the way and not happy. All she hears is Gobi's adventures, her family goes off touring and travelling well now it is Lara's turn.

Told from Lara's perspective and voice with the odd chapter by Gobi we get an insight into the life of a cat with a famous dog sibling. She decides she is going for her own adventure and takes the reader with her.

Doing good deeds, helping others along the way, learning to be self sufficient instead of the pampered puss she has always been we follow her journey and adventures. We see a huge change in Lara and the insight into what we want isn't always what we really want but we don't always realise until we find our own path. Yes it is a story told by a cat but a lot of the lessons/relationships and love within the pages are applicable to humans, 3.5/5 for me this time. I haven't read Gobi's story but after the references in this book I think I may check it out. If you like stories told by and from animal points of view you will enjoy this.

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