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A review by jolietjane
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
4.0
What a whirlwind! Thank you to Harper Collins and Goodreads for sending me an ARC!
A few chapters into Catherine House, I was pretty convinced I was going to hate it. You get thrown right into the mix of the wispy, dreamy POV of Ines- a girl with a mysterious past who is accepted into an equally mysterious university. The University graduates go on to become world leaders and wealthy socialites. They would tell you Catherine House is a blessing. The media on the other hand, prints headlines about it being a dangerous cult, rife with abuse and mystery.
Ines, much like many who attend Catherine House, has very little home to go back to, thus begins to abide by Catherine House's strict rules. Abandon your old life. Music, photos, and calls to home are not allowed. Leaving is not allowed in your 3 year tenure. Strangest of all, not-so-secret studies of a mysterious substance known as Plasm are conducted both from, and on the students....but Catherine House is seductive, and easy to get swept up in.
It's hard to fully classify this book in a genre, but I would almost say it's a gothic mystery with Frankenstein style scifi elements- thats to say, the "scifi" aspect is a teeny tiny backdrop/plot thread connecting what is ultimately an overarching story of human seduction and isolation.
I also wanted to point out that boarding school/gothic novels are very often very "white". This book is written by an author of color, and almost all of the characters of meaning are black or other people of color, so that was something incredibly refreshing.
Though I struggle at first, I ultimately found myself being swept up in this debut much like the apprehensive teens that attend Catherine House, and I couldn't put it down. Everything about this story is toned town and muted, from the characters to the writing style and mystery, so don't expect any dramatic plot shifts. You will be moving along at a slow, grim pace as you watch Ines's time at the house evolve.
The problem with every "The Secret History" boarding school style drama is that they are always written in a vague and dreamy way that emulates Donna Tartt's style as much as possible. This can really remove you from the emotional impact of the story and the character's actions more often than not. I do feel that that problem does exist in Catherine House, but the book itself manages to stand on it's own as an addictive piece of literature that I couldn't put down.
A few chapters into Catherine House, I was pretty convinced I was going to hate it. You get thrown right into the mix of the wispy, dreamy POV of Ines- a girl with a mysterious past who is accepted into an equally mysterious university. The University graduates go on to become world leaders and wealthy socialites. They would tell you Catherine House is a blessing. The media on the other hand, prints headlines about it being a dangerous cult, rife with abuse and mystery.
Ines, much like many who attend Catherine House, has very little home to go back to, thus begins to abide by Catherine House's strict rules. Abandon your old life. Music, photos, and calls to home are not allowed. Leaving is not allowed in your 3 year tenure. Strangest of all, not-so-secret studies of a mysterious substance known as Plasm are conducted both from, and on the students....but Catherine House is seductive, and easy to get swept up in.
It's hard to fully classify this book in a genre, but I would almost say it's a gothic mystery with Frankenstein style scifi elements- thats to say, the "scifi" aspect is a teeny tiny backdrop/plot thread connecting what is ultimately an overarching story of human seduction and isolation.
I also wanted to point out that boarding school/gothic novels are very often very "white". This book is written by an author of color, and almost all of the characters of meaning are black or other people of color, so that was something incredibly refreshing.
Though I struggle at first, I ultimately found myself being swept up in this debut much like the apprehensive teens that attend Catherine House, and I couldn't put it down. Everything about this story is toned town and muted, from the characters to the writing style and mystery, so don't expect any dramatic plot shifts. You will be moving along at a slow, grim pace as you watch Ines's time at the house evolve.
The problem with every "The Secret History" boarding school style drama is that they are always written in a vague and dreamy way that emulates Donna Tartt's style as much as possible. This can really remove you from the emotional impact of the story and the character's actions more often than not. I do feel that that problem does exist in Catherine House, but the book itself manages to stand on it's own as an addictive piece of literature that I couldn't put down.