A review by goldenbeebookshop
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

4.0

This is a hard one to rate because I found myself reading it as three different versions of myself: The present me who holds a sometimes rose-colored nostalgia for my college years and the life I lived while on a secluded campus, the 19-year-old me who held the kind of wonder and sense of invincibility that belongs to that age, and 17-year-old me who would have absolutely adored the strange and melancholy setting and introspection about happiness and belonging.

I hate to admit that there are plenty of books that I read to "get to the point"- to find the "who" in the whodunnit, the lesson in the moral exploration, the satisfaction of true character growth. But there's something about the tone of this book and perhaps the state of the main character that it made my brain quiet and I was just along for the odd ride.

Every reader brings their own experiences to the table when they dive into a book, and I found myself wondering about how many characters in this book were depressed. I felt by the end the way that Ines was imagining her future and the way she talked about her past and present that she wasn't broken but depressed, and it's only because I've found ways to minimize my own depression that I always want the same for others-even fictional young women.