Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

49 reviews

meganelise's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

This book gave me serious Magicians meets Mexican Gothic vibes. Something is very clearly OFF about Catherine House from the start, but despite that, the characters are also doing typical college student antics (drinking too much, lots of casual sex, etc.). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Blood, Body horror, and Sexual content

sunsetcity's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Take that review with a grain of salt. This book was super bizarre and I'm not sure I ever really knew what was going on, but I read through it really quickly and enjoyed my time reading it. I think the ending was super unsatisfying and way too open ended for this kind of story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

rosita's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As soon as I started reading, I was trapped in Catherine House, and it only got better. If you are up for a dark, setting-driven story with casual queer and poc representation, and a sprinkle of science fiction, can't recommend it enough.
It doesnt really have a plot, but i loved that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Drug use, and Vomit

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Suicide

ballgownsandbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Animal cruelty

thevietvegan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I like how sex positive the book is, and there is diversity in sexuality in a way that felt normal even though it's based in the late 90s and sexuality in the world then was not quite as accepted to be fluid. But Catherine House is it's own little world anyway so it felt believable. The love interest

Theo

as a character seemed inconsistent to me, so in love with the idea of Ines instead of actually Ines. In the end, very few people truly understood Ines and that seemed so lonely.

It also ends on a cliffhanger and that felt unsatisfying, but at the same time, I understand that open-endedness was the only way for it to go without an entire other book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I feel like I'm going to sit with this book in my mind for a very long time and never actually understand it. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I wouldn't recommend this for plot readers. Not a lot happens in this book, and the structure is weird. It's all about the characters, specifically the lead. You're in her head dealing with her confusion, and it's pretty great.
Also, for me, the depiction of stressful, exclusive, small college pressure was just very, very well done. I've known people that handled college like almost every one of these characters. It was a highlight to read for sure.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Death

ldandridge's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was really excited based on the description but it ended up just being meh. Nothing really seemed to progress much, and I was hoping for something much spookier. I liked the writing and the setting though. Lots of potential that ended up just falling flat.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, Suicide, Sexual content, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, and Death

coolmombeck's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I can understand why many seem to dislike this book because it's not for everyone. The writing does seem disjointed, and the characters can seem unlikable. I see it as Ines is also disjointed and doesn't seem to be able to like or forgive herself for past mistakes. She believes that hiding at Catherine House and her addiction to sex will heal and help her forget her past. While, at times, the book seemed to drag, it was well written and kept me interested. I would read another book from Elisabeth Thomas, as I enjoyed this one quite a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Animal death, Death, and Sexual content

massivepizzacrust's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is such a weird ass book, and I kind of love it? It's definitely lodged itself inside of me and I think I'll be carrying it with me for a while. I've heard people say this book wasn't really a mystery and that the main character was unlikable, and I don't think I agree? We find out what the mysteries of the house are, and I thought the main character did pretty well considering

she was being drugged? mind-controlled? whatever during most of her time at the house. She actually got more interested in figuring out what was up during that time. She broke into the lab!

Also:

Fuck Theo

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders