I loved this book. The writing was amazing. The story original. I had to pay close attention to this one because it was a quick read and not a quick read at the same time. There were many sad, reflective minutes between these sister, but lots of humor too.

Three stars, for beauty and befuddlement.

The Catch is a cloud of a book — dreamy, amorphous, and ever so slightly out of reach. It shifts shapes, moods, and meanings. One moment, you’re basking in metaphorical sunshine; the next, you’re bracing for a downpour of ambiguity. You’re never quite sure who’s telling the truth — or if truth even exists at all. Maybe it’s all subjective. Maybe reality is just how we feel in the moment.

And while I love a novel that plays with perception and the unknown, I’ll be honest: I also found myself growing frustrated and confused, especially with voice and point of view. Clara and Dempsey are supposed to be opposites, but their inner monologues blurred so thoroughly I often couldn’t tell who was speaking, or whether they were actually the same person the entire time.

To be fair, I reviewed the audio ARC, and the dreamy, sultry cadence of the narrator — while beautiful — may have added to the book’s fogginess. Her lulling, velvet voice was almost hypnotic. Gorgeous, but not helpful for clarity.

You can absolutely tell Yrsa Daley-Ward is a poet. The language is lyrical, rich, and evocative. And while that’s a win for atmosphere, it sometimes came at the expense of narrative grip. I felt like I was chasing smoke, admiring the artistry, but rarely feeling tethered to the story.

This is a unique novel. I suspect it will be divisive — the literary elite will likely praise its ephemeral brilliance, embracing the disorientation as art. But for us more “normie gals,” it might be a tougher sell.

That said, I’d still recommend it… but only to readers who like their stories like abstract paintings: gorgeous, but open to (a lot of) interpretation.

DNF 35%

I really wanted to finish this book, but I just couldn't connect to the characters of the book. Yrsa Daley-Ward's writing and narration is wonderful, but I found myself not really caring about the characters and that, coupled with a lack of reading time, is why I chose not to finish the book.

While I liked Daley-Ward's narration, keeping track of three female characters' points of view was challenging, especially since there didn't seem to be a distinct difference in voice for each character. I think I may try to read the physical copy of this book when I have more time because I do think it is a unique story that deserves to be read and appreciated. I just think I chose a format that didn't work for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

(3.5 stars rounded up)

The Catch is a haunting, poetic exploration of identity, memory, and the tangled bond between twin sisters. Clara and Dempsey, raised apart and shaped by vastly different lives, are drawn together again when they encounter Serene—a woman who looks exactly like their mother the moment she disappeared. What begins as a mystery quickly unravels into something much deeper, stranger, and more psychological than it first appears.

Just when you think you have a handle on the story, Yrsa Daley-Ward shifts your footing, asking you to question what’s real, what’s remembered, and what’s possible. The novel blurs the line between mental instability and alternate realities, offering a bold, unsettling ride through the fragmented lens of trauma, sisterhood, and self-perception.

Favourite elements:
The dynamic between Clara and Dempsey was a standout. It was raw, chaotic, and deeply real—filled with that intense push-pull of sisterly love, resentment, sabotage, and longing. I found myself feeling like the third sister, watching from inside their emotional storm. The depiction of BPD was thoughtful and nuanced, and the lyrical writing style added a haunting beauty even when the narrative itself felt unstable. The ending—and especially the bonus alternate endings—was a powerful touch that really elevated the experience.

What didn’t work for me:
At times, the novel leaned a little too hard into confusion. I appreciate intentional disorientation, but there were moments where it became frustrating rather than immersive.

Final thoughts:
I’d absolutely recommend The Catch to lovers of poetic writing, psychological fiction, and anyone drawn to complex family dynamics—especially women who understand the layered realities of sisterhood. It’s not an easy read, but it is a rich one, and it stays with you long after the final page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! 🖤

This is an unreliable narrator story that never resolves the question of reality. There are threads of magical realism (or are they threads of psychosis?) -- a woman who has believed her mother dead for her whole life spots a woman she is convinced is her mother. Except the potential mother isn't 50 or 60 years old as she would be in a normal timeline; she's 30ish. The woman's twin is convinced the woman is crazy and the potential mother is a con artist. Except maybe the twin is also starting to believe that it's the mother, or a mother-ghost-witch, or something.

The book proposes multiple endings and leaves the reader grasping for "the truth." And that's part of the point. Reality is what we make it and perspective matters. History matters. Generational wounds continue to hurt. Overall, the musings on life and the different characters were engaging, but never clear. Like the foggy and blurred cover, the story never coalesced.

The author narrates the audiobook. On the one hand, that's wonderful because she has a lovely voice and can manage the poetic sentences in just the way they were intended. On the other hand, it contribute to audio-confusion in this already confusing narrative. The audiobook would be substantially improved by giving the different characters different narrators.

I'm glad to have discovered this author and will look for some of her poetry. The author has potential, but this book never quite reached it for this reader.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ARC of the audiobook.

I cannot stress enough how happy it makes me when an audiobook is narrated by the author. Having the book read exactly as the author intended often adds a level of understanding which a voice actor just can't give. Bearing that in mind, it felt clear whilst listening tot this audiobook that Daley-Ward wrote a twisted, sorrowful and confusing tale in order to leave the reader thinking.

Having read this in print immediately before listening to the audiobook helped me follow the changes in narrator slightly easier than I usually would when there is a single narrator on an audiobook with multiple characters narrating. The characters of the two sisters Clara and Dempsey are different enough that once you have encountered each of them a few times it becomes immediately clear at the start of each chapter who is narrating. Both are unreliable sources of information and there is a mix of facts being withheld as well as simple lack of knowledge preventing them from telling the whole story. The mental illness theme explains a lot but the time travel element on top of that I still can't wrap my head around.

Daley-Ward's poetical writing translates well into audiobook so for anyone who struggles to read that style I would recommend listening to the audiobook. I still don't feel that I've understood the ending and whilst I don't mind a novel finishing without a resolution I'd recommend this book more for the beauty of the writing than for the plot.

4.5/5

Achingly real and relatable. The prose is beautiful, yet confusing. It is written like a fever dream where you are unsure what is reality.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This novel’s premise is also strikingly unique, with a sort of multiverse-adjacent twist with most everyone being super unlikable.
Writing is stunning is lyrical, sharp, and filled with moments that made me pause and reread just to take it in.
Some sections drag, especially when we’re deep in Clara’s reckless spiral, and if you like your endings neat and tied with a bow, prepare to be mildly frustrated. It leans heavily into ambiguity, and depending on your mood, that’ll either feel like literary brilliance or unfinished business. Still, despite a few slow spots and eye-roll-worthy choices from the characters, I’d absolutely recommend The Catch, especially if you’re drawn to complex women, emotional chaos, and writing that isn’t afraid to get a little weird.
I wouldn't recommend if you don't like unlikeable characters or unreliable narrators.

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 Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ARC. I also shared this review on GoodReads on June 10, 2025 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7638544512).