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butyougotmysoul's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Well. This was a really well written book. The illustrations are beautiful. I did not like it quite as much as Eliza and Her Monsters.
lanidon's review
2.0
I liked the vibes of the nightmare, the nonsensical horror of a shifting, inescapable school and all it contains. Other than that, it didn't connect with me
Side note that I couldn't stop hearing the Jeffrey Vines in my head with how many times she repeated his name
Side note that I couldn't stop hearing the Jeffrey Vines in my head with how many times she repeated his name
karleighreads's review
4.0
whoa, that was intense and absolutely heartbreaking. I loved the visuals that the author gave us of the different students that were trapped within the school. How the school changed the rooms and hallway, like it was a moving, living, breathing thing, changing the rooms and hallway. I loved the way this was written where our MC is remembering things little by little but doesn't understand how they fit into the issues she is dealing with now until the end. But when you find out WHY the kids are all trapped in the school.. your heartbreaks. As I said this was an intense book, and I will defiantly be thinking about it later.
CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS
CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS
birdsandink's review against another edition
5.0
This was simultaneously terrifying, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. It sucked me in and I loved reading it.
HOWEVER. There are a lot of triggers in this book and I highly recommend looking into them if you don't like horror or violence. I don't want to spoil it, but I know this is going to be one of those books that isn't for everyone.
HOWEVER. There are a lot of triggers in this book and I highly recommend looking into them if you don't like horror or violence. I don't want to spoil it, but I know this is going to be one of those books that isn't for everyone.
brightbeautifulthings's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cat has been stuck in School for as long as she can remember. The hallways slowly expand and contract with School’s breathing, the showers run red with blood, and the students have divided themselves into changed and unchanged. While the unchanged hide in the fortress of administration, Cat and her friends haunt the courtyard and hallways. Her best friend is turning into cardboard, and Cat’s face has become a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh. There are no doors or windows in or out of School, and something is hunting them down one by one in the hallways. To escape, Cat will have to understand why they’re trapped in the first place. Trigger warnings: Some triggers are listed at the end of the review because they include spoilers. Character death, guns, violence, blood/gore, dismemberment, body/eye horror, bullying, slut-shaming, vandalism.
Thanks to @ninja-muse for recommending this book, since I’m not sure I would have found it on my own. This is probably my favorite Francesca Zappia novel to date, and one of the best novels on this subject I’ve ever read (more on that after the spoilers). However, I believe it’s best to go into it not knowing much more than the description provides. This book works extremely well as a slow reveal. What starts out as a mindfuck becomes slow understanding as we realize more or less alongside Cat what is happening in School, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to read the spoilers if you plan to read this. However, it covers a number of very heavy and potentially triggering topics (and it’s difficult to gush about how I think it works without giving things away), so I’ll include those thoughts at the end. I can’t stress it enough though. If you’re not easily triggered, stop here and go read this book!
This is also one of the best examples of uncanny horror that I’ve read in a long time. Zappia expertly manages to capture the quality of a nightmare without sacrificing the continuity. School is creepy and semi-sentient, and the changes it brings about in half the students are a study in body horror. Perhaps even more terrifying are the parallels it draws to some very real life horrors such as bullying and, indeed, I found the flashback chapters of Cat’s surfacing memories of her former life of being targeted, bullied, and slut-shamed at school more difficult to get through than the surreal scenes of hacked up bodies or bloody showers in School. Real life horror always affects me a lot more than the supernatural, and Katzenjammer does an excellent job of balancing both. The ending is cathartic and effective, and there’s less of a plot twist than a sort of inevitable, dawning horror– which is honestly the best kind.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
Remember how I said that real life horror is always worse than the supernatural or the uncanny? I stand by that statement. Zappia draws such excellent parallels to real life in her uncanny School that it’s almost impossible not to realize before Cat does that the traumatic event that put them there was a school shooting. I’ve read a couple YA novels that handled the subject fine, but I don’t think any of them capture it as well as this one. We need something like the supernatural School and the horror of bodies changing in ways we can’t explain to fully grasp the senseless horror of gun violence. Killing children makes no more sense than hallways that breathe or girls who turn into their cat masks. It takes Cat the entire novel to understand the horror and absurdity of what’s been done to her and to accept it– that there are reasons but not excuses, and that we will never know all of them. I cried a little at the end, but I think the real life horror of it is too big for tears. Instead, it’s a feeling that will sit with me long after I’ve turned the last page.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
Thanks to @ninja-muse for recommending this book, since I’m not sure I would have found it on my own. This is probably my favorite Francesca Zappia novel to date, and one of the best novels on this subject I’ve ever read (more on that after the spoilers). However, I believe it’s best to go into it not knowing much more than the description provides. This book works extremely well as a slow reveal. What starts out as a mindfuck becomes slow understanding as we realize more or less alongside Cat what is happening in School, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to read the spoilers if you plan to read this. However, it covers a number of very heavy and potentially triggering topics (and it’s difficult to gush about how I think it works without giving things away), so I’ll include those thoughts at the end. I can’t stress it enough though. If you’re not easily triggered, stop here and go read this book!
