A review by acouplereadss
Katzenjammer by Francesca Zappia

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


Cat lives in her high school and she never leaves because her school has everything she needs. But now things are changing. Hallways contract and expand and the showers run blood instead of water. Her friend is slowly turning into a cardboard box and Cat has a hardened mask made of her flesh instead of a face. Cats memory is fuzzy - why are they trapped in the school?  Why are some of them transforming? Why is the school changing? She’ll have to remember in order to escape.

Going into this I wasn’t really sure what to expect but having read two of Zappia’s previous works, and loving them both, I knew I needed this. True to Zappia’s work, this was lyrical and creepy and haunting and heartbreaking. This story is more than you think, the writing was brilliant and the execution of the plot was very well done.

A bit of a different review this time. @literary_lizard and I buddy read this and did a mini Q&A for each other. Check out the Qs I asked her below and her answers! Then meander over to @literary_lizard’s page for my Q&A portion.

Q&A with @literary_lizard

Q1: What did you initially think the book was about prior to starting it?

A: I had no idea!! I knew it would be scary and heartbreaking and that was right, but everything else was a surprise.

Q2: How does this compare to Zappia's other work that you've read?

A: The only other book by her I've read was Eliza and Her Monsters. Overall, Katzenjammer has similar themes of bullying and loneliness, and it's a very sad story, but everything else was totally different. Eliza was a very soft story, but this one was incredibly violent. I loved them both for very different reasons!

Q3: What song would you choose as the backdrop to this story?

A: What a fun question! I'm Not Okay by My Chemical Romance 😭🖤

Thank you so much for sending the ARCs to us @hccfrenzy, we were both equally gutted and loved the horror bits, 4✨ from me! And thank you @literary_lizard for the buddy read, this was so fun and I’m glad we both cried in the same 24h🤣.