As much as I wanted to like this book, it didn’t work out in my favor. I didn’t really care for the main character Ines. I feel she is written in a way that you will either like or dislike her character. I did like Yaya who is a secondary character.

The book started off slow but I knew that was needed to set the scene for the story. Though the pacing was slow there is a turning point in the story and I started to get excited. Sadly after that part of the story nothing else exciting happened and the story just dragged on and on and on.

Thomas’s writing is very vivid and detailed and it felt like I was there in the story as I read but I needed more. When I’m reading a suspense story I want my heart to race in anticipation as to what will happen next. With this story I never got that heart pounding feeling and I found the ending to be lackluster.

I made it through 20% of this, but then I lost interest. The story was sort of ham-fisted, with these strong reminders that Ines had done something horrible, but without the audience knowing what. Also, the set up was implausible: no outside contact for three years?

Throughout the whole time I was reading this book I was hard-pressed to articulate why, exactly, I was enjoying it so much but now I feel sure that it's because this book does pretty much the exact opposite of what you expect it to. A narrator arrives at an austere and beautiful but also quasi-cult-like school that just so happens to be in control of a mysterious substance? Well, obviously our plucky heroine is going to spend the majority of her time trying to unravel said mystery while also studying and maybe winning the affection of a cute but dull boy. Right? Doesn't that sound familiar?

Well, here, none of that happens. Certain things you'd think would feature largely end up being glossed over, while others, like the main mystery of the book - which is to do with plasm, a substance only the students in Catherine understand - are unveiled slowly, naturalistically with Ines not so much following clues or doing any gumshoeing, but rather watching, listening, and - here's a shocking one - having conversations with other students in an attempt to find out what's going on. And, I've got to say: I really, really loved that. I loved the freshness of that, and of how realistic it seemed. Of course a college student is going to be way more interested in partying than in some peripheral (but highly creepy) mystery. Of course the new and beautiful school campus that she finds herself in is going to occupy most of her thoughts in the beginning. And I get how some readers may find that frustrating, but I found that unique and refreshing. There are hundreds if not thousands of books out there with bright young things out to solve a mystery; there aren't many like this, with an unabashedly lazy and unmotivated main character, meandering her way through the plot.

And yes, that's exactly how it feels: the plot meanders in and out of view. There are long, long stretches without any mention of plasm. And yes, ultimately 80% of this book ends up being either atmospheric or creeping dread, while only 20% is plot related, but I felt this paid off wonderfully, both in the snapshot quality of the story and also in how hard the plot does hit when it enters the reader's view. There are some truly great reveals towards the end of the book; two scenes in particular gave me chills.

So yes again: I do think readers expecting a fast-paced, page-turner are going to be disappointed here. But if you're the type of reader who can settle in, and be led around the halls of this book by a character who's isn't plucky or all that "likable" (and to be frank, this is why I liked her) then I think you're in for a real treat with this book.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Catherine House, and it ended up being very different from the types of books I usually read. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; I think it’s important to try new things and expand your horizons. But it also might partially explain why this one wasn’t for me.

The synopsis of this book compares it to Never Let Me Go. The two aren’t exactly the same, but I think it’s a fair comparison. Both take place in isolated boarding schools where something sinister is going on behind the scenes. Both elicited similar emotional reactions from me, a sort of melancholy feeling that’s hard to escape. And both were memorable and left an impression on me, even if the reading experience was unsatisfactory.

The protagonist, Ines, was the main drawback of Catherine House, which is another similarity to Never Let Me Go. I was not a fan of any of the characters in that book, nor was I fan of any of the characters in this one. But Ines, in particular, was an unsympathetic, closed-off, wishy-washy protagonist and I didn’t always enjoy being trapped inside her head. Her narration fit perfectly with the overall tone of the book, but that didn’t make me like her any more, and I can’t get through a book with an unlikable protagonist.

I would say the main draw of Catherine House is that it is a dark, unsettling, mysterious, and deeply atmospheric read. At first, I was intrigued by the house’s secrets and wanted to know more, which kept me reading. I was worried the development of the story would suffer due to its short length, but Elisabeth Thomas had plenty of time for vivid descriptions and the slow build of a general sense of unease. On the contrary, it was too long; the plot dragged, and by the end of Ines’ third year at Catherine, I knew I’d go crazy if I tried to read this book all the way through to the end.

I don’t think this is a bad book and I don’t think Thomas is a bad writer. Her use of descriptive language, her ability to evoke emotion, and the way she builds an immersive atmosphere are all hallmarks of a very talented writer. My problems with Catherine House are entirely subjective. If you’re a fan of Never Let Me Go or if you like the idea of a slow, weird, unsettling little book, you might love this one. But I didn’t.

Thank you for allowing me a preview of this title. This was not the book for me. I finally had to give up at the 50% point. I didn't care for Ines or the school or what the school was doing. I just couldn't find any reason for me to continue. Best wishes and thank you.