I recently read Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, and while I appreciated its ambition, I found it somewhat lacking in cohesion and depth. The novel follows Catalina Ituralde, an undocumented Harvard student navigating her senior year, grappling with personal and familial challenges.

Villavicencio’s portrayal of Catalina’s internal struggles and the external pressures of her undocumented status is compelling. However, the narrative often feels disjointed, with subplots that seem underdeveloped or tangential. For instance, Catalina’s interactions with elite campus societies and her romantic entanglements are introduced but not fully explored, leaving me wanting more depth and resolution.

Additionally, while the novel aims to critique liberal academia and its hypocrisies, these observations sometimes come across as surface-level, lacking the incisive analysis I anticipated. The pacing, too, is uneven; certain sections meander without clear direction, which affected my engagement with the story.

That said, Villavicencio’s writing shines in moments of introspection, and her depiction of the immigrant experience is poignant and authentic. Yet, as a whole, the novel doesn’t fully coalesce into a satisfying narrative, leaving several thematic threads unresolved.

In summary, while Catalina offers valuable insights into the life of an undocumented student, it falls short in delivering a cohesive and impactful story. I hope to see more structured storytelling in Villavicencio’s future works.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

How did I just realize that Karla Cornejo Villavicencio wrote another book?! She's been on my radar since I read The Undocumented Americans and this book did not disappoint.

Catalina is a campus novel at its best—stream-of-consciousness prose set in the last year of a Harvard undergraduate, narrated by the titular Catalina—English student and undocumented migrant—unsure of what life will look like post-graduation. In witty and perceptive narration, Catalina describes growing up in Queens with her grandparents after her parents pass away in a fatal car accident in Ecuador. She reflects on past experiences as an intern and student, surrounded, but never truly perceived by, a predominantly white cohort of peers, instructors, and managers. With a looming graduation and a sudden deportation notice for her grandfather, Catalina spirals into self-destructive behavior that threatens to consume her.

I really enjoyed the wry humor throughout this story and the perspective of an undocumented migrant is not one we see often enough in literature. If I had one nit, it would be that the resolution and most of the character growth seems to happen off-page in the epilogue. Perhaps a slightly more extended arc would see Catalina developing and growing from her experiences.

"Catalina" by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is a raw and thought-provoking read that dives into identity, immigration, and the complexities of life as a young woman in America. The writing is sharp and unapologetic, and the author’s voice is bold, offering a unique perspective on the immigrant experience. However, at times, the narrative feels disjointed, jumping between personal anecdotes and broader societal commentary. While some moments are deeply emotional and relatable, others feel a bit too fragmented. Overall, it’s a powerful book that sheds light on important issues, but the structure and pacing make it hard to fully connect with at times.

I loved this book the same way I loved Elif Batuman's The Idiot. They are both detailed, almost diary-like stories recounting the lives of young women at elite universities. While in lesser hands the detail could bog down the narrative, Cornejo Villavicencio lets the detail become the narrative. Things happen, yes, but the real joy here is living in Catalina's head: her worries, her crushes, her real and imagined problems. This one was a great read--let yourself marinate in the prose and you won't be sorry.

I really like Villavicencio's voice. I couldn't separate it from her main character’s voice, however, and I while I was interested in her exploration of core themes in NF and F, I would have liked more experimentation

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s #Catalina is a book I intend to offer heavily to AP Lit students looking for an independent read in the spring.

Catalina is a student at Harvard preparing to graduate. Her future is far more uncertain than other classmates’ because she and her grandparents are living in the US as undocumented migrants from Ecuador. Her voice is compelling. As someone with two college age daughters who works in a high school, her internal monologue is authentically spot on: her indecision, her internalized judgments from others, her reckless decision making, the balance of being what others expect and being true to herself all ring true. This makes her reality, so different from most of our AP students, so much more accessible. There is a lot packed into 200 pages and deserves as much conversation and discussion as it sparks.

This novel pairs well with the collection of essays: Magical Realism by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal

My favorite book of 2024. Beautiful character study and a story that absolutely needs to be told. It deserves all the hype it gets.

