I would like to thank HarperCollin and NetGalley for allowing me to read an e-arc in exchange for honest review.

What did I read? This book lost me from the first sentence and had me angry by the ending. We do not talk about that ending because it is weak and should be reported for being criminal. Out of all possible endings, the author thought that would be the perfect way to tie it up?

I will not spoil anything, but they did Jefferson dirty in the book and he was my favourite character he deserved so much more than that ending. I would still also like to know why the people who changed "changed" into what they did and why others did not. Also, why the world had such eerie similarities to Cat's drawings like is there any connection? I left that book with questions and came through with no answers.

I also feel like I am broken because I cannot stand horror novels or movies and get squeamish when someone so much as gets a paper cut. I think all the B horror movie references desensitized me from all the gore because it felt like a cheap horror movie (might be an unpopular opinion, but that's what I got from reading it). So, while a person who does not like horror can read it please be warned that it deals with eating disorders, death, trauma, bullying, guns, so if you have any issues with any of these topics it is in this book. There's also a lot of blood and I mean a lot.
I won't say more because I do not want to spoil it for those who do want to read it.
⭐️3
💧5

This book definitely did not go in the direction in which I thought it would. It was well written, but just not my type of book. If you like fantasy / dark novels, this may be for you

Wow. That is the very first thought that came to mind upon finishing this book.

Let’s talk about plot real quick, without many spoilers. This is a twisted horror novel set in a living, breathing, terrifying school. Cat has a hardened cat mask for a face, and is struggling to figure out why her and others are trapped in this beast.

Now I’d like to share my thoughts. This is a raw, haunting, grotesque (in the best possible way) depiction of something we’ve dealt with time and time again. Zappia has crafted an absorbing world that you don’t want to be in but have to see your way through. This book is poignant, relevant, and treated with such care that everyone needs to read it. I’ll be honest, I figured out about halfway through most of what was going on, but I didn’t even care. I HAD to know how it played out, that’s how engrossing the author’s craft truly is. Damn. This book was solid!

Katzenjammer, by Francesca Zappia. It certainly is... a book. Or is it a fever dream? Let's just go with: it's a fever dream in book form. I absolutely loved Eliza and Her Monsters by Zappia, and I thought Katzenjammer might be similar. Nope. Not at all. Not even a little. And that's okay, it's perfectly fine for an author to write in a different style or genre. I just want people who loved Eliza and Her Monsters to know that this is not that. This is a violent, gory, confusing fever dream of a book. And I liked it.

The main premise in Katzenjammer is that Cat and her schoolmates are trapped in School. Some of them have transformed into strange creatures (a porcelain doll, a boy with a cardboard box for a head, Cat herself, with a fleshmask in cat shape that she can't take off, etc.), while others have remained their normal selves. None of them remember how they came to be trapped in School. There are no doors through which they can leave.

Some of the transformed kids continue to change until they eventually stop talking, and wander School, violently attacking anyone they come across. After someone starts murdering the changed kids, Cat makes it her mission to find out who is behind it. She has a feeling that discovering the identity of the murderer will somehow make escaping School possible. While she is searching for the culprit, she begins remembering things that happened before everyone became trapped in School. The recovered memories eventually explain everything.

Before writing this review, I looked up the meaning for Katzenjammer. I didn't know it was a German word, and thought, prior to reading, that the title was something Zappia had come up with, and what it meant would be made clear in context with the book. Now I know the opposite is true. If I had known what Katzenjammer meant, it would have been a clue as to what I was in for. According to Google:

katz·en·jam·mer
/ˈkatsənˌjamər/
noun DATED•INFORMAL
confusion; uproar.
a hangover; a severe headache resulting from a hangover.

In conclusion (what is this, an eighth grade English essay?), what I expected from Katzenjammer was not what I got, but in hindsight, I got what was on the tin. This book is a confusing, gory fever dream--but it is meant to be. Read at your own risk. Four out of five stars, because although I thought the concept was well done, there are a lot of named, but mostly inconsequential characters, and it is easy to get them mixed up. Although, that might have been intentional as well, based on the theme of the book. Well played, Zappia. Well played. (P.S. Who hurt you?)

This book is hard to review. I don’t want to give too much away.

On one hand, it’s very creatively well done. I really felt the thrill and urgency through the entire book. It jumps between Cat’s life as the being she is now, (cat face, no eyes) to before when she was a high school student. Now she’s trapped in her high school with others, some who have changed and other who are still themselves. She slowly remembers what brought them together and what has trapped them.

I loved going back and forth, trying to figure it out who became who (Laserbeams? Time?) and how Cat became stuck in her high school. There’s a lot of thrilling action, being chased for their lives through the school, the school itself taking on a life of its own. I think it was very creatively done and well written.
Which bring me to the other hand.

On the other hand, even though the weirdness is good and compelling, it didn’t lead to a particularly satisfying ending. I didn’t guess the reason they were stuck, or what brought them to that, but it didn’t seem like it meshed. And then it was over.

I think it was a fast read. I liked the horror/strangeness of the story. Zappia writes well and really pulls the reader in quickly and by the throat.
But I guess the ending was mediocre for me and that brought it down a star.

Trigger Warnings: bullying, mention of eating disorder, explicit violence, blood, gore, knife violence, death by hanging, death by shooting, body dismemberment.

Cat doesn’t remember how she got trapped in her school. She doesn’t know some of her fellow classmates are changing into monstrous creatures, and others are not. As her memories start to resurface, she must fight to find a way out and survive the killer that’s killing them off slowly.

This book is disturbing. And terrifying but also hauntingly brilliant. The dual timeline plays such a key role in this story. The switch between past and present gives so much information but still keeps the mystery of it all. I really enjoyed the short chapters. It was easy to follow along with and was hard to put down. The characters were intense and creepy. Very American Horror Story-esque.

The biggest issue I had was with the ending. I can see where the author was trying to go but the events didn’t seem to line up as perfect as they could have. I can’t say too much or else I’ll spoil it but the ending still had me a little confused. This book had me thinking about every possible outcome and I was not expecting what had actually happened. The last 50 pages had me gasping and constantly saying “wtf” but I still couldn’t put it down.

This book was also very gruesome. And will have you twitching and gawking at what is described. It was gory, bloody, and spine tingling. It’s very descriptive with the gore so please check trigger warnings before reading. Quite a few scenes had me gasping and feeling nauseous because of the descriptions.

Overall, this book was disturbing but in a weirdly satisfying way. I don’t usually read horror books, but I’d definitely recommend this one for the Halloween season!

This book was, unfortunately, too confusing for me. Additionally, I am disappointed that the content warnings for this novel were not more detailed.

This was extremely aesthetically pleasing and weird, while also reading really fast. Unfortunately the conclusion isn't earned or well scaffolded.

This was stupendous. I think it has a fairly niche appeal, but teens who like A.S. King and Katrina Leno will love this. It was a lot sadder than I expected, and truly absurd in that it makes a powerful point about the failings of modern society. Perfect 10.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the E-ARC copy of this book. The rating of this book is entirely of my own opinion.

Francesca Zappia let me down with Katzenjammer. I tend to love everything she writes, but this was far outside of what I have come to expect from her.

I was really excited about this one because I loved both of Francesca Zappia's past books. Unfortunately, this one really did not work for me. I did not enjoy the writing style and found the surrealism confusing. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to and think it would be a challenging sell for most teens.