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asm349's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
gaylandtoo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
this could easily be 5 stars but for some reason i cannot take the word plasm seriously. one of the only recent novels i've read that captures the unreliable narrator tone of dark academia perfectly. huzzah, elisabeth thomas.
marldinamama's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ensis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hicrant's review against another edition
4.0
oh catherine house
okay so this books seems plotless and slow and i mean yeah but the vibes were amazing it turned out to be a really enjoyable read. it kind of had a plot the school is an important character in this and seeing ines go through three years at the school was the plot?
it kinda manages to be intense and almost claustrophobic, hazy and almost dreamlike. catherine house was a pretty much a cult and reading about the school ugh i loved it. from the very first page you realize that smth is incredibly wrong about this place but you still can’t completely figure it out. we follow our main character dealing with her ptsd and depression and moving through this strange place and how it changes her. she is terrified half of the time .. the other half she is completely indifferent to everything and other times she is almost in a drugged state and in complete bliss..
nothing graphic or grotesque happens and it was still creepy .. honestly i don’t know what more to write but i liked it!
and no i didn’t completely understand plasm but i don’t think that was the point anyway
okay so this books seems plotless and slow and i mean yeah but the vibes were amazing it turned out to be a really enjoyable read. it kind of had a plot the school is an important character in this and seeing ines go through three years at the school was the plot?
it kinda manages to be intense and almost claustrophobic, hazy and almost dreamlike. catherine house was a pretty much a cult and reading about the school ugh i loved it. from the very first page you realize that smth is incredibly wrong about this place but you still can’t completely figure it out. we follow our main character dealing with her ptsd and depression and moving through this strange place and how it changes her. she is terrified half of the time .. the other half she is completely indifferent to everything and other times she is almost in a drugged state and in complete bliss..
nothing graphic or grotesque happens and it was still creepy .. honestly i don’t know what more to write but i liked it!
and no i didn’t completely understand plasm but i don’t think that was the point anyway
brittbat's review against another edition
3.0
I found it difficult to engage fully with this book because the narrator herself is so disengaged from the scene she inhabits, or at least, she speaks to the reader as though she is. I spent 300 pages with characters who never felt like more than vague acquaintances, wondering about an experimental science that was never really explained. This book is an incredibly slow burn that builds to an unsettling conclusion, but turning the final page feels somewhat anticlimactic... But I would absolutely watch a film adaptation, if it granted the story some objectivity that the book lacks as a result of being filtered through the narrator’s skewed perspective. I want little glimpses of how people perceive her, and how the house really is, earlier in the narrative to contrast with her ideas of reality.
Maybe I’ll appreciate this more the longer I think about it.
Maybe I’ll appreciate this more the longer I think about it.
lgeraghty13's review against another edition
4.0
Really, really unique and interesting book. I totally see how it might not be for everyone, but for me it was a refreshing change from what I usually read.
Ines gets accepted into a very unusual college called Catherine House. Tuition is free. Everyone there is supposedly brilliant in some way but running from something. The students give 3 years of their lives to the school, and they cannot leave. They can’t have visitors, cell phones or even TV. They are totally cut off for the outside world during their years at Catherine House which makes this cult-like story so interesting. Ines begins to discover the school’s secrets which comes at a price.
This book is strange and a little surreal, but I couldn’t stop reading it. Elisabeth Thomas has a very unique voice and I will be keeping my eye out for her next book.
Ines gets accepted into a very unusual college called Catherine House. Tuition is free. Everyone there is supposedly brilliant in some way but running from something. The students give 3 years of their lives to the school, and they cannot leave. They can’t have visitors, cell phones or even TV. They are totally cut off for the outside world during their years at Catherine House which makes this cult-like story so interesting. Ines begins to discover the school’s secrets which comes at a price.
This book is strange and a little surreal, but I couldn’t stop reading it. Elisabeth Thomas has a very unique voice and I will be keeping my eye out for her next book.
gunnar96's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
thepaperwitch's review against another edition
3.0
Languid and bleary and delicious. Casual sensuousness meandering through an undercurrent of disturbing discovery. I could read Thomas' writing of young adult luscious ennui and bored play all day. If you like diving into these feelings and states, you will enjoy this book. However, if you are one that needs conclusions and clarity, you my not enjoy it much. There was an interesting and unique menacing feel to the strange school, but know that it is not brought to a satisfying ending. Read it for the poetic prose or skip it if that's not your reading mood.