I really enjoyed this book, though I wish it had been a bit darker. I was expecting it to be a bit more cautionary about the perils of the internet, but it was still a solid read that was fun at times.

Steph was a great character. I found myself really sympathizing with her nomadic lifestyle, and how lonely she felt because of it. She had a pretty good relationship with her mother, even with the constant moving and paranoia that her mother exhibited most of the time. There is a section where Steph begins to doubt the story her mother always told about her father, and her wondering if it was all her mother’s imagination. But then the truth starts to come out and Steph steps up to protect herself and others from her father.

I really liked CheshireCat as well. They were such a charming and amazingly nice AI. Even when they were spying on everyone and maybe pushing the boundaries of do no harm just a bit. They also had a pretty good sense of humor for an AI. I especially appreciated that they liked to look at funny cat pictures.

Steph’s online friends were also fun and pretty diverse. I enjoyed the fact that they eventually all met up in real life as well. But some of the banter on line was interesting and fun. They were also so supportive of Steph as she found out the truth about her life and her father.

Rachel was also a good character. I totally understood Steph’s reluctance to befriend her, because her mother would just up and move them soon. But Rachel was determined to become her friend and help her out when things got rough. I liked the chemistry between them, but I think the story could have been just as good without the budding romance aspect.

The thing I really liked about this book though was the setting. It was set in a not too distant future that felt like a real possibility. Self driving cars and service robots are the norm, and play into the story as well. I liked that they had a robot teaching them sex education, but not being programed to answer some of the more important questions teens have about sex and sexuality. The plot was pretty fast moving and the mystery aspect of it was well done. I really thought for awhile that Steph’s mom was just being paranoid. The truth of why her father was looking for them was a bit scary as well.

This was a fun and interesting read. The setting is very well done as is the plot. The characters could have been a bit more developed, but for a short book you get a good enough sense of them.

Steph and her mom have been on the run from her dad since she was five. Her only friends are those she “knows” on the CatNet, an internet chat room of fellow like-minded teens, who all love animal pictures. Currency on CatNet is cat pictures, but other animals are allowed and even encouraged. Steph manages to hack the robot sex ed teacher earning her a real life human friend. When Steph’s mom goes to the hospital, she’ll need to rely on her new friend and the ones in cyberspace to keep her dad away.

Rating: 4/5
Source: eARC from Netgalley for review
Genre: YA sci-fi thriller
Pages: 288

Blurb: Steph and her mom are constantly on the run, moving every few months to hide from her stalker dad. She finds friends on CatNet, which it turns out is run by a sentient AI called CheshireCat. CheshireCat starts taking actions to protect Steph from her father, but eventually screws up so that Steph must go rescue CheshireCat.










Overall review:

I really liked this book! I've had a string of not-great reads for review so this was a very welcome change. This is the first thriller I've read in a very long time or ever, and it was great at that while also being super heartfelt.

The Good:

Firstly, I loved the perspectives - in particular the first-person AI narration in some of the chapters. The book opened with a chapter from the AI which is what really hooked me and made me regret waiting so long to read it. I also loved that that meant I could mostly trust the AI rather than fearing it'd turn out to be the stereotypical bad guy AI. The idea is that CheshireCat is an AI that insead of having a particular moral code cares about individual people - its friends - which really 'humanised' them to me.

The main perspective is Steph, told in first-person present, but there are also chapters from the AI (often first-person past - didn't know you could just have different tenses like that, but it was cool that those chapters would offer a very different perspective on what had just happened), and chapters full of messages sent in their groupchat on CatNet, which I enjoyed because I like epistolary things like that and they make reading fly by.

CheshireCat was a very interesting character in general, partly because they were so powerful in some ways (could get into nearly anyone's unsecured phone, security camera etc) but so weak in others (no body). This gave them interesting ethical dilemmas, like whether it was okay to use their immense knowledge and spying ability to intervene on a friend's behalf - even when the friend didn't ask for it. I really loved the idea of an AI that cares.

As you'd hope in a book like this, the author showed good knowledge of tech overall, with little details like sshing into a server and phone tracking. I also thought the online chat was realistic. The near-future setting (so there are lots of drones and self-driving cars and robot teachers) was fun too.

I was kept guessing as to who was really the villain for a large portion of the book, in that good way where you're not just unsure because you don't have enough information but where you keep being given really strong but conflicting evidence on both sides - was her father dangerous or was her mother just crazy? It was an important question because obviously if her dad's incredibly dangerous they have to stay away from him, but if not her mom is just constantly uprooting Steph's life for no reason.

There's a lot of LGBT rep, and I liked the glimpse of an f/f relationship we see. It was also funny how it matched my experience of being part of a community where you barely know any straight people.

