The premise is very cool, I love dark academia books, but the pacing was very slow, and I didn't get a good sense of the characters (the MC has a group of friends, but it all felt very one-note). I also could not stand the protagonist (Ines); she was just so apathetic and not in an interesting way, she was just dull. The main thing about her is how stunningly beautiful she was (except her teeth lol??); like that's the only thing anyone ever said about her, that and how lazy she is. I think I would have liked the book more if it hadn't been so slow and if I actually liked the protagonist. Also I just did not understand a huge chunk of the book, which I think affected my rating

I still have no idea wtf plasm is, is it like stem cells or something? I just did not understand, I would have liked more info on it. I also do not understand when Theo betrayed Ines, there's just so much of it that didn't make sense.

This book was amazing. It hooked me at the beginning with its description of Ines' mental health issues and her academic troubles, that was like getting punched by a reflection. The descriptions are amazing, the vibe is immaculate and the suspense was great. At a few points I wasn't really sure she was going to make it, still don't know if she did at the end, but I choose to think she won. 

Call Your Dad, You're In a Cult
Honestly this is the sort of book that you need to read and then talk about for a while. Or think about for just a really long time.

Like, how so many behaviors of the students strike me as "yeah college kids do that" (igloo, stupid sex, drinking, all nighters) and an overlapping subset of behaviors scream Cult (chanting, alcohol literally always available, group think like consensus over house issues).
Or how the gothic theme of the house Decaying gets dropped after the first real batch of brain washing and is replaced with the sense of the house not decaying after death but Watching and Trapping students like a living thing.
Or how Yaya rules.
Or how clearly the school is filtering for people who would be vulnerable to high control groups but still manages to have such a prestigious reputation.
Or why the repairing magic isn't used to fix the house.
Or how timeless this feels even though this is set in 96-99, and feels very fluid in the timeline as we go. Dreamy, disassociated.
Or how we never see Theo's interior motivations- when did his love turn to something that wanted to kill/freeze his beloved? When did he Turn?
Or how the main character's feelings and motivations change so drastically from semester to semester without alarm from the narrator- her attitude towards attending sessions, towards class work, towards connecting emotionally with other students. It clearly coincidences with the stint in the Tower and the brain washing, but it's like even with clearer hindsight the magnitude doesn't hit. Like the narration is disassociating from the story.
Or how Ines's strongest defense was her disassociation and when she lost that (clearly damaging, bad) habit, she was left vulnerable to being taken over by the House.
Or what made Ines such a good candidate- her thesis was apparently "incomprehensible" and she thought "sideways"- I don't quite get what that means.
Or how intimate it is to refer to the place, the mentality, the Whole simply as Catherine. And how other colleges/orgs have similar intimacy.
There's more but yeah- it's the sort of book you need to mull over

I would honestly read analysis essays about this just because the story feels like a hazy surface over depths that we can just barely reach.

Caterine House is deffo not a book for everyone. If you’re into dark academia  or mainly into books with a lot of academic problems then this book would suit you. It’s a very easy read , I finished it in two days. 


The book is about a problematic girl who ends up being accepted in a ghost-like school (more selective than any Ivy League school) with very strict rules and with very low chances that students can contact their friends of family for three years during their stay. She feels trapped but knowing she has nowhere to go and nothing to lose she accepts looking into the secrets of the school. The place has one priority and that is plasma, what it is and why it’s important is very little explained and that’s where I want to add a warning, you won’t get much closure from this book since it’s very mysterious and doesn’t give much details. It’s entertaining and fun but there aren’t any details presented almost at all. The ending is very dissapointing since it seems forced, overall I enjoyed it and highly recommend it! It could’ve had more pages though, 200 more pages maybe where the action went a bit further could’ve made the book better!