I was very intrigued by the description of this book. It had me wanting to read Catherine House. But I struggled through the entire book. I am not sure if it was the subject manner, the current COVID 19 situation, or what. I struggled to finish this book.
Catherine House is an elite school that only accepts certain students into its 3 year program. For some,this is the only way to get an education-its all paid for. The book itself it divided up by the years and then a few others. The First Year chapter, I liked and was enjoying learning about the way of the school and kids. But after that, it sucked the life out of me. To be honest, I didn't connect with any of the characters at all.
I usually finish a book in a few days, this book took me 2.5 weeks to finish. I wanted to put it down so many times. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
#CatherineHouse #NetGalley

I rarely do not finish a book, but this one I just barely got through. I think it had potential, but just too many boring details. I think I had one gasp kind of surprise in the whole book. I wanted to like it but I didn't.

This book was intriguing in its premise of a mysterious school in which everyone who graduates is successful. The main character is not very likable. It is hard to connect with someone who is so disconnected. The story was interesting enough that I read the entire book, but feel unsatisfied. As a character says near the end, “It was all for nothing?”

Catherine House has a young adult, slightly mystical gothic vibe. The main character Ines is a student at Catherine House, an elite full immersion 3 year post high school program. Right away there are a lot of contradictions. The buildings are old and run down, even though the alumni are rich and powerful. The place is elite and competitive, but Ines is unmotivated and to do the work and seems an unlikely candidate for that type of environment. The students are isolated from the outside world, so they bond quickly together which immerses the reader in the character development. Some of the relationships take predicatable turns, but I was interested in the characters and the progression of the plot. The school has an area that focuses on the study of some mystical plasm (kind of reminscent of The Golden Compass and dust) and they use plasm pins on the students to alter their attitudes and work ethics. I was not wowed by the scientific/mystical plasm or the way it was woven into the story. I wanted to love the ending but I was left wanting more from Ines and how she handled the final plot twists (as well as how her friends handle things). Overall, I was entertained and interested throughout most of the book but I wanted more suspense and a stronger ending for the character.

I thought Catherine House might have similarities to Leigh Verdugo's Ninth House, which I really enjoyed, but I don't think this book could really figure out what it wanted to be. It seems to include elements of science fiction, Gothic mystery, and the blitheness of youth when left to their own devices but the things never seem to gel into a cohesive story. The story is told from the perspective of Ines, whose past is never fully fleshed out, who ends up at elitist Catherine House where students are isolated from the world and weird experiments take place. The experiments seem out of place for most of the book, which mainly revolves around young adults drinking, partying, goofing off, having sex and occasionally (just occasionally mind you) studying things incredibly esoteric and off the wall that the average person has never heard of that they can make a career out of when they decide they want to be adults. I wanted to like this but the story line never gelled for me and the characters weren't likable.

I really wanted to love this book. They said gothic, suspenseful, haunting, and shocking twists. I did not get it. The writing is great. They said atmospheric, yes. They said seductive, maybe, but decadent, yes. There are endless loops of days for our main character, Ines. She’s promiscuous, bi-sexual, smart, yet lazy when it comes to the reason she’s at Catherine House. It’s a prestigious school and yet, she mostly doesn’t even try and they don’t care. Yes, it’s a bit Hotel California and something sinister is going on, but it never really gives you the satisfaction that the glacially slow burn is building up to. It gave me enough to hope that it would payoff without ever getting there and yet I made it to the end.

I am normally not drawn to such dark books, but this was sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a try. And I was glad that I did! From the start, the reader is drawn into Catherine House, the school in the story. Everything is "perfect", but dark. Catherine House is a boarding school/university. Upon admission, the students are required to let go of their past lives. They are not allowed to maintain relationships outside of Catherine House nor are they allowed to retain possessions from their past lives. Catherine House is an old house which adds to the mystery of the story. As I was reading the story, I could picture this as a movie because Ms. Thomas paints such a vivid picture of Catherine House and its residents.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel anything for the main character, Ines. I'm not sure if it was because her back story wasn't very developed or I just couldn't figure out who she was. I would have liked to known more about Ines and her background.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Catherine House is a set at an exclusive school of higher learning. All expenses are free to accepted students, but acceptance definitely comes at a price. It’s a price that most students are willing to pay, because the school turns out multiple distinguished leaders of society. Ines, a troubled young adult with no family and few friends, is accepted to Catherine House, and it soon becomes clear that there are odd experiments going on.

Although well written, I wasn’t able to connect with and enjoy Catherine House. It began with a plausible plot, and then dissolved into something which I found myself wondering where it was going. The characters move in and out of the story without any real development, and it ultimately becomes a confusing jumble of who is doing what and why. I did end up finishing, only because I thought I must be missing something and that the loose ends would be tied together, but I was ultimately left disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishers for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t really like this book. At first I thought it was interesting and I wanted to figure it out. As it went on, I got so I really didn’t like the writing style - I thought it was too pretentious. At the end, I hoped it would all tie together but it didn’t - I felt like it just ended.

