Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

9 reviews

marzandme's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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

3.75

Something was missing from this book for me, and I still can't quite put my finger on what it was. The novel covers Ines' whole time at Catherine House, which is 3 years. And that's a lot of  time to fit into a single ~350 page book. Part of my trouble with this may have been the time period. I think focusing on about 1 year at CH would have allowed a deeper connection with the week-to-week experiences of the characters. But I also understand that Ines' journey of finding out what was goin' on at this place would make sense to take several years. I didn't love that we don't
ever get the full backstory of Ines' life before CH
. I guess feeling like Ines kind of didn't care about anyone or anything made me not deeply care about folks either. I think the creepy "What the hell is going on??" feeling is hard to achieve because an author has to give a little and withhold a little. And I think there was too much withholding. I'm still not sure I get the whole plasm deal. So, for me, the end
was really unsatisfying. I am fine with an ambiguous ending, but when the whole book has felt ambiguous, it just feels like more of the same.
I would try this author again, but this one wasn't quite what I was looking for. Like why was Ines there? How did she get away with so much?
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highkingmargo's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

dreamy and meandering. very gothic slow build of dread and tension. tense without being urgent. reading it felt almost nostalgic somehow?
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michaelat21's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is very tense and mysterious. If you are looking for a dark academia book this is a fantastic choice. The book follows a young student throughout her time at the school Catherine. The students are forced to give up everything to go to the school and study for three years and during their time they have some very interesting situations happen. This book has many twist and turns. if you want a book with a concrete ending and don’t want to think while reading this book may not be for you but it is great.
I did have many questions and thoughts after reading the ending. For one did Theo really turn on her and did her real friends know that he did. I think he turned on her and used her starting when he got rid of his music. Also at the end it makes a clear point that the footsteps did not have a limp and glo did. Do you think she got out? I’d like to think it was Yaya welcoming her friend and meeting her at the spot glow and her mentioned but that may be too hopeful. Third do you think the Victoria was brainwashed by m. Neptune and that is why she acts the way she does. Is he the real evil on or do you think she had Inez going in for testing planed the whole time and that’s why she was even accepted. So many questions I just wanna talk about it ahhhh so good <\spoiler> 
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libraryghost's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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klubbgodis's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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tina94's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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thevietvegan's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I like how sex positive the book is, and there is diversity in sexuality in a way that felt normal even though it's based in the late 90s and sexuality in the world then was not quite as accepted to be fluid. But Catherine House is it's own little world anyway so it felt believable. The love interest
Theo
as a character seemed inconsistent to me, so in love with the idea of Ines instead of actually Ines. In the end, very few people truly understood Ines and that seemed so lonely.
It also ends on a cliffhanger and that felt unsatisfying, but at the same time, I understand that open-endedness was the only way for it to go without an entire other book
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babayagaofficial's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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