I found this to be wonderful, magical, poetic, especially with the imagery of mythology. The relationship between father and daughter felt very honest and heartbreaking. I met Clara in person at my bookstore and had been recommending it but am glad I can now talk about how beautiful the writing is.

The parts I enjoyed the most were when we wandered through the “zones” - without people, with only the memories of the past in strangely weathered objects left behind. This is where Kumagai’s writing soars with lyricism and you could practically feel the hush of an empty world. I also really liked Sora’s interpersonal relationships: her struggles with being hafu (half-Japanese) in both Vancouver and Japan, her will-they-won’t-they friendship/relationship with her only friend, Naomi, Maya, her dad. Her relationship with her dad is probably the main pillar of the story as his mental state deteriorates and he becomes obsessive and reckless in his research; Sora is bitter and frustrated but also tries to care for him in the only way she knows how.

One of the biggest issues I had (and this may be specific to the audiobook) was I had a hard time distinguishing transitions between the present and flashbacks.

Kumagai is going to be an author to watch, I think.

Absolutely amazing!

The concept was really unique, and extremely well executed. I was hooked the whole time.

It’s also really interesting that the main character’s relationship with race is a major factor in the book, as it can be for many people.

It felt real (except for the weird time stuff of course).

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the ALC.

This was an interesting and somewhat odd speculative fiction. Maybe odd isn’t the right word, or maybe it is. Either way I was intrigued. Kumagi takes the story of a catfish that lives under Japan and causes earthquakes when it rolls over in a new direction. Post earthquake zones appear where time functions differently. The protagonist, a teen girl, deals with the grief of those lost in the earthquake and its aftermath, especially her mother, and of the home she misses. Her father works for a corporation researching the zones.

Within the speculative fiction are substories of grief, love, the self, the concept of time, caring for a parent, parental loss, racism in Japan around biracial children, and a sapphic love story. All of this rolls and sometimes shakes just like an earthquake.

3 out of 5

Has a great premise but execution wasn't all that great. Finished it in a single day though so it has that going for it.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for an advance listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars

There exists a giant catfish under Japan, and some believe that earthquakes are the result of it twisting and turning. Whether or not this is strictly true is up for debate, but this is what Sora grows up hearing in the decade after an earthquake hit that was so powerful it left time distortions across the country.

Catfish Rolling is a neat little magical realism/speculative fiction novel that also explores what grief does to us, and I think it was a very good debut. After losing her mother to an earthquake, Sora and her father both grieve in different ways—for Sora, this means she is desperate to find her mother, who she believes is lost in a time zone. This element of the novel was really interesting to me—I thought it was so cool to see how time had fractured and how society had adapted to it. I also thought Kumagi took an interesting route in showing us how spending too much time in these zones affects people, such as Sora’s father and his colleagues.

This book also deals with themes like grief and being othered—as a hafu, Sora faces a specific kind of prejudice and discrimination. She also is secretly searching the time zones—places where time moves either too fast or too slow—even though her father, a time zone researcher, has told her it is too dangerous. I sometimes found Sora to be a really frustrating protagonist—either because of her reactions or her choices. Still, contextualizing her situation and the fact she is eighteen made her choices super understandable. I think Kumagi did a really good job at describing how time works in the time zones and made them understandable, which is impressive because sometimes time shenanigans can get super confusing. Honestly, it was fun to follow Sora into the time zones, even at the parts where it seemed really stressful. I liked Kumagi’s writing, though sometimes the emotional immediacy of the narrative was a little too much for me. There’s some really beautiful sentences here, and I really enjoyed Sora’s overall character arc, I just think I would have personally preferred this in third person.

I think Susan Momoko-Hingley did a good job narrating. At times her narration didn’t work for me, but it’s such a deeply personal preference thing. Definitely worth checking out if audio is a good format for you.

Overall, a very strong debut!

Exquisitely beautiful and different from anything I'd read before. An earthquake disrupts time, creating places where time runs faster and slower than normal. Several people are studying this for different reasons. We go along with Sora as she learns more and more about these zones. It's pretty mindbending to follow along, but that's the fun part. All the twists and turns do eventually lead to a rolling catfish, and a conclusion for Sora. I highly recommend this book if you want something that will make your brain work.

This audiobook was wonderful! I was so excited about it I actually went ahead and bought it when it came out!

The story is unlike anything I’ve encountered before and quite magical. But the writing style itself is grounded. I thought that this was paired well with the audiobook narrator’s voice - she really captures Sora’s character. And she does a great job with the other characters like Sora’s father.

