gondorgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death
leighwilliams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Mental illness
Minor: Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, Suicide, Grief, and Car accident
jupitermond's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual content and Animal death
Minor: Vomit
magpie_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
styleofdress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Animal death
f18's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Death, Grief, Suicide, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, and Cursing
mention student/teacher relationshipvigil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i think in another kind of book, it would have put the mystery first, exposing catherine, understanding the full scope of plasm, shutting down the schools, and then have the protagonist reckon with their own internal emptiness afterwards, remarking on how solving the mystery didn't solve them. catherine house, does not share this typical format, having its protagonist get out. no school or mystery, creepy plasm cult or not, can nor should be your whole life.
what is plasm? i have no idea. it was explained to me and i still don't understand, so i wasn't bothered when that wasn't explored because i didn't care anyways.
i loved the way the author got the atmosphere across so clearly with very detailed, but uncomplicated prose. ines existed in this "sideways" and detached existence, with the author writing in the hazy aura ines clearly felt, until the end, when she starts getting (almost jarringly) clear.
i will say, i think this book wasted a lot of time, but also didn't use enough. i don't like dark academia aesthetic so i'm biased, but the multiple descriptions of food, parties, buildings, and landscapes did bore me. there are multiple scenes in the book that i think are genuinely unnecessary and other technically not needed. however, i would describe this book as drifting along a stream, not building up to something bigger, so the extra scenes didn't bother me too badly. that being said, you can only half pay attention to this book and still get the gist, which i did myself in some places when listening to the audiobook. (which is fantastic btw.)
Spoiler
and i tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but i knew theo's ass was trash.Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Alcohol, Grief, and Suicide attempt
criticalbooks's review against another edition
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Torture
emzhay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. I liked the moodiness, the meandering story, the characters, the imagery, and the house itself. It reminded me of my own college experience, despite some major differing aspects of course. After reading the author’s interview, I think that I was exactly the type of reader this was written for/about.
I often see this marketed as a dark academia thriller, but to me it was more an atmospheric gothic literary novel. It explores ideas, relationships and the self through its plot rather than using those elements to support the plot.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
klubbgodis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death, and Animal death