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?

Okay, I can see how many people wouldn't like this book...but it worked for me! It reminded me a LOT of Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko. I never thought I'd come across anything that resembled that book. In both novels, the school doesn't serve as aesthetically pleasing "dark academia" fodder - it's a hellish trap that sucks the life out of its students and attempts to transform them into something otherworldly. We follow a passive student as she progresses in her (barely comprehensible) studies, unraveling the school's secrets and trying not to lose herself along the way.

The story is slow-paced and the characters' daily lives feel almost "empty"; all the creepy stuff happens in the background while the protagonist mostly floats on by...until things get too hard to ignore. There is a heavy gothic atmosphere and while we do get dreamy days wandering the school grounds, the students here are desperate, all trying to escape their own lives within Catherine's walls. I'm torn on whether all the snippets of Ines and her friends were necessary. I loved Yaya, though.

The ending is vague so I'll just headcanon that Ines truly shakes free of Catherine and finds happiness in the outside world. She reunites with Yaya in New York, I just know it!!!

Catherine House is a haunting look at how people can hold immense loyalty for an institution that may not deserve such devotion. And yet, somehow it's also a love letter to one's university days, an understanding of the nostalgia. Give it a chance if "slow and depressing" doesn't put you off 😆