I want a sequel because the end left me craving more. A coming of age type special school book is often such a blast and this one had weird sci-fi elements, lots of drinking and sex and teenage intrigue. It read with a dreamy, languid feel that made me drowsy like a summer afternoon, but an ominous one spent waiting for something bad to happen - like the air before a summer thunderstorm.

Ever read a book so bad it fills you with anger and hate? yeah this book will do that to you. Don't waste your time on this book.

Received an ARC through Goodreads

Catherine House is a difficult book to rate. For one, this is a Gothic literary novel which means it's destined to not be understood by many. Reading is subjective, obviously, but what is objective is that literary novels are greatly misunderstood.

This novel is about a young woman named Ines Murillo who attends a collegiate-like academy called Catherine House that has very niche academics and a focus on the study of plasm. The reason Ines goes to Catherine House is revealed gradually over the course of the novel. It's implied her parents separated and that during a night out in high school she and another young woman were being photographed by some man. The next morning, the other young woman died, implied to be from OD-ing. So Ines wants to remain in Catherine House, but after her roommate Baby dies and a boy she becomes attached to, Theo, looses himself in his studies of plasm she starts to think something's wrong.

This is an odd book indeed. For one, you can tell this is a debut novel. It isn't terrible, but it isn't perfect.

For one, I love Elisabeth Thomas' prose. She really fits into the Gothic and literary styles in her descriptions of nature, Ines' psyche, and the secrecy of the house. Sometimes, the prose can get repetitive and some scenes don't go anywhere significant. No character or story development is acquired, just more emphasis on Ines just going with the flow.

In terms of character development, it's something you need to be patient with. Ines' character does come to us eventually. She's an emotionally stoic young woman whose only hope of feeling anything is touching people. This touching is both sexual and platonic. Ines is bisexual and has casual sex with both guys and girls. She is never shamed for this--nor is anyone else who does in the book--but something about this was just weird to me. Perhaps it is because I didn't fool around in college or am not an overly sexual person, but there was A LOT of casual sex happening in this book. Is that realistic? I'm a little worried this might ebb into some stereotypes about bisexuals, but I digress.

There are other characters like Theo and Yaya who we get to know as the story goes on as well. Theo is a boy whom Ines tries to keep things only physical with; but due to the combination of the mystery of the plasm and Catherine House's staff, Theo's devotion to the study of former growing, and Ines realizing she is someone who wants to feel and be loved, she realizes she wants more than just sex. Yaya is a self-assured, popular girl. At first, I didn't get her point other than just being a sort of friend to Ines. But I realize her character was one who didn't want to grow up; she constantly found children's toys that she kept in her room and gave to Ines, she dressed like a fairy princess, and even had a faux wedding. Yaya realizes the school selected people like her, Ines, Theo, and the others because they were broken. I believe her inability to grow up was her way of barring herself from that reality.

As for other characters like Nick, Anna, and Diego, there's really not much to say. Nick is Theo's friend who is a party animal, Anna is the straight (not referring to sexuality here, but from I remember I believe she is heterosexual) man of the group, and Diego is a gay guy having an affair with one of the professors off-page. They really don't get much development. Baby, Ines' roommate, while certainly not without a personality, felt more like a plot device for Ines' development. Her death is a catalyst for the rest of the book.

The story itself is the most jumbled thing. There is a plot that gets properly going towards the end of the first act and comes in and out throughout the rest of the book. It involves around the plasm to which the school is dedicated to the study of. From what we learn the plasm can change things back to what they were and link both living and non-living things together. That part I believe is pretty clear. It certainly is an interesting thing and what they professors are doing with it is definitely creepy. It is the secret of the house itself and why the house comes to haunt Ines.

In addition to the sexual content of the book that I've commented about above, here's some other comments I have. While I did feel that something was off about Catherine House, it never felt like a character itself. It was a creepy place with secrets, but not force that I believe that could count as a character, it just felt like a location.

I see some people complaining about the ending, saying it's ambiguous. I don't think so. It's clear what happens to Ines and she's onto other things in her life. I do feel though that the ending was a bit quick. Just after everything Ines has been through and learned, that it just ends all quickly.

All in all I rate this 3.5/5 stars. I think Thomas has potential and good writing. I would like to see more from her.

I don't quite know what to think of this book. It partially feels like I have read a similar story already. There were so many things where I was thinking it was extremely predictable. In general I thought it was a good enough book.

Random. Odd. Intriguing. Subtly dark, with an ambiguous ending. These words flitted through my mind as I stumbled through a story that felt like a weird episode of The Magicians. Even after finishing the book, I still don’t really get the point of the story. It felt unfinished, anti-climactic, unknowable, like a vivid dream recently awoken from that is too tangled and too random to describe coherently. There is a house, a school, students, professors, mind-control and mass hypnosis, plasm, secret experiments, mystery, ambiguity. Yet how to link them into any sort of decipherable pattern defies logic. I liked the writing. The plot was intriguing, but the ending left me with a what-the-hell-did-I-just-read kind of feeling. I have a feeling that this book will stay with me for a while, not in a pleasant recall of the story, but as a haunting, an eerie mind-fuck that is as unforgettable as it is indecipherable.

4.5 stars

This novel has a strange, dreamy vibe that I absolutely loved.