I particularly loved the ending of the audiobook and even went back and relistened to it. It was so vivid and imaginative and I really felt like I was there with Sora unraveling the mystery and surrounded by a world of folklore and spirits.

The story itself is really seeped in lore as well as sci fi on one hand and so practical on the other hand. It makes this book such a unique read.

But I will say it’s a bit slow in the middle, the plot slinks along exploring the relationships between Sora and the other characters. It was still nice and I could easily listen to it while doing different things (audiobooks are so convenient!). But the ending was where the book really shined in my opinion.

There's a catfish under Japan. When the catfish rolls, the earth moves. There was a big huge movement, and now there are zones. The slow zone is where time moves slower than normal and the fast is where time moves faster than normal. Sora spends her time giving tours of the zones and helping her dad search for her lost mother. It's not a perfect life but it's the only one she's got, and she's holding onto hope that one day she'll find her mother and make it all worth it.

I really liked this book. Maybe it's because I too know what Sora feels like every time she's otherized. Sora is a well-constructed, believable character, who is totally relatable and seems so very real. The world building is unique, and I was super interested in the zones.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. I really enjoyed Susan Momoko-Hingley's narration. I definitely recommend this book, especially if you've ever felt like you're not sure where you belong.

‘There’s a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls.’

Catfish Rolling has such a unique and intriguing premise. One day an earthquake hits Japan, so big that it messes up time in some areas creating slow and fast zones. Our main character’s dad works investigating the zones and she can somehow feel the shift between them.

The first half of this book only lightly delves into this and is more focused on Sora’s day to day life and her relationship with her father. I wish we had seen more of the zones and explored it deeper, they sound so interesting but it feels as if everything was only ever surface level. I also found parts of the first half to be confusing with the audiobook, as we would jump to different time points and it wasn’t clear where we are.

I loved the second half of the book where Sora has to venture further into the zones to find her father. I wish this had been more of the main focus of the book and that we spent more time exploring alongside her.

Another thing I loved was that this book was Sapphic! I had no idea going into it and was so happily surprised to find out.

Overall this is a solid debut, I just wish we had more of a look and exploration inside the zones. Had the first half not been so slow to get through, this would have no doubt been 4-5 stars.

when I read the synopsis of the book I thought that It was just what I needed to read, mysterious shakes, different time lapses, in a way reminded me of a book that I absolutely loved “The Never-Ending End of the World”, but the only comparative possible between the two books is only on my mind.

Yes I did finish the audiobook, but I finished it and the first thought that comes to my mind, is what was the story about?, things that should be explored, weren’t, I ended the book thinking about all the whys and what for, that we were introduced during the story that we don’t really have answers for, why is Sora almost “immune” to the time zones, is her mother relevant to that? Maybe I am not the intended public for this book, is this book supposed to have a second book in the series, is it a stand alone novel? Uhmm actually in story this book is for me 2 stars, but I did like the narrator and that is why I give it 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and RBMedia, for giving me the chance to listen to this new audiobook.

What an impressive read! It was 100% up my alley and I loved it!! I’m glad it had a great narrator (Susan Momoko-Hingley), with a somewhat hyponasal voice but a great voice anyway and a nice accent and intonation. She really helped to get me completely sucked into this beautifully written story.

When Sora is little and living in Japan with her Japanese mother and Canadian father, and she’s out shopping with her father, a major earthquake happens. Her mother goes missing and the world has changed. And her life and that of so many others, will never be the same.

It caused time to change.. Not everywhere but in certain zones. Time goes faster or slower there but it’s more than that. Are things moving when you don’t look for a second or are these hallucinations? Have the gods come back?

Sora goes into these zones with her dad who is a researcher, but also alone (secretly) to look for her mother. Sora has just graduated high school and is taking a gap year. She might be the only one who can actually sense when she crosses into an altered time zone so she and her dad start mapping them. But things really start getting hard for Sora, when her dad starts making no sense.

There are flashbacks all throughout the story where we read about Sora’s life before the earthquake and it has a few beautiful friendships and love stories.

Another element of this book I loved a lot, is that even if it’s often not easy for Sora to have 2 nationalities, it is so enriching too.

This book takes you to so many incredibly interesting places and people, like the zones, a research company and a university lab. I ate this up! It’s a beautiful and engaging read but perfect for spooky season too!

In Catfish Rolling, there are giant catfish beneath the islands of Japan that sometimes roll, causing earthquakes. At one point, before the story begins, a large enough earthquake caused zones to occur in which time moves faster or slower than the rest of the world. The people who were in these zones at the time of the earthquake, including the main character's mother, disappeared.