This book blends elements of magical realism, psychological drama, and social commentary. The novel centers on Catalina, a woman struggling with a history of trauma, lost identity, and systemic injustices. The story is told in a non-linear fashion, whcih I personally struggled with. However the book's emotional depth leaves a lasting impact.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Random House, and One World for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. Catalina is a Harvard student who was born in Ecuador and is undocumented. She lives with her grandparents in Queens, and they are also undocumented. We see her struggles as she gets ready to start her life, but even with the Harvard diploma, cannot move forward in the US with this legal status. Will she be able to stay in the US? Will she and her family be targeted and kicked out of the US? It’s fiction, but based on the true story of the author. And it is very timely with the current political climate, a very scary time for immigrants trying to contribute to the US economy and culture, while being accused of awful things for no reason. Glad I read it. #catalina #karlacornejovillavicencio #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #lovetoread #bookstagram #politicalnovel #readersofinstagram

I tried to get into this book on three different occasions and each time was the same. I just couldn't get through the long winded rambles of Catalina. The paragraphs changed in a rapid manner, which left me rereading and rereading pages to see if I missed something. This book has so much potential as it would follow the journey of an undocumented American.

After admiring and learning so much from Karla Cornejo Villavicencio's memoir/essays The Undocumented Americans, I was eager to read her debut novel, Catalina. The titular Catalina is an undocumented student at Harvard. The novel follows a year in her life, as she moves toward graduation with no ability to work legally in the United States. As an elite college student, the world of unpaid internships is wide open to her. Catalina is a dynamic character, and I loved the time I spent in her world as she navigates coming of age and life as an undocumented American. She doesn't want to be a poster child for undocumented Americans, but she still offers a window into that reality to both characters and the reader. I'm happy to be a Cornejo Villavicencio completist and am already eagerly awaiting reading her future books.

This is a poignant coming of age story about a senior at Harvard who is undocumented, grappling with the tragedies in her family and the truths of her childhood, while also grappling with the unknown: what comes next, after graduation? It was really interesting and a quick read.

Catalina is a brilliant illegal immigrant from Ecuador whose parents died so she came to the US to live with her undocumented grandparents. I have mixed feelings about this novel. Bits and pieces of it were compelling, fascinating reading offering insights to the lives of undocumented migrants. Keep your head down, don’t call attention to yourself, and this smart girl finds herself going to Harvard. She doesn’t fit in anywhere and even with a Harvard degree, her future is limited. I have no way to know if my disconnection from her life is due to her status, her age and/or my age but I often found myself completely lost trying to relate to her. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance copy.

I wanted to love this. I mean, a girl that is undocumented and has the drive to make it! I loved the grandparents and how this is sadly a very real case for many in the states. However, where I usually connect with books/issues surrounding legal status in the states, i struggled connecting with Catalina. Will still most definitely read rooms by this author!

Catalina is a Harvard senior. She was abandoned by her parents and now lives with her misogynist grandfather and lost grandmother. They are all in the U.S. without legal immigration papers. Catalina's uncertain future could include tragedies but maybe love and freedom, too, especially when she infiltrates the school’s elite subcultures. During this year, can she save her family and herself?
This story is succinct. But I never quite got the jist of it. I do like that Catalina is a human who makes mistakes. And she's not afraid to be true to herself.
I do support DACA, a theme of this book.
Likewise, some of my favorite quotes include:
"While I was away at school, my grandfather had gotten even better at his silent treatments toward my grandmother. I felt bad for him. He never admitted he was sad, because if he was sad about this, then he had to be sad about everything, and how much sadness could one man take?"
"You know, human bodies aren’t hot all the time.” Facts!

*Catalina* follows a Harvard senior grappling with the pressures of being an undocumented American as graduation approaches. Caught in a personal crisis, Catalina navigates her last year of college in a fictionalized memoir that reflects her feelings of being a ticking time bomb.
As a fan of Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s nonfiction, *The Undocumented Americans*, I was eager to see how her lyrical prose would translate into fiction. The writing is captivating, offering an intimate glimpse into Catalina’s struggles, shaped by trauma and often leading her into turmoil. However, the narrative felt a bit disjointed, resembling a series of essays rather than a cohesive story, which hindered its flow.

Villavicencio’s experiences during Obama’s second term and the DACA debate add depth to the story, particularly around identity and the “dreamer” experience. Yet, some moments felt repetitive, echoing themes from her memoir, which distracted from the narrative.
I appreciated how the book discusses Latin American culture and the complexities of identity, especially through Catalina’s interactions with her grandfather and commentary on academia. The ending ties the themes together nicely, but I wished for more development in certain areas to enhance its impact.

I thought this was going to be a different story than what it was, but it was still very interesting! It would switch to Catalina’s thoughts versus reality of what was actually transpiring. I had to adjust to that, but once I did, it was easier to read.

I also found it extremely sad a lot of times. Something that happens towards the end of the story was heart breaking for me…

Catalina had resilience and spunk throughout, and I had to admire her for that, as others in her situation/circumstances may have faltered! Knowing that your existence, your very being, is questioned by others would be hardest of all….

Thank you to Net Galley for an ebook copy in exchange for an honest review!

In Catalina we follow a senior at Harvard who is an undocumented American and is running out of time to decide what this will mean for her after graduation. Catalina is having a bit of a crisis as she feels like the clock is ticking down to something she can’t fully cope with. Throughout this novel, we follow her last year of college in a fictionalized memoir detailing the highs and lows of feeling like a ticking time bomb.

Personally, I loved Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s non-fiction book, The Undocumented Americans, so I was really curious to see how her lyrical prose would translate here into literary fiction. This new book actually shares a lot with her memoir: both have that captivating writing that keeps you turning pages, and offers a deeply personal look at a character barely holding it together. Catalina is clearly shaped by trauma, and we see how it leads her into one problem after another. She’s often reactionary but also suffers in silence, making her both fascinating and frustrating. You want to understand her better, but she keeps so much bottled up. It definitely fits into that “messy 20-something, no plot, just vibes” genre. However, the book felt a bit disjointed, more like a series of essays than a cohesive narrative, which made it hard for the story to fully come together for me.

Another thing that stood out was how much of the author’s life seemed to come through in the book. It’s set during Obama’s second term, around when Villavicencio was a student at Harvard and DACA was a big issue impacting dreamers across the U.S. This context adds a lot of depth around identity and the “dreamer” experience. At times, though, the narrative felt like it overlapped too much with her memoir. There were moments when I felt like I was re-reading passages from The Undocumented Americans, which made it feel a bit repetitive. Perhaps this could be because both use pretty similar writing styles; I didn’t go back and check her memoir for evidence of this. Regardless, it took me out of the story a bit and made me question what is something new being presented to me here? How is this different to her memoir? And the differences felt marginal.

Yet, there was something I really enjoyed about this book and this was how Latin American culture, history, and identity are discussed by Catalina and her grandfather. It’s interesting to see people try to tell Catalina what being Latin American—or even Ecuadorian—should mean to her, especially in a political sense. There’s some sharp commentary on academia, too, particularly on how scholars sometimes approach studying other cultures with a white savior mentality. Additionally, the types of misleading interactions with faculty who never really make it clear how they feel which can make for odd relationships. I felt this thread of exploring and understanding identity built nicely and was woven in well by the end. The ending of this book in general succinctly brought the themes together and made me finally have that a-ha moment of understanding what the author had been building. Yet, I wish certain parts of the story had a bit more development to really make the ending more impactful.

Overall, this book feels like a long-form fictionalized essay touching on a lot of topics. Some of these themes may really connect with readers, while others might feel a bit inaccessible. I still love Villavicencio’s writing, but this book felt too close to her memoir for me to fully enjoy as a distinct piece of fiction.

This reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey with its portrayal of, as Holden put it, the "phoniness" and the pointlessness of social contrivances when you are living with serious existential issues and mental turmoil and people are just continuing on with their bullshit.

Catalina is in the middle of it all at Harvard, the "center of the center" to quote Slumdog Millionaire, and yet she is listless and disgusted. Catalina's college girliness felt so real and embarrassingly relatable, but she has a legitimate reason to hate the world and have an attitude. She's undocumented, she's dealing with actual problems, and whatever she accomplishes at Harvard won't even matter because she's legally unable to get a job.

Catarina is a senior at Harvard, soon to graduate. She is also a Dreamer who has a hard time planning for an unknown future which is more like a carrot dangled in front of her face. Thoughtful and provoking.