My rating is largely based on how compelled I felt to keep reading, driven by both curiosity and the book’s haunting exploration of abandonment and the long shadow of childhood trauma.

That said, I’m still quite torn about the prose and character work. I could sense what the author was aiming for, and perhaps the tangled, disorienting narrative was a deliberate choice to amplify the psychological impact. If so, it almost worked for me. But even now, I’m not entirely sure what to make of the story as a whole.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Yrsa Daley-Ward, and W. W. Norton & Company: Liveright for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Unfortunately, The Catch did not quite work for me. I'm not sure if it's simply a personal preference or an overall issue with the book itself. This book is extremely obscure and unlike anything I've read, which I commend Daley-Ward for. It is a unique story that has very compelling themes and sections that did work throughout, such as the relationship between Clara and Dempsey, their upbringings, and their connections to their mother. Her characters were very vivid, and I felt that they were individuals that maybe I don't know per se but could envision seeing around or meeting. With that being said, the compelling characters and ideas were not quite enough to make the book make sense for me. This was an extremely confusing read where I was never quite sure what was happening. I hadn't seen this marketed as magical realism, so once there started to be mystical elements, I was caught off guard. Even upon finishing, I wasn't sure what parts of the book I read were "real" and which ones were in the minds of Clara and Dempsey, which is maybe the point! I appreciated having such unreliable narrators, as I do enjoy books in that sub-genre, but the descent into madness felt a bit too slippery at times between the girls. There was never a direct answer found or given about what was real (or maybe I missed it), which left me unsatisfied at the end. I think this would be a read that I would have to revisit in the future to make full sense of, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it enough to feel compelled to do that. I would be intrigued to check out future works by Daley-Ward, but if you are interested in this one, just know that the plot is not always clear and there are mystical elements.

Orphaned twin sisters, Clara and Dempster, are fostered and adopted by different nuclear families. The Catch focuses on the two women in their 30s, at which Clara spots Serene, the presumably deceased mother, tiefing a Rolex and Dempster encounters Marcus, their biological father who Serene left, who moves into the unit upstairs in her apartment complex. Discerning that Clara’s novel tells the story of their family insofar as it is true in their reality, the sisters devise a plan to prevent Serene from becoming romantically engaged with Marcus so that they can block, if you will, their births and end the cycle of abandonment.

Daley-Ward’s novel is sparklier than I expected—it reads like a contemporary novel that incorporates the lifestyle of the rich and famous. This speculative fic read should definitely be tagged as fantasy or sci-fi because of the parallel timelines and a problem commonly encountered by the multiverse trope: how does changing the past alter the future? With a background in the hard sciences during my pre-grad school days, stories heavily relying on spacetime short-circuit my brain and prevent me from grasping the narrative. I seem unable to sustain a long enough pause from thinking about the theory of general relativity, suspend the disbelief in questions I have about the physics, and follow the story for what it is. If anything, a required suspending actually seems antithetical to the project I’m consuming because it is part and parcel that I “follow the story for what it is,” questionable choices from to against Einstein’s theory of spacetime and all.

In addition to this thematic hurdle, I quickly became impatient with our two main characters. The Catch is alternatively told from Clara and Dempster’s perspectives and minimally from Serene’s. I appreciate an unlovable MC as much as the next person, but the women, perhaps, were created to be uniquely childish to emphasize their childhoods and the trauma, resulting in stunted growth. I may not have finished the book if I had not received an ARC. However, I happily acknowledge the big dogs in the literary world rave about Daley-Ward’s novel; I support her endeavors to spotlight Black women in her work and wish her all the best.

CW: Clara makes a move on her mom.

My thanks to W. W. Norton & Company, Liveright, and NetGalley for an ARC. I also shared this review on GoodReads on June 10, 2025 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7638544512).

This is probably a top 10 for me. This novel is such a good representation on what it feels like to have bpd. The unreliable narrator. Confusion in identity. And it’s written by the very talented Yrsa Daley-Ward - lines so beautiful they’ll just stick with you.

I loved her book of poems, her memoir (which I’m now going to revisit), and this fiction. Just wow!!!

While The Catch will not be everyone's preference or liking, I was hooked by it's unreliable narrators, winding timeline, and beautiful prose. Yrsa Daley-Ward did an incredible job weaving everything together.

There's a lot about the book that leaves the reader confused—who to trust, what is happening, *can* this be happening? But the through-line through all of this is Daley-Ward's steady hand. There was intention on every page, with every word choice. Even when I was trying to figure out what the hell was happening, I knew that there was a purpose.

