A review by casskrug
Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

3.5

catalina is a campus novel that follows our titular character throughout her journey at harvard. reminiscent of selin from elif batuman’s the idiot, catalina navigates her college experience with both humor and skepticism. failed romances and awkward situations ensue (her jumping out of the car, hello?!) my favorite thing about the book was catalina’s narrative voice and her descriptions of the people and situations around her. some of the situations she found herself in verged on bizarre, and her commentary felt very vulnerable and real. also, the thread of the story with her undocumented grandparents was quite compelling, and it’s not a perspective that i’ve read from before. seeing her do everything in her power to change the situation they were in was really touching. i think the author did a great job of incorporating historical and cultural information into the story, which i’m sure isn’t easy to do. 

writing this review a bit over a week out from finishing the book, i’m finding that not many specifics stuck with me. part of that’s on me as i was traveling when i read most of it, on top of dealing with not-fun life stuff. i do, however, remember that it was an entertaining distraction! easy to sink into and get carried along with catalina’s antics. 

thank you to one world and netgalley for allowing me to read this early!