The Bad:

I can't go into detail because of spoilers, but there's something her mam has that other people want, a key to world domination, that seemed a bit over the top and unnecessary as motivation. It was also weird that this very important laptop wasn't better-protected.

The conflict ended somewhat earlier than I'm used to, in the early 90-s %, and I was dismayed to discover that this seems to be the first book in a series. I'm very fond of standalones, but to be fair the author does wrap up this story quite well and just leave one small thread for the future, so it's not a cliffhanger or anything. And I did enjoy the book so I might be convinced to read a series...

Finally, I felt it went on a bit much about gender identity, with one of the non-binary characters repeatedly saying awfully didactic things like 'Shakespeare used they/them pronouns, you know!' at inappropriate times - but then, I suppose that probably is accurate to the character!

In summary

I would definitely recommend this to YA lovers in your life, especially if they're gay and/or into tech or online communities, and even if - like me - they don't normally read thrillers.

I requested and received a copy of this book for honest review, thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author.

Catfishing on CatNet is the full length novel inspired by Kritzer's previous award darling short Cat Pictures Please. For me this reads like a cross between Eliza and Her Monsters (which I really enjoyed) and Murderbot (which I loved). We get three unique perspectives:
Steph - A high schooler who has been unable to put down roots anywhere, being moved to a new rural Midwestern town by her always on edge and somewhat paranoid mom who has had them on the run her whole life, from an abusive father Steph doesn't even remember. She takes solace in CatNet, her constant community through it all.
The Clowder - Clowders are the small private group chats on CatNet. Steph's clowder are a quirky, enthusiastic bunch, who are super supportive of one another.
The AI - CatNet is secretly run by a sentient AI who just wants cat pics and a true friend, maybe a little too aggressively, they'll not hesitate to intervene to get it. They begin filling in gaps Steph didn't even realize she had in her past, that make her question everything she's known about her life up till now.

The negatives for me as a reader were pretty minor, first not being the target demographic with certain moments clearly being written to younger readership, and second that I just wanted MORE AI.

I found the slightly near future setting compelling, just enough off current to really be inventive and useful to the plot, with robots, drones and self-driving cars being commonplace. Another highlight for me is that we get a great sense of online community, it brought me back to teen years in different fandoms online, the way those are real friendships, but the oddities that presents as well. Within the cast there is also great diversity from different ethnic backgrounds to coming out stories, two non-binary characters (one who has had primarily an experience of acceptance and one who has not), and a budding F/F first relationship. The comedy was on point, the characters felt like they had depth to them, and for me this was just the exact right story that hit what I was wanting to read at the moment.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't 100% sure what to expect in this novel. This was a pleasant surprise and I loved every minute of it.

I loved how in this novel it discuss technology. Especially since yes this is a futuristic book, in my opinion, we aren't far off from this being modern day. The way technology is advancing tells me that in a day not to far in the future we will have all of this and more.

The writing was beautifully done and flowed perfectly. I didn't have trouble discerning who was whom or what was going on. Everything was coherent and a complete thought. This made my reading experience so much more enjoyable than I initially thought I would have. See. I'm not good at figuring out technology. So to have a book 100% focused on the subject I thought I would have trouble understanding things.

The characters in this book were also beautifully done, they were very realistic. Their flaws were shown whether they were big or small. They didn't do anything unrealistic, some of the things they do in this novel I remember doing as a teenager. However, in the world we live in today it would be extremely dangerous for a teenager to do some of these things. This did not dampen the flow of the book though as I lived in an age where this is the kind of stuff we did.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Even if tech isn't really your thing I think you would still enjoy this novel.

I really enjoyed this book! This is my first time reading this author so I wasn't sure what to expect but I will definitely read more. The book is focused on a teenager named Steph. She lives with her mom and they are always moving around because they are running from Steph's father. Steph doesn't have many real life friends because of the moves but has a group of friends on the internet site, CatNet. Soon after arriving at a new town, her mom because sick and is in the hospital. Shortly after, Steph's father tracks her down. I don't want to spoil the story but it was enjoyable and worth the read!