This is a good book for YA readers. That is all. I don't read YA.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

I didn't finish this book, I made it to 55%

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Catherine House, and it ended up being very different from the types of books I usually read. Which isn't a bad thing but also may have played a large part in why I wasn't able to get through it. All in all the book isn't bad, the world building is immersive and the author has a great ability to evoke emotion in her readers. But the characters felt very two flat and cliché to me and the story pace was a bit slow for my liking. The book has been compared to Never Let Me Go and I can see the similarities in the two. If you enjoyed Never Let Me Go you would probably enjoy this book as well, if you like a faster paced story you may want to pass on this one.

3 for neutral. I tried to read it on many occasions, but honestly didn’t really get it or enjoy it. Very slow paced, but I’m also a moody reader and will update if able to enjoy at a later date.

The giveaway for this book had me at the word Gothic. Who doesn’t like a good dark Gothic mystery? This isn’t quite what this book is. The setting is Gothic but I never got the sense of the story being Gothic, maybe because it seemed so YA.

I did enjoy the read but I wanted more character development, other than references to dark or unhappy pasts. Relating someone’s history isn’t the same as revealing their character. I guess I was looking for more depth in the characters because, at times, the story was almost too simple and too repetitive.

The descriptions of the house are well done but not of the characters. The house definitely is responsible for the Gothic feel but not the storyline itself. There is a mystery and it’s really not hard to figure out if you pay attention as you read. I think I got it before the main protagonist, Ines, got it.

I wasn’t exactly disappointed in the book but I just felt maybe the description of the book was better than the actual book itself. I kept wondering if this had started out as a short story and then been stretched to novel length because many of the scenes seemed more like filler than actually contributing to moving the story along.

I won this ebook ARC in a First Reads giveaway. Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and the author, Elisabeth Thomas.

While the writing was not really strong in this book, the story itself was intriguing. It did suck me in and I wanted to continue reading to find out what happened.
The main character was not very likable and the mystery in her background was never totally resolved. There were hints given throughout the book that told what happened to her before she came to Catherine house, but there needed to be more info for me to really relate to her.
Ines' behavior at Catherine House was not very understandable as well, she seemed to straighten up at one point, but it was not quite clear why or what her motivation was.
The end was well done and I liked knowing that there had been some real relationship building during her time at CH.

Couldn't get into this one, I'm sorry. While well written, the plot doesn't seem to go anywhere, and it was a struggle to get through. I appreciate the read, but this one just wasn't for me.

One of the most unique stories I've ever read. It gave me Never Let Me Go vibes, Secret History vibes, and also Midsommar vibes? A haunting, genre-bending type of story.

This book started off super strong. It felt like an eerily dark but quiet mystery. Unfortunately, after after page 150, I completely lost the plot and motivation. Maybe I'm just not smart enough for this story, but I was confused a lot. At first, I feel like I was driving through fog, and I liked it a lot because I felt creeped out. But..... then the fog never cleared, so I was left unsatisfied and confused.

That being said, the writing was so unique and direct (at times), but also used so many drawn out metaphors? Honestly, the writing got a 4 stars from me and the plot got 2 stars. I definitely think if you like books where you'll learn random facts from art history to science to philosophy, then you'll like this book enough!

Wow! I loved everything about Catherine House. I am a sucker for anything vaguely The Secret History-esque and gothic, so I was already drawn in by the premise, and I have to say it did not disappoint. The atmosphere was fantastic! It was a little slow to start, but Elisabeth Thomas has an amazing writing style. I am looking forward to whatever Elisabeth Thomas has in store next. Thank you for the ARC! I will post a more in depth review on Goodreads and my blog later this week.

When accepted into Catherine House, it's students agree to give up the next three yars of their life in complete devotion. They are not allowed contact with the outside world, and have no access to the internet or television. Ines, running from her past, is a disinterested and lackluster student. As she begins to learn the secrets of the house, she is both fascinated and repelled by its experiments and hidden agenda.

This book was a bit bland. The characters lacked personality and the plot line moved extremely slowly. There wasn't enough of a mystery, or secret, to keep me engaged and I found myself just plodding along. Overall, a bust.

Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me. I couldn't quite connect with characters or plot and found myself unsure of what was going on and why. The right reader will enjoy this very much, but it just wasn't for me.

Ines has just arrived at Catherine House, an exclusive college that required applications and multiple interviews. It is her chance to leave her old life behind. Catherine House requires total participation, no phone calls to family or visits home. 3 straight years of study.. At first, Inez doesn’t take life here seriously, drinking and partying to excess and missing class work which seems to be the norm for First Years. However as her other friends and her roommate settle in, this becomes noticeable and she is sent to the Tower to reflect.. Catherine House is a dilapidated mansion to start with and now with the study of “plasm” and the weekly chanting, it becomes a modern gothic tale with Inez trying to solve its mystery. Both haunting and horrific, it becomes a page turner the further in you dare to go.