Thank you to Random House and PRH audio for free review copies of Catalina.
This is an excellent book, the writing style and character exploration invited me to step back, think in more expansive and nuanced ways about first gen students where I teach, the ones I advise, the ones feeling alienated... ones trying to have a voice heard. My connection with this book is indeed influenced by work and my desire to be a better advisor and educator, this book matters. I think it will be a welcome addition to a course I teach in diversity and adolescence/early adulthood.

A few notes, despite my thoughts that overall this book is bold and brave, and needed... It can also be a hard read in places with the narrative style, some shifts in pacing near the end (it works but pacing shifts can be distracting), and also that at times not being able to fully connect with a character can feel difficult. And yet... I think of this as being what is is like to be first gen, to feel out of sync, hard to connect with the world around you, having a pace that may not be one that is familiar; I think the author in her way enables those feelings to come through and that is impressive.

Imagine a world in which talented voices don't have to fight to have access, the voices we haven't heard from yet/won't hear from because of deferred or unavailable dreams.

I wanted to love this book because I enjoyed the author’s debut novel, The Undocumented Americans, but this was not for me.

Catalina follows undocumented immigrant Catalina through her senior year at Harvard as she awaits the political decision of what’s to happen to the DREAMERS and as she steps into adulthood.

My main issue with this book was the ending. It felt out of place and weird (?) for the book and didn’t really help close the story out. When I finished, I thought to myself, really? That’s it?

I was also not very drawn to any of the characters as we are simultaneously given both nothing about them and everything that’s the matter with them.

I think I would have liked this book more if it wasn’t so obviously tied to the author’s personal life (the main character feels to be the author just in a made up scenario this time) and if there was more of a point/conclusion/closure to the book at the end.

DNF @14%

I didn't like the writing style. It was a stream of consciousness story being told by the main character.

I really Enjoyed this book! I went In blind having no idea what the story was about but was pleasantly surprised by the writing and the heart I felt towards Catalina. I’d read this author again for sure. Thank you for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Villavicencio’s nonfiction debut, “The Undocumented Americans,” was a sensitive depiction of undocumented Latinx people. Her eagerly anticipated first novel follows Catalina Ituralde, an undocumented immigrant in her final year at Harvard. Catalina recognizes that she cannot be legally employed upon graduation and her current job is an unpaid internship in media. “Usually, the only people who could afford to do that sort of thing — move to New York for at least three months and live there without making an income — came from some kind of money, which kept that world small.”

But Catalina is not wealthy. Her parents were killed in a car crash when she was a baby and, after living with her aunt and uncle in Ecuador, she now lives in Queens with her undocumented and underemployed grandparents, Catholics, who renounced the Catholic Church when “they no longer wanted the blood and gore,” and became Jehovah’s Witnesses.

For her first three years at Harvard, Catalina sought to remain invisible but, as a senior, “There was catching up to do. I felt like I was emerging whole and without a backstory, like Athena born from Zeus’s forehead fully formed.” Disheartened by her inability to obtain legal post-grad employment, Harvard had sent Catalina to the best immigration lawyer in New York who advised her that her only options were marriage or legislation. She has routinely followed the dismal path through Congress of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. She has thoughts about everything from the indignities of being undocumented and not being able to “do what we want to do,” like travel home when a close family member dies, to the limited career options available to the poor (“What Goldman Sachs was to Harvard seniors is what the U.S. Army was to me and my high school classmates”).

While I could appreciate the challenges that Catalina faces as she tends to her aging grandparents and navigates an uncertain future, the novel did not engage me. Despite her intention to “catch up” in her senior year, Catalina seems detached from her life, aloof from her friends, with the exception of Delphine, a Puerto Rican who also was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, and her budding romantic relationship with Nathaniel, the son of a famous director and an aspiring anthropologist, bored with her classes, and uninterested in her senior thesis. Perhaps it is her lack of confidence in her future that leaves Catalina seemingly adrift. Thank you One World and Net Galley for an advance copy of this thoughtful novel.

I couldn't help but hear Cornejo Villavicencio's nonfiction voice, with her previous work The Undocumented Americans, pierce through this novel. While certainly on purpose, it somehow made me a bit detached from the fictional aspects of the novel to feel as immersed as I would have liked. However, of those moments, Cornejo Villavicencio does spotlight important themes in the narrative that made me collectively invested in Catalina's relationship with the real world bursting her bubble while at Harvard, whether ICE or deportation of family members always looming. But ultimately, I found this best illustrated in Villavicencio's nonfiction work.

This is great writing but wanders a bit too much and lost me as a reader. Felt it was very similar to her memoir in style

There is much to like about Karla Cornejo Villavicencio's Catalina; the characters are compelling, and the contrast between New York and Harvard is well done.

Stream of consciousness narration runs a risk of getting lost in the sauce, and Catalina occasionally succumbs. Fantastic elements, like Catalina's grappling with her desires, can be overshadowed by belabored prose that feel straight out of an Ivy league creative writing workshop (which, perhaps, they are). It is possible to read this as Catalina's self-editing, demonstrating her desire to fit in at Harvard, but to me it felt like a huge bolder in the stream of consciousness.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Catalina Ituralde's story is a frenetic journey that captures her ups and downs. As a first-time reader of this author, I was initially drawn in by the cover. While not the best book I've read this year, I felt a strong connection to the character.

As someone with DACA, Catalina's worries about her future and navigating a prestigious university while undocumented resonated deeply with me. I remember constantly checking for DACA updates, hoping for positive news.

Villavicencio tells Catalina's story in a stream-of-consciousness style that, while expressive, sometimes distracts from deeper themes. Catalina's thoughts and daydreams give the narrative a vibrant, contemporary feel, though it can be challenging to follow at times. Moments of laughter and deep introspection were well delivered, despite occasional difficulty staying engaged.

The novel excels in depicting Catalina's emotional journey through Harvard, blending humor with harsh realities. While I admired her determination, there were times I found her character a bit unlikable. The characters, including Catalina with her witty insights, felt authentic yet some aspects felt underdeveloped.

Overall, "Catalina" is a poignant exploration of identity and ambition wrapped in an entertaining narrative. Villavicencio's blend of humor and serious themes may not satisfy those seeking a tightly structured plot, but fans of character-driven stories will find Catalina's journey compelling and thought-provoking

Catalina is the golden child, a powerhouse, and a force of nature when it comes to just about anything. Her grandparents raised her after a terrible accident in Ecuador that took her parents' life. Growing up with them in Queens, all she can focus on are the constant immigrant phantom hands pushing her to be more, more and more. She is undocumented and deportation can happen at any second. But she might as well make the most of what she can.

I picked up the book even though it is not my typical genre and I am so glad that I did. Villavicencio's writing style is so rich, decadent, and visceral. It did take me a bit to get used to the staccato of emotions depicted by Catalina in the beginning, but once I was familiar with her stream of consciousness it was impossible to put the book down. Her commentary throughout her experience at Harvard, her love life, and her Latina identity is utterly snarky and hilarious. I also adore the characterizations Villavicencio has created for the characters. Reading their caricatures makes me feel as if I know them in real life.

I would say that the synopsis didn't do the book justice. Romance isn't really the focus of the book. It's much more about the interstitial feelings, the bottomless pit of pursuance, and what it means to love in a foreign language. The book is a shorter read (just under 230 pages) but it did not feel like it's missing anything. And surely I won't be forgetting about Catalina Ituralde.

Thank you NetGalley for the vibrant contemporary ARC!

This was very interesting book about this girl calle C a t a l I n a. She was originally from Ecuador and when she was 5 years old.She was sent to america Live with their grandparents. Her grandparents were undocumented and people only had to take jobs where they could.. She grew up very much love but she want to know why her parents were not there for her. She made it to harvard and then she realized how different this world was. She was real, go get . Learn a lot about her culture at school for boy named nicholson. Grandfather faced it deportations. She had a fight for him to stay here. This is a great book has really Happy ending.

Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was truly a remarkable story.
This is a fresh, thought-provoking, well-written, and inspiring novel

Thank You NetGalley and Random House | One World for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Catalina is about to start her fourth year at Harvard. She’s been interning at a magazine, one slot on her path to becoming a writer. She’s also an undocumented immigrant, and that fact has made her life after graduation hazy. It’s the early 2010s and still a bit out from the passage of DACA; Catalina is terrified of revealing her status. With this hanging over her head, Catalina is also stumbling through her final year in ways that will look familiar to anyone who’s made it to the end of their degree and has no idea what they’ll do.

I read The Undocumented Americans in 2020, which was Cornejo Villavicenco’s work on day lobourers, mixed with her own experience of being undocumented. It was stunning. Catalina feels a bit like the flip side of that; details about Catalina’s life line up with Cornejo Villavicencio’s and it’s hard not to see some truth in Catalina’s story. This is a fun campus novel. It’s also an examination of the complexities of immigration, class, and poverty. Catalina is brash and funny, and she’s also fearful and isolated. It’s a short but interesting read.

Catalina is a brief stint in the mind of our main character, Catalina, as she finishes college at Harvard. It’s part My Year of Rest & Relaxation, part light academia fiction, and wholly difficult to put down. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s writing is succinct and compulsive. I wanted to spend another year in the mind of beautiful, complicated, confident Catalina.

My biggest complaint is that the ending is incredibly abrupt. Catalina would’ve benefited from another 20 pages, at least, of concluding remarks, but it ends precisely the way that it began - with just another of Catalina’s thoughts. I also think that Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s writing style & pace is going to really work for some people or really NOT work for others, but I thoroughly enjoyed both.

Thank you to Netgalley & Random House for this digital copy of Catalina.

This is one of my favorite books of 2024. I don't love campus novels, but I 'm so glad I didn't let that steer me away from Catalina. Cornejo Villavicencio explores so many dynamics at both a micro and macro level here and I was instantly invested. Don't let the somewhat been there done that synopsis fool you, this is different and this is GOOD.

I had trouble getting into this I must admit, and going further with it didn’t alleviate that at all. This does not read like a typical novel in my humble opinion. It is more of a memoir or diary if you will, about an undocumented girl’s last year in college, Harvard actually, which is a feat in itself based on her circumstances. Catalina lives off and on with her undocumented grandparents who fled Ecuador and raised Catalina after her parents were killed. Read the publishers description, it is more thorough than I care to go into here.

It doesn’t really have a distinct plot. She shares her senior year experiences with us readers about her uncomfortable and troubled feelings about America and the dreamers, the DACA population, what it means to them and what road blocks they encounter in their journeys.

This got a little too political for my taste, making me feel reluctant to pick this up and continue at times. It is a short book and I had totally different expectations of it. I am a latina, born and raised here in the states. I am familiar with some of her concerns but I’ve had it up to here with this topic. Since I read primarily for entertainment, I can’t say this was an enjoyable read for me. I feel the author has potential and wish her the best in future endeavors. 3 minus, maybe even 2+ is my star rating.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read and post my honest opinions of this work.

If you enjoy stream of consciousness and don’t need plot to push you through a novel, this one might be for you. I hesitate to really critique such a book, as much of Villavicencio’s focus is on her/Catalina’s experience as an undocumented Dreamer attending Harvard on scholarship. Since this has not been my experience, I am sure there are things I am missing as I read that might resonate with others.

While the reader still cares for Catalina and her family (the also undocumented grandparents who raised her), this novel is almost entirely character-driven, with very little momentum coming from plot. I appreciated social commentary throughout, experiencing what is might feel like to be in Catalina’s shoes in such a place as Harvard, and the many challenges of walking through the world in a woman’s body.

An undocumented immigrant from Ecuador who came to New York to live with her grandparents as a child after her parents died, navigates Harvard. The book does a great job showing the complexities of trying to succeed while undocumented. However some of the choices she makes in terms of relationships/friendships were perplexing to me.

Literary fiction is a hit or miss for me, and this was a miss, but I don't think it's a bad book. It just didn't speak to me and though it was easy to read, I wasn't getting much from it.

I thought the blurb sounded interesting. Catalina Ituralde is a senior at Harvard but she is undocumented, coming to the US from Ecuador. I have no idea how she got into Harvard on a full ride. She can't get a job or loans because she has no social security number. I was really put off by the writing. It was first person rambling. Perhaps if I liked Catalina more I would have enjoyed this more but I didn't feel the character was developed at all. Actually I felt the same about her grandparents. Obviously there are more higher ratings than mine so in the right hands this book is fine. It did nothing for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House One World for providing me with a digital copy,