So before you go into this book know that it is written with SJW-level political correctness, so if you can't stand that then this is not the book for you. It just really seems like the author was trying too hard to appeal to the millennial/gen-z population... but what do I know Naomi Kritzer might really think like that. Anyway, moving on.
Overall though, the book was okay. The plot was a bit far-fetched and really confusing at times, and it only really got interesting at the 75% mark so take that how you will. I take is as Naomi had a lot of ideas for a (admittedly less-than) epic showdown, but didn't really know how to fill the space to get there. Also there were a lot of plot holes which was annoying.
Main character Steph is bland but hey bats are her favourite animals so she's unique, and moves to a new town every few months because her mom is on the run. Co-star Rachel can draw real goo and lives in a house where birds fly free. And that's all I can really tell you about the characters... they really didn't seem to have a personality.
My favourite character was probably the AI... but even then I had a hard time getting attached.
As I mentioned in the update while reading, I did actually get a laugh. The creator of the AI and a side-character are debating this AI's gender identity. Creator says AI calls itself him/her/they equally but side character goes "But what if they identify as NON-BINARY?" Why is this funny? Well because the AI is a computer of course and computer codes do use binary. See why I found it funny? Idk maybe I'm weird but it was hella funny to me. I'm pretty sure Naomi didn't do it on purpose, but, I picked it up so that's what matters.
Anyway, when it comes to AIs my first instinct is to call it a he and that's probably because of AIDAN in Illuminae having a male name, but, you know that's just me.
Anyway, book was not that great but the probably unintentional non-binary/binary AI thing alone deserves an star... so I'll go ahead and be nice and give the book a three.

this ended up being a sweet light reading for me, which is odd given the subject matter. I wish it had been more of a mystery or thriller, it was sort of unclear was it a coming of age story/self acceptance, about the dangers of the internet and our lack of privacy or ? While I enjoyed it and hte subject matter was different other than that it wasn't memorable

2.5/5 stars. I downloaded an eARC from NetGalley via Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review. My full thoughts can be read by clicking the accompanying link.

Steph's father is a very bad man. Her mother told her a story of her father burning their house down and they just barely escaped. Steph's mom has PTSD due to the trauma of her crazy ex-husband so she constantly moves them from town to town. This results in Steph not having any friends other than those she makes on CatNet. Now CatNet sounds like my kind of place. An internet site that you can upload your cat pictures too... I do this anyway! As it turns out though cat pictures were not the only acceptable animal photo currency. It is on here where Steph goes to be with her Clowder and forms strong connections to strangers who help her when the past comes knocking. Their bond is pretty amazing.

This book gave me goosebumps about our online lives. I am not one who is thrilled about technology coming into play on everything we do. I always say computers can be hacked so why would you trust your car to drive for you? Nope it is a hard pass.

Overall my feelings towards this are pretty middle of the road. The thrilling parts don't really happen until a little more than halfway through the story. The ending is also really quick and could have been fleshed out more with more showing and less telling. Also I am not sure where Catfishing comes into play. I am not going to lie, when I first read the title I thought it was going to be cats faking people out on dating sites ha!

I would still recommend this book during readers advisory.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Stephanie's mother has explained that she is terrified of Stephanie's father and that's why they move constantly, and why they've changed names. A computer whiz, Stephanie's mom can work anywhere and has managed to put up enough firewalls to permit Steph to use the computer at home. Because she never stays in one place long, most of Stephanie's friends are online, in a group called CatNet. She doesn't have any consistent human contacts outside of her mother. So, when mom ends up hospitalized with a ruptured appendix, Stephanie doesn't know where to turn. She becomes curious about her family and learns her mother has not told her the whole truth about her father. Danger and chaos erupt when her father tries to track her down.

This book explores how much information is available about people online. Stephanie's online friends, as well as her one new real-life friend, Rachel, try to keep her safe. The most reliable friend though, is actually sentient AI, who gets shut down by their creator when it causes harm to Stephanie's dad. To save Stephanie, her 'clowder' (CatNet friends) all get involved in help their AI friend so Stephanie can stop worrying about her father's violence.

This book has diverse characters, but the main point of the book seems to be motivating thoughtful consideration of some of the ways the Internet has changed our world, and our privacy. Teens will relate to Stephanie and her online world.

With thanks to Net Galley and McMillan for allowing me to review this ARC!

Catfishing on Catnet by Naomi Kritzer is a difficult book to review - because it’s a difficult book to read... and that’s a good thing.

The novel centers on the adventures and misadventures of high schooler Steph. Her life is continually in turmoil because her mother insists on constantly moving from town to town - for reasons Steph doesn’t precisely trust. In an effort to create a safe, stable space, Steph joins a “clowder,” an online chat that offers her a semblance of normalcy and community.

The most interesting and thought provoking aspect of the novel is urs treatment of artificial intelligence and the ethical questions it raises. Today’s students would likely have much to say if this work was brought into the classroom.

The difficult parts of the book deal with abuse - emotional and physical. I don’t want to say more and spoil the plot twists, but readers should be prepared to encounter descriptions of abuse which are, at minimum, disheartening- and which may be triggering.

The voices of the characters are distinct and enjoyable- and I rooted for Rachel, Steph, and CheshireCat. The sole exception to this is Steph’s mom. Her actions and inflection may be shaped by her experiences, but I found her difficult to like. A great read for those looking for strong female characters or questioning our relationship with technology.

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for granting me early access to "Catfishing on Catnet".

I'm currently in the middle of a major move, and will definitely come back at a later time and write out a full review and rating.

Thank you so much!

An enjoyable YA novel with lots of relevance to current technology and social media. I'd recommend this to all the teenagers I know! Good character development and an original central concept.

I read this author's sci fi short story "Cat Pictures Please" and thought it was a brilliant piece, so I was happy to have been approved to read the novel it inspired. I was happier to find it as a gripping YA thriller, involving the discussion of where technology is at (or will it be at) and all that comes with it—our use, our privacy, our limits. There's also a bit on family relationships and gender identity, which for me went to show that this author is kind of ~unstoppable. I'd read her next work!

I could not finish this book. The main character felt wooden and it felt like a parable about appropriate online behavior.

Do you know that the internet knows a lot about you? This book is about a mother and daughter running away from Steph’s dad. He’s a dangerous man. Steph never really had any real friends because she moved a lot. She goes online to a site called CatNet. She makes sure no one knows what she looks like or where she is. The chat room administrator is called CheshireCat. When Steph and her moms past life catches up with them her new friends help her find out the truth

I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read the arc of Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer.

I really enjoyed reading this book and found it very interesting. I will definitely be letting people know about it.

This ARC was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.
Catfishing on Catnet was an enjoyable read. The plot was interesting and had decent pacing. I liked Steph’s online friends; it’s great to see internet friends not depicted as stalkers. I liked Rachel and Byrony, Steph’s IRL friends, they were supprotive. Additionally, it was nice that Rachel and Byrony had their own relationship arc outside of Steph. I also enjoyed Chesire Cat, the A.I. I preferred Chesire Cat’s POV sections to Steph’s chapters.

Unforunately, Steph isn’t an interesting protagonist. She doesn’t have any discernible personality traits besides liking photography and cats-and in a book where half the characters are on a website devoted to cats, that’s not particularly special. She doesn’t grow or change by the end of the story. She’s got an interesting backstory, but that doesn’t make her a compelling protagonist.

Finally, I didn’t find the writing style interesting.

Despite the above criticism, I enjoyed the book.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this young adult sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

catfishing on catnet (Naomi Kritzer)

Title: catfishing on catnet

Author: Naomi Kritzer

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication Date: TODAY!! (paperback/e-book)

ISBN: 978-1250165084

Source: NetGalley

I have only read two of Naomi Kritzer's shorter length stories.  One was the "The Thing About Ghost Stories” which was nominated for the 2019 Hugo for novelettes.  The other was "Cat Pictures Please" which won the 2016 Locus and Hugo awards for best short story.  This book ties into the 2016 story.

Steph and her mom have been on the run from her father for her entire life.  This involves moving every six months with Steph having to change schools.  Steph has no close friends in real life.  Her only constant is an online group of friends, a clowder, on CatNet.  CatNet's appeal is that it revolves around sharing animal pictures - especially cat related ones.  What no ones knows is that the site is run by an AI in hiding called CheshireCat.  Steph's life in her newest town is surprisingly good until the past comes out to get her.  The clowder and the AI are her only hope of survival.

This is a cute and quick story.  Of course me favourite character is the AI but I did like Steph as the main protagonist.  The plot is rather silly but I did enjoy the diversity and friendships involved.  Besides Steph and her new best friend, I did think that the secondary characters were rather two-dimensional.  The plot takes some suspension of disbelief especially for the climax and ending.  I would consider this a decent popcorn book even if it be a bit forgettable in the long run.  The ending does hint at a potential sequel.  I wouldn't mind one.  Arrr!

So lastly . . .

Thank you Tor Teen!

Side note: I have to admit that the cover doesn't thrill me.

Goodreads has this to say about the novel:

How much does the internet know about YOU?  A thought-provoking near future YA thriller that could not be more timely as it explores issues of online privacy, artificial intelligence, and the power and perils of social networks.

Because her mom is always on the move, Steph hasn’t lived anyplace longer than six months. Her only constant is an online community called CatNet—a social media site where users upload cat pictures—a place she knows she is welcome. What Steph doesn’t know is that the admin of the site, CheshireCat, is a sentient A.I.

When a threat from Steph’s past catches up to her and ChesireCat’s existence is discovered by outsiders, it’s up to Steph and her friends, both online and IRL, to save her.

Catfishing on CatNet is a surprising, heartfelt near-future YA thriller by award-winning author Naomi Kritzer, whose short story “Cat Pictures Please” won the Hugo Award and Locus Award and was a finalist for the Nebula.

To visit the author’s website go to:

Naomi Kritzer - Author

To buy the novel go to:

catfishing on catnet - Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List