This book is incredibly hard to describe. It initially felt like light speculative fiction, but as the story goes on, the "science" with time gets slowly more intricate and complicated. I didn't fully understand it, but it was fun going along with Sora as she explored how these worked. It didn't feel strong enough to be considered sci-fi, but it is definitely more than mere speculative fiction.

Clara Kumagi's writing is so beautiful, that I found myself pausing to appreciate her sentences every so often. She is particularly skilled at ending a chapter with a beautiful line. Toward the end of the novel, the book begins to feel almost surrealist.

This book will likely not be for everyone, but I can't figure out what would make someone more likely to enjoy it. I would recommend this book myself because I had a really good time.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had many expectations for this title after reading the enchanting description about catfish that cause the land to rise and fall beneath the islands of Japan. However, I found the book to be quite ordinary and contemporary, still, it's not a bad debut novel!

The story starts off strong with the magical concept of the catfish rolling and causing Japan to shake. A father and daughter are left puzzled and intrigued by the unusual and mysterious shaking, which causes the mother to disappear. Could she be in a parallel world or another time? However, this concept is short-lived and the book quickly becomes absorbed in the daily life of Sora - her future, her relationship with her father, the shock of her lost mother, and her struggles as a minority.

After reading other reviews, I found out many loved this story. While it may not have been my cup of tea, I can appreciate that it could be much more interesting to those who enjoy contemporary and queer romantic novels, as well as those who find the time zone change concept to be interesting.

I want to thank RB Media via NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagi and narrated by Susan Momoko-Hingley. As always, I have given an honest review.

I was soooo excited about this YA magical realism/fantasy debut. The cover is FANTASTIC and the premise sounded so fun but I really struggled to get into this story and ultimately chose to set it aside after about eight chapters. Maybe I'll pick it up again later but it wasn't doing much for me at the moment. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I think the most important part of an audiobook and the enjoyment comes down to the narrator. I enjoyed the narration of the book. I think the narrator did a really good job. However, I feel as though this is one of those books that lends itself to be read physically rather than being listened to.

The reason I say this is because there are jumps between the past and the present and I was often confused when we would switch from present to past. A switch that I think would be easier to accept if you read it yourself.

I really wanted to love this book but i just couldn't get in to it. Perhaps I need to try a different medium as sometimes I take in audio better, sometimes ebook, others physical.
I just felt like I was left behind a little and not really following,

This is definitely not a read for everyone.

Catfish Rolling is one of those novels where the reader has to do the legwork and interpret its meaning. There are themes of grief (and all its stages), growth (as both a young person experiencing trauma and grief), and living in liminal spaces where time moves faster, slower, or normally.

There are a few examples of how different people experience these emotions and their reactions to them. For example, Sora's grief manifests in a different manner than her father's grief. This can be seen throughout the novel. Her father refuses to accept his invisible illness, but Sora can see it quite clearly.

There's an ethereal, abstract quality to the novel that's very in line with magical realism. I'd say it's the kind of soft and emotional sci-fi that reminds me of Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011) and Mike Cahill's Another Earth (2011). Sci-fi is used as a metaphor for the human experience, which is definitely a YMMV type of thing.

There are also themes of belonging. Over and over again, Sora, a hafu living in Japan, is seen as an Other. Some of the Japanese people she encounters just assume that she's a foreigner who doesn't speak Japanese. There's a biting scene where Sora's father's boss says that her Japanese is really good, and she responds along the lines of, "And so is yours." As a brown immigrant living in the US, this is definitely relatable.

I loved how Sora's relationships (with her father, her missing mother, and her guy friend) are messy and complicated. It's very lifelike and realistic. The author did really well with this.

All in all, I'd recommend this if you're looking for a YA novel that's complex and multifaceted in the ways that it deals with grief and trauma.

Thank you to Recorded Books and NetGalley for this arc.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed Catfish Rolling.
Firstly, I loved the Japanese culture through out this and as a long time learner of the language and culture I enjoyed the references and followed the book easily. I liked the story tellings of the catfish, the beliefs behind the the folktales.

I liked the FMC well enough, she has built well through the book, a young Japanese/Canadian woman, immersed with grief, love and science. I loved the string bond she shared with her Father throughout, and enjoyed watching their relationship grow.

I think the novel referenced well with the genre SCI-FI, following the science and concept of time after an earthquake making different time zones and the study of this. I’ve always been fascinated with the concept of time so this ticked a lot of boxes for me, along with the strong relation with trees and nature which I felt paired nicely with the study of time.

The only thing that knocks are star off for me is that I did find it slower in some places and it got a little repetitive through the middle.

Overall, I think anyone who enjoys science fiction mixed with fantasy would like the Catfish Rolling