I love books that put me firmly in someone else’s mind - especially the mind of a character who’s had many different life experiences than me.

Imagine being a Harvard student who’s unable to plan her future because without citizenship, she’s unable to get a social security card, and therefore a job, a loan, or anything else that adults rely on in today’s society. That’s because Catalina’s an undocumented immigrant who was sent to the US from Ecuador to live with her grandparents when she was very young.

The book follows Catalina during her final year at Harvard. It’s unhinged and jumps around in the best way. Somehow Karla Cornejo Villavicencio captures all Catalina’s intrusive thoughts in a way that’s relatable, hilarious and melancholy all at the same time.

I saw CATALINA described as “pure vibe,” and I think that’s exactly right. I gobbled this book up and will be thinking about it for a while.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for an early digital copy of CATALINA in exchange for my honest feedback.

Undocumented Americans was one of my all time favorite books. As a child of immigrants it felt so important and vital. I was looking forward to this book for so long. Unfortunately it fell flat for me. I’m a big fan of character studies and of stream of consciousness writing. However, this felt ungrounded and uncomfortable. It felt as though it lacked purpose. The author has such a strong ability to evoke emotion but I felt anxious while reading this because it felt so erratic. I still look forward to her forthcoming work.

This book is absolutely singular. It's a campus novel like no other with a deeply internal narration that will leave Catalina alive in your head like an old friend long after putting the book down.

It's the best book I've read so far this year. it's got a little bit of everything I love, witty sarcastic humor that leans towards dark, steam of consciousness style narration, year on campus timeline, and constantly dragging henry kissinger. I cannot possible express how much I live this story and the complex, layered, and lovable character Karla has created.

3.5⭐️ I liked this. The story felt very raw from the get-go, but then it started to lose me towards the end.

I recognize what the author was trying to do, and I know that she was looking to convey Catalina’s roller-coaster of emotions for what she was going through, and even though I never lost interest in the story, it didn’t live up to the hype for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Catalina's story was so well told. I enjoyed this book so much. Her journey through Harvard was enlightening and exciting. The book is humorous at times and serious at others.

She was fearful she would not fit in and was terrified of being discovered as an undocumented alien.

Catalina is a brilliant young woman and clearly belongs to Harvard.

The book is a quick read, but will leave you pondering for days to come.

A profound exploration of identity, migration, and the complexities of the American Dream. Catalina was born in Ecuador and brought to the U.S. to be raised by her grandparents after the death of her parents. The story takes place in her senior year at Harvard. Despite her academic success, Catalina’s future is uncertain as she is undocumented, a Dreamer. Her life becomes a little frenetic with uncertainty looming after graduation.

Villavicencio's writing is both lyrical and candid at times and then there were times I found myself getting lost so I do have to admit, I didn’t enjoy this title as much as Undocumented Americans. I would still recommend "Catalina" as it serves as another insightful addition to the literature on immigration, offering a powerful reminder of the humanity behind the headlines.

4.5/5

Catalina is the scattered, messy, and chaotic story of Catalina Ituralde, a young, undocumented woman brought up in the US. It's a story from a unique perspective, expressed in stream-of-consciousness prose. Wildly veering off the path at times, the story revolves around Catalina's abandonment issues, anxiety over her undocumented status, and the struggles that undocumented families face in the US. It's also a commentary on many characters existing in the periphery of the lives of undocumented folks. There is so much happening in this short story. The characterization in it is exquisite. Catalina feels real, complex, and complicated. It's truly some beautiful writing, especially for a debut fiction novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6440700184

As I started reading, my initial thoughts were how jumbled everything seemed. We jump right into meeting our narrator and main character Catalina, and she is this vivacious and daring young woman navigating life as an undocumented Harvard student. The first part of this book read like a string of info-dumps where topics switched in an instant. But as you slowly get to know Catalina and her background, the story transitions into her present environment in Harvard as she balances her work, her relationships, and her status as an undocumented person in America. And as she gets closer to her graduation day, she slowly unravels.

It was so interesting to see the world through Catalina's lens. In a way, it felt like she found the right way to tell her story, rather than that documentary she was planning. And you also go along with her in her journey as she powers through so much, like how the people around her at Harvard romanticize her Latin American roots, how she deals with her grandfather's deportation issue, how she spirals when she doesn't know what she will do after graduation because she's undocumented, how she deals with her romantic relationships, and more! This book truly encapsulates how a person has layers and they're multi-faceted while still calling attention to what it's like to be undocumented in America.

When I was given the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, I was quite excited. My hope was to experience the depth of the plight of an undocumented immigrant. However, Catalina fell a bit short in that regard. While it did address the undocumented aspect of Catalina’s life as well as that of her grandparents, it did not do so to the magnitude that I had hoped. I wanted to dig and I wanted to dig deep. The beauty of America lies in her diversity, and I was hoping to explore this beauty with dignity and detail and raw emotion to a greater extent. But even though Catalina did not go as deep as I had hoped, I still enjoyed reading this novel.

Catalina is a coming-of-age novel exploring the life of Catalina, an undocumented Harvard student who was sent from Latin America to the United States as a child to be raised by her undocumented grandparents. Her character is quirky. At times you love her. At times you do not. But you keep coming back for more. And her relationships with her grandparents, professors and peers are quirky too. The book explores her life at Harvard and all that it entails. There are some very humorous scenes and stories in this novel, and humor is never a bad thing. I really enjoyed the opportunity to laugh at parts of the story. And there was a bit of a surprising twist at the end to keep it interesting just when you thought you had it all figured out. The book was a bit jumpy at times and a little difficult to follow because of it, but it is not a long read and I am glad that I stuck with it.