The lyricism is Daley-Ward's writing is nothing short of beautiful. She is able to find the most human and uncomfortable adjectives in one sentence and have the most poetic line in the next.

It does drag a little bit in the middle, gets a bit muddied. But I find it has a strong ending. If you're someone who doesn't like vague endings—this will not be the book for you. But if you're open to exploring the "what-ifs," I highly recommend The Catch,

This is an esoteric novel that will be loved by some readers; unfortunately, I am not one of them.

Clara and Dempsey are 30-year-old twin sisters abandoned by their mother who presumably drowned in the Thames River. The girls were adopted separately and lived very different lives. Though they have reconnected, theirs is a difficult relationship. One day Clara sees a woman who looks exactly like their birth mother and even has her name, Serene Marie Nkem Droste, though she is the same age as the twins. Clara and Serene form an intense relationship, but Dempsey is skeptical and suspects Serene is a con artist. To complicate matters, Clara is a celebrity author who has written an autofiction book which she describes as “’a terrible tale about my mother, as though she told it to me herself.’” The book casts Serene “as some kind of witch-like siren from a bad part of town who cons everyone with her looks and ends up causing disaster.”

Both Clara and Dempsey are narrators in alternating chapters. Both are unreliable because both struggle with addiction and trauma which cloud their judgments. Each admits to hating her twin so comments need to be filtered by the reader. A couple of times, one sister narrates her version of a past event and then the subsequent chapter gives the other sister’s memory which may be contradictory. So what is the truth? Chapters of Clara’s novel are included as well; they add to the confusion because events in the book seem to mirror what is happening to Serene in the present. So what is going on?!

The writing style will catch the reader’s attention. Clara speaks about her body in an interesting way: “holding the head that is on my body” and “The body of mine gets into the car. The body of mine takes its trembling hands” and “These legs go to cross the road anyway.” Then there’s the imagery; the colour orange is mentioned 22 times. There are 46 references to “blue” though sometimes the word refers to colour and sometimes to mood. Olfactory imagery abounds: “vetiver-and-smoke scent” and “night-old brandy smell” and “smelling of geranium and patchouli” and “hints of musty river water.” Tactile imagery is also noticeable: “scaly skin” and “itchy rash.” It is the lyrical prose that most impressed me.

Much of the time it is difficult to understand what is real and what is imaginary. Confusion is compounded by references to shapeshifting and time travel, a character not belonging on this planet, a character feeling as if she is not real, and a character feeling like she is disappearing. There’s often a strange dream-like quality which is disorienting. Magic realism with its blurring of reality and fantasy is not a style I always enjoy.

To be perfectly honest, I struggled to keep reading. Pace at the beginning is slow, and because the characters are untrustworthy, they are unlikeable. I had problems connecting with anyone. There are poignant moments emphasizing “Not everyone gets a chance to have a mother, and life isn’t fair. You lose parts of your insides when you lose a mother.” However, these moments were not enough to overcome the disorientation I felt.

Though the writing style is descriptive and engaging, The Catch did not really catch me.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Clara is making a splash as a first time novelist with her book “Evidence” which has been perched on the best seller list for months. The morning after she picked up an actor at one of her readings, only to be appalled when he disclosed that he’d read here work (“that feels fairly gross. Even for me”), she is shopping at Selfridges when she spies a woman stuff a Rolex watch into her pocket. Clara is certain that the thief is her mother.

But Clara’s mother has been missing and presumed dead since 1995 when her likely remains washed up on the banks of the Thames. She left behind infant twins, Clara and Dempsey, who were adopted into different households and were raised apart. Their monthly get---togethers were terminated when Clara’s wealthy and judgmental mother relaxed Dempsey’s hair without seeking approval from Dempsey’s single father. The reappearance of their mother, Serene Marie Noemie Dorset, who inexplicably is childless and the same age as her daughters, causes Clara to contact Dempsey, who leads a far less glamorous life than her sister working in administration for Medical Foot Health Clinic.
At Clara’s urging, her mother provides her with letters written by her birth mother. As Clara relates to Dempsey, it is the exact letter that the mother writes in Clara’s book. Clara begins to spend time with Serene, but Dempsey remains skeptical, recalling how Clara had previously claimed that she had seen their mother, and urges Clara to see a professional.

The PEN Ackerley Prize-winning memorist and poet Yrsa Daley-Ward’s fiction debut agilely switches perspectives between Clara, who is convinced that she has found her mother, and Dempsey, who is as equally convinced that her sister, a prolific drinker, needs professional help. Daley-Ward explores the tension between the sisters, as they process their very different reactions to Serene and their barely concealed grudges (“Sometimes, I could happily decapitate my sister,” muses Dempsey at one point; not long after, Clara thinks, “Sometimes, I could happily strangle Dempsey.”). Thank you W.W. Norton & Co. and Net Galley for this unpredictable novel.

This book left me spinning—in a good way, I think.

The Catch is a surreal, poetic exploration of identity, sisterhood, and the weight of generational trauma. Yrsa Daley-Ward writes with such lyricism that even when I wasn’t entirely sure what was real – or how I was supposed to feel– I couldn’t look away.

The structure is disjointed, the narrator unreliable, and the story intentionally confusing at times. But that’s part of what makes it so powerful.

Strange, beautiful, and emotionally raw. I’m still not sure what to make of it, but maybe that’s the point.

I came into this novel with zero expectations, and came away both frustrated and surprised by it. I feel like I really enjoyed the writing style and alternative viewpoints that toggled back and forth between the characters, but the story itself get bogged down and muddied by its ambition. I liked the story overall and what it was trying to do, but felt like it got too far ahead of itself at times, which made it frustrating to read sometimes around the halfway point.

I requested this to recommend on the All the Books podcast, but my cohost ended up claiming it before me and recommending it instead.

I genuinely enjoyed Yrsa Daley-Ward's collection of poetry and memoir and I often find myself returning to both "bone" and "The Terrible" to re-read them. Therefore, I was excited to read "The Catch" to the point where I sprinted to NetGalley to get an ARC.

However, I often found myself confused throughout the story. Maybe that was the point -- to be confused on what is "true/real" and what is "lie/fake" whether distorted because of one's mental health and illness and/or own personal biases. I think the lyrical elements was what kept me going because I do enjoy her poetry-writing style, but admittedly I was very lost on the plot for the majority of the book. I don't know how much of the plot I actually retained, so I am interested in getting my own copy to go back and re-read; maybe I'll take something away from it after a second read.

Surreal. Poetic. Disjointed. With echoes of Morrison's "Beloved", where the past can be made corporeal, we get the story of twins who reunite with their mother in the hopes of stopping their own birth. Or is it? The language alone is enough for the reader to "just go with it," but it might not be for people who aren't in the mood for that journey. While I think that it would make for good discussions, I think that reading it within strict confines of a month might prove difficult- perhaps 6-8 weeks will prove more successful.

A beautifully written, unpredictable novel about family and identity. It explores love, loss, and self-discovery in a unique way.

An intriguing tale about Clara and Dempsey, twins who were separated into the foster system as infants after their mother drowned herself in the Thames. It's been thirty years and suddenly Serene has appeared. Clara believes she's their mother but how, given that Serene herself is only thirty, can that be? And that's what Dempsey thinks. This moves between them and has flashes of a novel written by Clara as well. It's a multiverse, I suppose, but I also found it a bit confusing, Daley-Ward has a lovely writing style which kept me reading for the pleasure of her language. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to fans of literary fiction.

This was such a great novel about creativity. It brought up large topics but also excelled in the small details. Really loved how this was done.

This book was richly written, complex and deep. It focuses on two adult twin sisters and the reappearance of their mother, including a meta-fiction aspect where events in the story mirror events in a book written by one of the main characters. I loved the complex portrayal of the twins, including their different upbringings after they were separated, and the threads of magical realism and fantasy. I’m not sure the story fully landed for me, but ultimately I think definitely worth reading for a unique and thought provoking threads that make an interesting reading experience.

As a longtime Yrsa Daley-Ward fan since reading "bone" years ago, I loved reading this book. It has such an interesting storyline, and it kept me engaged throughout the whole book. The only negative I have about this book is that because of the narration, I found myself getting confused at parts. Overall though, this was a really good read and will take readers on a journey for sure.

This was a confusing book for me! Interesting story and plot but I was confused most of it. Serene was infuriating and Clara and Dempsey I just was confused by.

I adored the way the themes were dealt with in this book - particularly motherhood, daughter(hood?) and the innate feelings we have as women. This is a little gem of a book, and deserves all of the hype! It's certainly dark at times but tinged with just enough that silver lining of hope.

Really weird and just unrelatable to me. Not a big fan of any of the characters or how this book was written.