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andrea_gagne 's review for:
The Catch
by Yrsa Daley-Ward
It’s always risky picking up such an esoteric book – I am 100% certain that some people will have this on their “best of the year” lists, but for me personally it didn’t quite connect.
This is an autofiction book about estranged twin sisters, Dempsey and Clara, one of whom believes she has seen her mother (who was presumed dead) in some sort of time warp where she is still young (or, in Depmsey’s opinion, a con woman). Clara also happens to be a celebrity author who writes an autofiction book about twin sisters, one of whom meets her mother in some sort of time warp where she is still young.
What this book has that worked well for me: Weird! I love books with a weird, dreamlike quality, where you aren’t quite sure what’s going on but trust the author to take you on a journey. I also am a fan of an unreliable narrator, and that was definitely well done here.
Things that aren’t my jam, but would appeal to the right readers: Unhinged women. I know this has become more and more popular in recent years, but books about sad and/or unhinged women just don’t really appeal to me. From there, the writing also didn’t quite pull me in; I’m not 100% sure how to articulate why, but I think it had to do with the way I struggled to connect with the characters. It was very high-concept, which can sometimes work for me but I think kept me at an arm’s length in this case.
3 stars