Three solid stars, and a huge thank you to NetGalley, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Catalina in exchange for my honest review.

#Catalina #NetGalley

I knew from Villavicencio's nonfiction, the Undocumented Americans, that her narrative writing skills were top tier so learning about her upcoming novel thrilled me. It did not disappoint!

This was everything- vulnerable, messy, insightful, funny, unsettling, devastating.

I will remember Catalina for a long, long time.

Ratings
Quality of Writing 5/5
Pacing 5/5
Plot Development 4/5
Character Development 5/5
Overall Enjoyability 5/5

Catalina is a coming-of-age novel of a young woman who grows up undocumented and then gets into Harvard. What will come next, and what she experiences along the way, create a tension and interest that you will really enjoy.

Loved Villavicenio’s “The Undocumented Americans” so I was very eager to read this one. However, “Catalina” fell short for me, as there was not much of a plot, and things just jumped from one thought or event to another.

This is the story of an undocumented Dreamer Catalina who was raised by her undocumented grandparents. She gets accepted to Harvard, a great accomplishment for her. . I did feel empathy for the family, they , always had to worry about deportation .
Catalina doesn’t have an easy time fitting in Harvard, struggles to get through.
I did not enjoy the writing style, was not able to finish it. Overall no more than three stars.
I received an advanced copy, opinions are my own.

I read The Undocumented Americans a few years back, and really appreciated the heartbreaking look at a world so different from my own. Catalina was no exception. Catalina was moved to the US to be raised by her grandparents as a child after her parents died - she's a dreamer, and her grandparents are undocumented. She ends up with a scholarship to Harvard, and has to learn to navigate a world of privilege while figuring out what she wants to do with her life. She finds herself drawn to a boy who also has an interest in her Latin American heritage from an anthropological viewpoint and starts to spin out as her home life in NYC begins to fall apart. I found this book chaotic and stressful, which I think was intentional. As a dreamer, Catalina's life is fraught, stressful, embroiled in politics. Her grandfather gets earmarked for deportation and she spins even further.

I found Catalina herself pretty unlikeable, but I appreciated the story that she told.

Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was a good coming of age novel, different from others because it focus on undocumented issues. I enjoyed my time reading it and I found the characters to be so intriguing and original. You couldn't help but feel for Catalina and everything that she was going through and it felt very real at times. There were parts that felt a little out of place, a stream of consciousness that would take me out of the story but I was able to overlook that for the greater storyline. Overall, I think this book will work for a lot of people, especially those looking for stories that give more 'vibes' than a straight story plotline.

DNF - This book had great potential, but I felt the tone was immature, the pacing is non-existent, and Catalina, the main character, is unlikable. There are important themes which are touched on but never fully explored: deportation, immigration, family life, class differences, education, sexuality. It was difficult to know what the point of view really was in this book, with so much snarkiness and whining.

This book was really middle of the road to me. It took me about half the book to really feel sucked in but ultimately I do think the story picked up and held my attention. I didn’t mind reading it but now that I’ve finished, I don’t think the story will stay with me. A solid middle of the road 3 stars.

I LOVED this so much. The main character is messy and sometimes unlikeable, but also incredibly relatable. The writing style is so unique and made this unputtdownable for me.

In "Catalina," we meet Catalina Ituralde, a remarkable young woman navigating the complexities of elite academia and her own identity. From her miraculous survival in Latin America to her undocumented upbringing in Queens, Catalina's journey to Harvard seems fated. But as she confronts her undocumented status and the looming uncertainty of graduation, Catalina's wit and intellect become both her shield and her downfall.

Through a captivating blend of campus novel, hagiography, and pop culture, the author paints a vivid portrait of Catalina's quest for love and liberation amidst the privileged world of Harvard. As graduation approaches, Catalina grapples with questions of salvation and selfhood, propelling her towards a reckoning with her past and her future.

"Catalina" is a story of resilience and defiance, offering a fresh and incisive take on the coming-of-age narrative. With its unforgettable protagonist and gripping narrative, this novel is a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who dare to carve out their own destiny in a world filled with uncertainty.

I didn't think I would relate to a coming-of-age story about a Harvard student, but I really enjoyed this story.

After Catalina's parents die in a car accident, she's sent from Ecuador to live with her grandparents in New York. They raise her as their own, but like her, they are undocumented and have limited opportunities. Still, they understand the doors education can open for her and push her to be a high achiever, and ultimately, to enroll at Harvard. We see her struggles there as well as her growth. In many ways, she's just a typical young person trying to figure out who they want to be, but in her case all of this is complicated by the fact that she's undocumented and reluctant to be seen as a poster child for her entire group. The story does a great job of showing her as a full, complicated young person, by turns confident and vulnerable, and also the imperfect family she and her grandparents make together, full of love but also, like every family, with its own set of problems. My heart broke for her when she had to deal with her grandfather's deportation orders on top of the usual pressures every college student faces, and the little moments where even seemingly well-meaning adults and friends treat her culture and history like an exotic 'other.'

Some of the jumping around in time could have been a bit less jarring (occasionally I'd have to reread a paragraph because I didn't realize it had gone from present day to something else entirely) but overall this was a very fast moving and engaging read.