I didn't connect with this book as I had hoped I would. I found myself skimming over parts because it was super heavy with details. I love the idea of Catalina, though. It has a beautiful cover as well. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Catalina feels like a friend who is going through so much and finally letting it all out over 3am pancakes. You're sitting across from her at the Denny's like this has been happening the whole time? Girl, why didn't you say anything?

She is a romantic and she is messy and she wants so much but she is also so aware of how much she wants and how much she can't get. A real pragmatic romantic. She is so familiar and I see so much of myself in her and yet we are also nothing alike.

I just wish this book were longer - it felt like it was cut short. Rather than breezing through graduation and post-graduation in a two page epilogue, I wanted to live it with her. It felt like someone grabbed the author's work mid-writing session and brought it to the editor. But in some ways, that tonal / pace shift felt right. The way you immediately lose touch with people after graduation and receive a cliffnotes summary of their life felt equally realistic. I just wanted more time with her 😭.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Catalina is born in Ecuador and goes to live with her grandparents in the U.S. when her parents are killed in a car crash. She's very bright and gets into Harvard but doesn't seem to fit in everywhere and worries that because she's still an immigrant she won't have the same opportunities. She has many experiences--both good and bad--but I got bogged down by all the details and didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Brimming with a relentless and immaculate ennui, this one gives big "reckless intelligence in blue-grey light" vibes.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Catalina.

Catalina's narrative felt real, chaotic and honest. She attempted to be the typical twenty year old but circumstances didn't allow this. The story started off strong but bounced all over the place, the build up fell flat in the end. The cover is absolutely stunning.

I give the book 4.5 stars. I received a free ebook from Netgalley in return for a fair review. I had never heard of the author before. I am a genX Ashkenazi Jew. I really liked this book.

I finished the book in less than 3 days. I haven't read anything like this before. The chapters were long. It wasn't easy breezy fiction. I really liked the book and the characters.

The characters were multi dimensional. This is what I like when I read fiction (honestly non-fiction too). The characters were flawed but likeable. For fiction, it has a lot of politics, history, geography, and other facts.

It's a book that will make you think. There is a subtle hint of mental health issues in the book. It's very rare to read fiction, where characters deal with depression or anything like that.

The book didn't end with a neat and tidy ending. The book wasn't predictable. It was really good.

I look forward to reading more from the author. Thank you to Karla and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance. Unfortunately DNF at 16%. The style was - as other reviewers have mentioned - very much stream of conscious and chaotic. Transitions and more chapters to break up the novel would have made the writing more digestible in my opinion.

I was blown away by this author's nonfiction book, "The Undocumented Americans", so was thrilled to get an ARC from Random House/One World and Net Galley. The book did not disappoint! Villavicencio's wry prose mixes cultural commentary on Ivy League elitism with the story of a young woman navigating typical university drama at Harvard, but as an undocumented immigrant. Catalina was orphaned in Ecuador at a young age, then raised by her grandparents in New York, and the family's immigration status adds tension to many of Catalina's relationships and opportunities. The protagonist is willing to speak her mind, and weaves in obscure and popular references to how she judges the world around her. The meandering thoughts of Catalina occasionally distracted from my ability to follow the plot, but was usually a pleasant enough tangent. Highly recommend this quick and compelling read!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

This book is written in a distinct way that is often found in Latin American literature but is definitely a style that I don't like. I find it off-putting, chaotic, and uninteresting. The chaotic spoke well to the tone of a lost and undocumented young adult trying to find herself in a very confusing time, but it was all over the place. I didn't enjoy it and I found that disappointing because if it was written in another style the story would have been spectacular.

The blurb doesn't do a great job of telling you what the story is about either. In fact, you'll pick up the book expecting one thing and will end up reading something entirely different.

All-in-all this book wasn't for me. I'm sure there will be many people who appreciate this style, particularly as the story has so much potential. I probably will not be reading anything from this author again.

1 1/2 stars

In a string of tangents and stream of consciousness, Catalina tells the story of a young woman in her last year at Harvard, while also exploring her relationship with her grandparents, religion and with herself. Being undocumented means Catalina’s future after university is up in the air.
Catalina is quite a chaotic but vulnerable main character and it’s her characterization and the way she views her life and the things around her that made it impossible for me to put this book down. Being coined as a miracle child by her grandparents Catalina sets out to be exactly that.
Set under the backdrop of 2011, this book provides commentary on being undocumented, generalizations about culture, and academia—topics that can be heavy—and yet I found that it was still funny at times. It’s hard to put into words how much I enjoyed this book and how it made me feel (nostalgic and sad and hopeful). At the end of my reading experience, it felt like I had just ended a long conversation with a friend but I was left with wanting so much more, especially with the ending but I think that is all to personal preference.
Full detailed review to come at a later time once the book is out!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for sending me the ARC.
Catalina is a chaotic look into an Ecuadorian immigrant, her experience at Harvard and largely America. She has a rocky up bringing and it largely affects her life down the line. Catalina’s story is told in a stream of consciousness way that makes it hard to follow at times. One moment she’ll be in her dorm in a depressive fugue over her lack of motivation and the next she talks about her dead parents. The romance b plot didn’t quite work for me, but one of the best parts was when Catalina jumps out of the moving car.
Some moments, I found the prose lyrical and effective. For most of the book, it felt longwinded and meandering. The book was less than 200 pages, but it took me a long while to actually finish.

