Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Catherine House

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

36 reviews

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Actually love laugh love Yaya my absolute queen

Despite how long this took me to finish i did actually rly enjoy it lol
The pacing was good and the characters were good i just have liked a little more tension throughout and more info about the backstory

‘Nothing ever happened at Catherine’

‘I stared into the mirror. Days. I could see them all, all the days, reflecting into each other forever. Mirrors repeating against mirrors.’

‘You see the world sideways, like a stranger.’

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celery's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sehenry20's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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emlittle's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I want to level set expectations up front: this book is 3/4 no-plot-just-vibes. If you like gothic atmospheres, dark academia motifs, and off putting characters, this will 100% be your jam. Fortunately for me. I happen to enjoy a lack of plot as long as the vibes (imagery, setting, etc.) are strong enough to make up for it.

Thomas really did do a beautiful job of building a school that had all the makings of elite: shiny and mysterious from the outside and dusty and chipped when you look too closely. We experience Catherine through a character who would rather observe than interact so we get to see it all. The excessive wine drinking, the overly rich food, the drafty library and gallery. The imagery is consistently strong throughout the whole book.

The way she handles our leading woman, Ines, is a pretty unique experience. Even though we experience Catherine through Ines’s eyes, she’s either so detached or dissociated that rarely do we get a glimpse at what she thinks or feels. We know everything that happens to her but never really get to know how she feels about it. Her past is alluded to, but otherwise we get to know little about her even in the rare instance she does connect with another character. The only time we get to know something about her is when other characters plainly state things about her. Much like Catherine House, Ines is elusive and more of a concept than a noun.

The story over all is pretty slow until it isn’t. The first 2/3 of the book is an atmospheric fever dream, while the last 1/3 is cerebral thriller. So again— if mostly vibes and not a lot of plot isn’t your thing, Catherine House isn’t for you. Overall, I did really like this book. However, it could’ve been stronger if the bulk of the story punched as hard as the last ~120 pages did.

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mirnda's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

The beginning had me hooked with its tension, and although the pacing dragged through the middle, by the end I felt like I had gone on a journey with the book. The audiobook narrator, Ines del Castillo, was wonderful and gave the characters so much life. I am looking forward to rereading the book and seeing the ways it slowly folds into its ending.

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medini_l's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted medium-paced

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? Yes

4.0

Dreamy, delirious and dripping with dread.

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michaelat21's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

This book is very tense and mysterious. If you are looking for a dark academia book this is a fantastic choice. The book follows a young student throughout her time at the school Catherine. The students are forced to give up everything to go to the school and study for three years and during their time they have some very interesting situations happen. This book has many twist and turns. if you want a book with a concrete ending and don’t want to think while reading this book may not be for you but it is great.

I did have many questions and thoughts after reading the ending. For one did Theo really turn on her and did her real friends know that he did. I think he turned on her and used her starting when he got rid of his music. Also at the end it makes a clear point that the footsteps did not have a limp and glo did. Do you think she got out? I’d like to think it was Yaya welcoming her friend and meeting her at the spot glow and her mentioned but that may be too hopeful. Third do you think the Victoria was brainwashed by m. Neptune and that is why she acts the way she does. Is he the real evil on or do you think she had Inez going in for testing planed the whole time and that’s why she was even accepted. So many questions I just wanna talk about it ahhhh so good <\spoiler>

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