This is also one of the best examples of uncanny horror that I’ve read in a long time. Zappia expertly manages to capture the quality of a nightmare without sacrificing the continuity. School is creepy and semi-sentient, and the changes it brings about in half the students are a study in body horror. Perhaps even more terrifying are the parallels it draws to some very real life horrors such as bullying and, indeed, I found the flashback chapters of Cat’s surfacing memories of her former life of being targeted, bullied, and slut-shamed at school more difficult to get through than the surreal scenes of hacked up bodies or bloody showers in School. Real life horror always affects me a lot more than the supernatural, and Katzenjammer does an excellent job of balancing both. The ending is cathartic and effective, and there’s less of a plot twist than a sort of inevitable, dawning horror– which is honestly the best kind.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
Remember how I said that real life horror is always worse than the supernatural or the uncanny? I stand by that statement. Zappia draws such excellent parallels to real life in her uncanny School that it’s almost impossible not to realize before Cat does that the traumatic event that put them there was a school shooting. I’ve read a couple YA novels that handled the subject fine, but I don’t think any of them capture it as well as this one. We need something like the supernatural School and the horror of bodies changing in ways we can’t explain to fully grasp the senseless horror of gun violence. Killing children makes no more sense than hallways that breathe or girls who turn into their cat masks. It takes Cat the entire novel to understand the horror and absurdity of what’s been done to her and to accept it– that there are reasons but not excuses, and that we will never know all of them. I cried a little at the end, but I think the real life horror of it is too big for tears. Instead, it’s a feeling that will sit with me long after I’ve turned the last page.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
story_thief's review
4.0
August 28
No longer a favorite because the more I thought about it, the more I disliked the book. It was only when I described this book to a friend that I realized how nihilistic and hopeless the tone was. The only meaning I got out of it is that bullying and violence are bad, which I did not have to read this to know. I feel like the author was just making money off a story about blood, gore, and a school shooting. For more hopeful horror story featuring teenagers facing off against mass violence, read [b:Clown in a Cornfield|49046268|Clown in a Cornfield (Clown in a Cornfield, #1)|Adam Cesare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575446739l/49046268._SY75_.jpg|71289195] by [a:Adam Cesare|5623119|Adam Cesare|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1349540416p2/5623119.jpg]. If you are still interested in reading this book, read my initial review for content warnings and an overview of what you are getting in to....
August 3
The first thing that draws you into this book is the cover, isn't it? A girl in a black body suit wearing a white cat mask, holding a red and gold flower that seems to glow and framed by smaller blue flowers. You're in for an eerie but beautiful horror story.
I would describe the tone of the book as eerie, but nothing about it was beautiful. The copyright page provides some content warnings: "School bullying and violence, mention of eating disorders, and scenes of gore, blood, and death." Please take these warning to heart, especially about the gore and blood, especially in the last 75 pages. But that's not all. There is homophobia, racism, cat calling, body horror, murder, dismemberment, and a school shooting. This book is not for everyone.
But this book was for me.
Katzenjammer is a story in two parts, told in alternating chapters. One part, told in the present, is Cat's search for a murderer and, hopefully, an escape from School. The second part, told in memories, are Cat's high school experiences with bullying and her best friend now boyfriend, Jeffery. The first part is eerie, just the right amount of scary and gory, and I was invested in Cat's and Jeffery's relationship and Cat's investigation. The second part really made me emphasize with Cat, and I was looking for clues or foreshadowing that would later lead to a solution.
