Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

55 reviews

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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podanotherjessi's review against another edition

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

4.25

I feel like I'm going to sit with this book in my mind for a very long time and never actually understand it. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I wouldn't recommend this for plot readers. Not a lot happens in this book, and the structure is weird. It's all about the characters, specifically the lead. You're in her head dealing with her confusion, and it's pretty great.
Also, for me, the depiction of stressful, exclusive, small college pressure was just very, very well done. I've known people that handled college like almost every one of these characters. It was a highlight to read for sure.
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ldandridge's review against another edition

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

3.0

I was really excited based on the description but it ended up just being meh. Nothing really seemed to progress much, and I was hoping for something much spookier. I liked the writing and the setting though. Lots of potential that ended up just falling flat.
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coolmombeck's review against another edition

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

3.75

I can understand why many seem to dislike this book because it's not for everyone. The writing does seem disjointed, and the characters can seem unlikable. I see it as Ines is also disjointed and doesn't seem to be able to like or forgive herself for past mistakes. She believes that hiding at Catherine House and her addiction to sex will heal and help her forget her past. While, at times, the book seemed to drag, it was well written and kept me interested. I would read another book from Elisabeth Thomas, as I enjoyed this one quite a bit. 
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massivepizzacrust's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is such a weird ass book, and I kind of love it? It's definitely lodged itself inside of me and I think I'll be carrying it with me for a while. I've heard people say this book wasn't really a mystery and that the main character was unlikable, and I don't think I agree? We find out what the mysteries of the house are, and I thought the main character did pretty well considering
she was being drugged? mind-controlled? whatever during most of her time at the house. She actually got more interested in figuring out what was up during that time. She broke into the lab!


Also:
Fuck Theo
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