Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

56 reviews

ashleye1023's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

The beginning was very interesting but never took off. Very atmospheric with good writing, I just kept waiting for something to be explained. Seemed very repetitive. Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

The house is in the woods. You are in the house. Welcome to Catherine House, an elite school that is completely free to the lucky ones selected to attend. In exchange for three years of intense studies and a lifetime of alumni emulation, you must leave your past behind you and get ready to start afresh. Three years, no contact with the outside world. That sounds perfect for Ines, who is on the run and could use a place to be forgotten. She doesn't really pay attention to the studying part when she gets accepted, but she soon discovers that the more-elite-than-elite program that made the reputation of Catherine might, you guessed it, cast an uncomfortable shadow.

I kind of wish I'd written this book. It's right up my alley with its secrets, fierce protagonist and eerie atmosphere, all done in the quietest manner. This is not a loud book moved forward by stunning revelations and huge tensions. It's one that crawls its way under your skin without you even completely realizing it. I love that the eeriness never falls into trigerring territory and that it keeps you wondering all the way to the end. In an interview reproduced at the end of the book, the author describes it as a "Gothic literary suspense novel set at a cult-like college" and explains how she took inspiration from Bluebeard, which I hadn't realised but makes complete sense. I'll let a bit of time go by before I decide if this one is a new favourite, but I'm pretty sure it is.

Last note: this book could be described as a much, much less weird version of Vita Nostra. 

Rep: black, bisexual, aromantic main character, various queer & diverse secondary characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty

bibrarian_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Suicide

hue's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

Well that was . . . strange.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, and Animal cruelty

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicide and Animal cruelty

ashley_turch's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death, and Suicide

f18's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

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 relationship

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

If you’re in the mood for a slow, unsettling atmospheric read with an interesting premise and maybe aromantic main character, check this out! I didn’t end up liking it, though. It needed some serious trimming. There’s a ton of fluff in here that seemed so unnecessary that it took away from the story. Everything that did matter took way too long to pay off, and was hard to care about because of Ines’s detached haze. The college cult itself also just feels like what a high schooler things college might be like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Gaslighting

Forced nudity, implied drugging, animal experimentation

yaizacanopoli's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Grief, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Mental illness

spag's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty