Catalina lost her parents in a car accident and left Ecuador for the United States to live with her grandmother and grandfather. She goes through the worries and anxieties of finding her way in a new world. I wanted to like this book more than I did, but was still interesting.

a new dark academia book has arrived! and it is great and compelling. very well worth your read. go read it asap!!!!

This book had Catcher in The Rye vibes -- a smart wry narrator examines and tells us about her life as much as she's living it, seeking authenticity. Catalina's problems are more complicated than Holden's though, as she navigates Harvard as an undocumented immigrant, so the book carries more heart and heft.

The chaotic style won't work for every reader. The stream-of-consciousness narration felt frenetic sometimes, tedious at others. I was glad I spent the time with it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

This is the story of a young girl who was sent to this country from Ecuador, by her aunt and uncle, after she was orphaned. She comes to New York as a five year old, to live with her grandparents who are undocumented. Like her grandparents, it turns out that she too is undocumented.
We follow Catalina's life through her time at Harvard. But her situation is so tenuous and causes her so much grief that she falls into a deep depression. And this affects every aspect of her life. Catalina's is the story of so many young people, the dreamers, whose lives here are so precarious.
A wonderful look into the life of just one of these young people, Ms. Villacencia has written a very poignant story, told in novel form. Her writing is lovely and one can only hope that one day soon, the Congress will do something to change the situation of these productive people who are here through no fault of their own. I highly recommend it.

I DNF’d this book at 60%. I just wasn’t enjoying it. The characters weren’t likable, nothing seemed to be happening, and I kept finding myself wanting to read anything else. I am not going to review it anywhere but I wanted to provide my feedback here. I think I just wasn’t the audience for this book.

Catalina escapes death in Ecuador and ends up with her undocumented grandparents in Queens. She makes it into Harvard and is approaching graduation, but her status leaves her dealing with unpaid internships and an uncertain future.

In many ways, Catalina is a typical college student: Experimenting with a life of independence; learning about consequences; bound to her family but hoping to escape. On the other hand, there are moments that are certainly not typical … a wordless sexual encounter with an unknown diner at Denny’s and throwing herself from a moving car.

I think the chaos might have been just a bit too much like my own undergraduate years some 50+ years ago for me to fully appreciate this novel.

The concept is excellent — a Latina woman’s interpretation and interrogation of “the campus novel.” Catalina is a force. Her voice is evident from the beginning and her insights and musings are often relatable, always pointed, and sometimes amusing. Her encounters with her grandparents, professors, and fellow students all introduce new facets of a young woman trying to navigate her chaotic feelings in a chaotic world. I think this is a thoughtful book that readers need to sit with for a while.

This is my second book read by this author. I loved The Undocumented Americans so I was very excited to read this book. It lived up to my expectations that I had. I loved how she addressed a lot of important issues that many immigrants face living in the US. I also loved the family dynamics in this novel. Highly recommend.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book. The journey of an undocumented student at Harvard on the eve of her graduation sounded like a compelling read. But I found the depiction of the main character confusing and often off putting. Surprisingly, this book almost had a Less Than Zero vibe at times where Catalina drifts through life in a boredom so vast that she provokes people just to get a reaction, hooks up with strangers in a Denny’s, and considers her grandfather’s deportation order “exciting.” I just didn’t get her. Is she a sociopath or is she so brilliant that life basically poses no challenge or struggle for her? She can attract any man, pass any exam, get tapped for exclusive secret societies through aloofness. She herself seems to believe that she leads a charmed life where everything just kind of works out for her. Even when her grandfather disappears, Catalina and her grandmother seem to be aOkay, All of which is at odds with the very real question mark hanging over her life because of her undocumented status. So how are we as readers supposed to feel for and about Catalina? Is she a brat who doesn’t recognize her own good fortune or is she so messed up by abandonment and long term insecurity that she’s incapable of functioning as a human being? It’s hard to tell and that is the weakness of this book.

This was beautiful. Catalina made me laugh and cry. It’s a story that needs to be told. She lives life as a college student at Harvard but also as an immigrant.
I will be recommending and reading the finished copy when it comes out.

Catalina lost he parents at a young age and eventually winds up in Queens where she is raised by her grandparents. Catalina is smart but undocumented girl who must keep this secret while an undergrad at Harvard. This was an interesting coming of age story from the point of view of someone proving the American Dream is possible but still faces roadblock do to choices that were made for her as a child. It was interesting to read about the feelings she had while in an academic environment learning about her history from people who don't share her background but are able to travel to places she is unable to return to.

3-3.5 stars
I didn't like this as much as I thought I would: DACA student from Ecuador, raised in the US from childhood by her grandparents, gets into Harvard. Sounds great. However, the format of the book--a lot of stream of consciousness--didn't work well for me. Also, Catalina herself was very immature and annoying.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

The writing style was not to my liking. I was not hooked on the story. I just did not find it easy to read.

Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is a clever and moving novel whose main character, Catalina Ituralde, is a student at Harvard, after growing up undocumented in Queens with her grandparents. This is a semi-autobiographical searing debut with a loveably vulnerable and chaotic main character. Catalina’s struggles with her grandfather’s immigration issues as well as her waiting on bated breath to see if the DREAM act would pass were touching. Catalina’s witty commentary about white people in the Harvard community’s focus on Latin America is acerbic but also feels accurate. I also loved reading about her grandfather’s take on Latin American history, and her conflicted relationship with her grandparents felt very real. Recommended. Thanks to Random House One World and NetGalley for the eARC.

CATALINA is a strange book. It reads like a chaotic train of thought by a character, Catalina, who is a bit wild, hard to pin down, and frustratingly makes some bonkers decisions. Catalina is being raised in Queens by her undocumented grandparents. She gets accepted to Harvard and this is where her story begins. As we follow her through her four years coming of age in college, she feels a sense of doom as she faces graduation with undocumented status, and an on again off again boyfriend who is untrustworthy and comes from a disapproving, wealthy family.

My frustration with the book was probably the writing. I liked the story, and the chaos of Catalina, but the writing was a bit amateurish and annoyingly repetitive at times. The book is very vibey, and for a specific audience, one that doesn't mind stream of consciousness writing. It reminded me a lot of one of my favorite books though, THE IDIOT by Elif Batuman! So I'm a little all over the place with this one, but I think it will be a popular debut.

A marvelous read. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time inside the mind of main character Catalina Ituralde, a wickedly smart and funny Harvard student trying to navigate the complications and pressures of academics, romance, family, and figuring out her place in the world. Born in Ecuador and raised in Queens by her undocumented grandparents, Catalina is also forced to confront her own undocumented status throughout her senior year, as she approaches graduation and prepares for the "real" world. Both heartbreaking and hopeful - I will be thinking about this novel for some time.

DNF -
I wanted to like this book considering the content matter felt relatable. I am a first generation American to immigrants from Asian and Latin countries. I loved the anecdotes about her grandparents which made me think of my own and their experiences coming to America.

Ultimately, I found the format a bit distracting. I love the story being told in vignettes but I felt that they were disconnected at times and it caused a bit of confusion. I think I will give it another chance one day but for right now, its a DNF for me

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Ok - what a wild ride this story is. The book itself is broken up into 4 parts as opposed to chapters. It made part 1 feel very long and also disjointed, but I am glad that I persisted.

After being introduced to Catalina and her history with arriving in the US to live with her grandparents (part 1), the story starts to flow into her young adult life at Harvard.

The authors writing style came off very stream of consciousness at first, and then suddenly I was sucked in and couldn’t get out. The protagonist is brilliant and unapologetic. She was maddening at times but also so relatable that I couldn’t help but love her. I felt as if I was living vicariously through her and finally saying and acting how I wish I would have at 20 years old.

Overall I truly loved this story and I am glad I pushed through part 1. Catalina the book and Catalina the MFC will stick with me for a while.

This book felt very young adult to me than literary fiction. The titular character felt so immature and silly to me. I just couldn't stand the way she talks to people, especially her beloved grandparents. This is a character driven novel, nothing exciting happens. I thought this book was going to be more intriguing and have some substance/depth to it. I didn't care for the writing style. I don't think the author is very creative enough. Everything felt very surface level to me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for the copy of Catalina,
by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. This is A New Adult book and would be great for that age group. I read lots of YA and NA books even though I’m well above the age group these books are targeted at, and this one was not for me. The first-person narrative was self-indulgent and I was frustrated at how it just meandered around some important themes. I can understand, though, why some readers will love the way it’s written. It just wasn’t for me, even though there were sections that were really engaging and gave insight into Catalina’s life.