This book looks at the world through the mind of a young Catalina as she navigates being an undocumented student at Harvard. As she tries to fit into a world that wasn't made with people like her in mind, we get to follow along with her experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
At times it did feel hard to follow along, but then I thought to myself that if someone was reading MY thoughts, it would be very similar. Once I was able to get into the rhythm of the story and how Catalina thought and expressed herself, it all fell into place. Being able to delve into deeper topics while being able to keep things light made this such an enjoyable read.

I had some mixed feelings about this. I did not get a feel for the places in the book at all which made the book feel kind of flat to me. Events were not described in much detail either. Feelings are great and the book did coast on vibes for a long time but eventually, I was hoping for something more real and concrete from it and it never delivered. The writing wasn't bad but there was an odd lack of connection that made it hard for me to heartily recommend the book.

The cover is what drew me in and I'm so glad I was able to read this. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio has a great writing style and I was invested in what was going on, it had a great coming of age feel and was glad to read this. I enjoyed the way the characters were written and thought they felt like they belonged in this world.

"Catalina," narrated by the titular character Catalina Ituralde, offers a unique glimpse into the life of an undocumented Hispanic student at Harvard. After losing her parents in a car accident, she is brought up by her grandparents, sharing her experiences of growing up in early 21st century America.

This concise novel is rich in content, weaving in significant historical moments like 9/11, Obama's election, and the repeal of the DREAM Act, lending immediacy to Catalina's narrative. She tackles societal and political absurdities with a mix of dry humor and candidness, softening the impact of the weightier themes she navigates.

Despite its depth, the novel's narrative style and development might come across as somewhat scattered, resembling a stream of consciousness that occasionally frustrates. There were moments when Catalina's decisions or views sparked disagreement, but overall, her story remains a compelling, relevant account of navigating life's complexities.

Catalina is a meandering journey through a young undocumented immigrant's life in New York.

Young Catalina was sent to live with her grandparents in the US when her parents died in a car accident. She remembers little of Ecuador, the country of her birth, and with the DREAM act looming, she hopes to attain a permanence and stability in America that she has never had.

The story is familiar, but the telling of it is a random stream of consciousness - I can't speak as to pacing because there is no pace, no plot, just a haphazard tale that goes off in various tangents. It was a frustrating read despite a very compelling set up.

This one wasn’t for me. I just didn’t get into the characters or story. I love reading and I miss it when I’m reading a book that I’m not enjoying as I tend to find other things to do to avoid the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair an honest review.

A fun read. Catalina offers a glimpse into the frustrations of life as an undocumented young person in the US. This slice of life story is relatable to those who know intimately the struggle of the immigrant trying to gain legal status.

This book had shining moments for me but overall it was so disheveled. It felt like there was never a complete thought and that the author was rambling on. It reminded me of conversations I have with my friends that start off strongly but then spiral into a hundred other discussions and never seem to get back to a concrete storyline. I felt like I wanted more out of this book and for being less than 250 pages, it just felt like there was so much more to be said. The timeline was hard to follow because of the flashbacks. This book could definitely benefit from chapters to break up the thoughts and provide a better flow. As it stands, it’s just 4 sections. It was still thought provoking and illuminating on cultures and thoughts outside of my typical perspective. I’m glad I read it, not sure if I’d recommend it at this time. I’d be interested in other work by the author.

I felt sorry for Catalina. I thought she was quite hard to like. I reflected how difficult it must have been to lose both her parents simultaneously, then to lose another caretaker, and finally to end up on a different continent with grandparents.

Catalina seems to like to get reactions from people by repeating comments she's heard or read and passing them off as her own. It's as if she doesn't know who she is and is trying on different personalities instead of looking inward. It's not as if she's had much guidance in that area though.

And now she's enrolled in Harvard, in a special program for undocumented students. Catalina tells few people that she is actually a citizen of Ecuador. This secrecy is necessitated by the fact that her caretakers-- her grandparents-- are actually undocumented as well. "Don't bring up Ecuador, they're listening," her grandmother told her.

I don't know how I would categorize "Catalina." It is a very different book. Karla Cornejo Villavencencio does a wonderful job making the reader feel Catalina's sense of feeling lost in the world, of not knowing where she fits. That aspect of the book reminded me of Flannery O'Connor's characters who make me feel embarrassed with the things they say and do.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy of this book. I recommend "Catalina."