Cat, her best friend Jeffery, and her classmates have been trapped in School for who knows how long. Every clock is different, the sky above the courtyard is always a bright white, and the doors and windows leading outside have disappeared. Hallways change position, and they change shape with School's breathing. They expand so wide that there is only darkness in front and behind, then constrict so tightly that the light is blinding as students crawl through, then expand again. Jake and his gang of followers have barricaded themselves inside the offices. They're hiding from Cat, Jeffery, and the rest that have started to Change. The Changed are fewer in number each day as some of them get lost in School's hallways and disappear, but when one of their own is murdered, Cat uses the clues around her to track down and kill the killer. At the same time, she searches her memories to remember how they all got there. If there's a way in, there's a way out right?
No longer a favorite because the more I thought about it, the more I disliked the book. It was only when I described this book to a friend that I realized how nihilistic and hopeless the tone was. The only meaning I got out of it is that bullying and violence are bad, which I did not have to read this to know. I feel like the author was just making money off a story about blood, gore, and a school shooting. For more hopeful horror story featuring teenagers facing off against mass violence, read [b:Clown in a Cornfield|49046268|Clown in a Cornfield (Clown in a Cornfield, #1)|Adam Cesare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575446739l/49046268._SY75_.jpg|71289195] by [a:Adam Cesare|5623119|Adam Cesare|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1349540416p2/5623119.jpg]. If you are still interested in reading this book, read my initial review for content warnings and an overview of what you are getting in to....
August 3
The first thing that draws you into this book is the cover, isn't it? A girl in a black body suit wearing a white cat mask, holding a red and gold flower that seems to glow and framed by smaller blue flowers. You're in for an eerie but beautiful horror story.
I would describe the tone of the book as eerie, but nothing about it was beautiful. The copyright page provides some content warnings: "School bullying and violence, mention of eating disorders, and scenes of gore, blood, and death." Please take these warning to heart, especially about the gore and blood, especially in the last 75 pages. But that's not all. There is homophobia, racism, cat calling, body horror, murder, dismemberment, and a school shooting. This book is not for everyone.
But this book was for me.
Katzenjammer is a story in two parts, told in alternating chapters. One part, told in the present, is Cat's search for a murderer and, hopefully, an escape from School. The second part, told in memories, are Cat's high school experiences with bullying and her best friend now boyfriend, Jeffery. The first part is eerie, just the right amount of scary and gory, and I was invested in Cat's and Jeffery's relationship and Cat's investigation. The second part really made me emphasize with Cat, and I was looking for clues or foreshadowing that would later lead to a solution.
Cat, her best friend Jeffery, and her classmates have been trapped in School for who knows how long. Every clock is different, the sky above the courtyard is always a bright white, and the doors and windows leading outside have disappeared. Hallways change position, and they change shape with School's breathing. They expand so wide that there is only darkness in front and behind, then constrict so tightly that the light is blinding as students crawl through, then expand again. Jake and his gang of followers have barricaded themselves inside the offices. They're hiding from Cat, Jeffery, and the rest that have started to Change. The Changed are fewer in number each day as some of them get lost in School's hallways and disappear, but when one of their own is murdered, Cat uses the clues around her to track down and kill the killer. At the same time, she searches her memories to remember how they all got there. If there's a way in, there's a way out right?
Spoiler
There is no way out.sskinner155's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Body horror, Gun violence, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual harassment
nakedkitties's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
The feeling of Mirrormask in a book. It's beautiful and tragic and I'm so glad it's out in the world.
donnaehm's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pantsreads's review
3.0
I was loving the bizarre brutality of this book right up until the end, when the reveal of the truth shocked me into a bit of a stupor. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book now.
Please do keep in mind the content warnings before diving into this book if you are thinking about it. Katzenjammer features a lot of gore, violence, and abusive behavior, including bullying, homophobia, self-mutilation, murders, gun violence (a school shooting), and mentions of an eating disorder.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
Please do keep in mind the content warnings before diving into this book if you are thinking about it. Katzenjammer features a lot of gore, violence, and abusive behavior, including bullying, homophobia, self-mutilation, murders, gun violence (a school shooting), and mentions of an eating disorder.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.