Unnerving and relatable. It was an intriguing story but man oh man I wish they would’ve worked out in the end!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This graphic novel explores religious trauma, especially guilt from not being religious after a religious upbringing, in such a fresh and fun way. It's hard to imagine there being a "fun" way to approach religious trauma, but this book truly did it! I really resonated with the main character and her struggles and how they affected the people around her. I also really resonated with her appreciation for saints (one saint in particular, I suppose), even though she is no longer a practicing Catholic. The author's note explaining her connection to Catherine and the struggles she experiences was wonderful.

The pacing was a little weird at some points, but that is my only complaint, and it is quite a minor one.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought the author did an excellent job showing the impacts of religious trauma on someone’s life and what it feels like to question that status quo when a person begins deconstructing. I found the characters really enjoyable and relatable! I loved the art style and the depiction of Catherine’s demon.

I love graphic novels and I was so excited when I got approved for this one! The art style was so soft and the color palette fit perfectly. I found Catherine to be such a strong character even when she didn't herself as such.

I had no idea what to expect from this but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not a religious person but could relate to the guilt in some capacity due being raised to be religious to a certain extent.

This was a fun read!

This was ok! I liked the exploration of religious trauma and I also enjoyed the character design of the demon, but the themes felt surface level.

Catherine feels obligated to attend mass every Sunday despite not wanting to attend. After a couple of decades of never missing mass, she misses one Sunday to spend time with her boyfriend.
Sometimes when emotions, feelings, and thoughts, are not addressed and deeply buried, various illnesses can develop or manifest themselves in other ways. This is what happens to Catherine. A physical formation of her feelings manifests itself to haunt her, which she suspects is due to being a bad Catholic and a bad person.
I felt very connected to Catherine’s character because I also grew up devoutly religious. It is not an easy process to disconnect what you learned as a child to how you want to live your life as an adult (when breaking away from said religion). I think this graphic novel should be read by anyone that has made the difficult choice to split from a religion that has ruled most of their lives. It is worth the read.

I liked this but it didn't wow me. This isn't one that's going to stick with me. I will say that I think reading the ebook was a bit unfair because I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels in the ebook form, and I feel like the ebook allowed me to fly through this book without taking the time to enjoy it. This isn't a short book, but I read it in around an hour, maybe? I really liked the art style, but I feel like the plot lacked substance. I wasn't a huge fan of the demon as a character, and the ending seemed abrupt, though maybe that's on me for missing foreshadowing. I expected it to be more horror, so it was kind of disappointing on that end. It seems like I'm going too hard on this, but I promise I did like it. I'd recommend it to people who are more into graphic novels than I am. 3.5 stars rounded down. Thanks to NetGalley and 23rd St. for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Publishing for the ARC.

As someone who grew up Catholic, I thought this was a beautifully, well told story about overcoming that good ol' Catholic guilt in your adulthood. I thought this might go in a more horror adjacent direction based on the cover, but I loved where it went in instead. I meant to simply start this tonight and ended up reading the entire thing in one sitting. Getting absorbed in this story and characters was incredibly easy.

I absolutely loved the art style and coloring. It feels wrong to say the Prince of Hell had a few very cutely drawn panels, but I'll stand by that. There were quite a few pages that were absolutely stunning.

Very interesting story. I loved the artsyle and the characters. This was a really fun read. The story and characters were relatable.

Thank you to First Second Books and NetGalley for a free advanced reader’s copy. I received this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Saint Catherine is not warm or fuzzy or right or wrong. It’s messy and feels real in a way that’s so terribly human, what else could you get from a literal manifestation of catholic guilt? While I thought the twist at the end was easy to tell, I’m not sure hiding it and making it a secret was the point. The journey our protagonist, Catherine, takes trying to figure out what makes her ‘a good person’ and balancing that with the way her religion exists in her mind was the point and it was really nice seeing that play out on the page. Though there were points where the story dragged a bit, I could understand it’s slow pace and the feeling of uncertainty it was meant to inspire. If I had one criticism, it’d be that all the supporting cast felt too perfect? Too good? Which made the more mundane things Catherine did feel terrible in comparison. While that may have been the point in all this, it had the unintended effect of making all the side characters feel very one dimensional and thin in comparison which also didn’t reflect well on Catherine herself.

Overall, I think this would be a great read for someone who related to Catherine and her journey.

A really great depiction of the struggle to overcome religious trauma. The art is beautiful and the story reads fast.

Saint Catherine follows the life of Catherine after she is possessed by the prince of hell. She believes that the reason why she’s been possessed is due to her guilt but even after trying to come clean about her past, the demon won’t leave.

This graphic novel truly had me sucked in from the start. I was obsessed with Catherine and her friends. I wanted to root for her so bad. I think it just fully encapsulates the horrors of being an adult and making mistakes. I can’t speak about the religious guilt entirely, but I think it was super well done.

When we, as the reader, learn that Catherine is pretty flawed we walk a thin line of feeling sorry for her and feeling bad about what she’s done. I think it is written so well. You feel this pang of empathy but also you’re screwing at your book like CATHERINE WHAT ARE YOU DOING???

Of course this is a graphic novel and I can’t not mention the art. I loooved the art style so much. Each character was so beautiful and unique. The manifestation of the demon was well done. I think everything nourished the story.

I don’t know exactly how I feel about this story and these characters, but I think that’s the point. I left the book feeling happy-sad. I wanted what’s best for every one but what’s best is actually a little complicated. Anyways. Great story about catholic guilt and the messiness of life and love.

I loved everything about this - the plot, the art, the characters. It instantly hooked me and I loved the characters so much. Highly recommend this one.

My God, I don't know what I expected going into this but what I got from it was so much more than I thought. Catherine as a character was so unique and I loved her background, her history with religion, and all that developed in her life because of it. The demonic twist and what that ultimately ended up being was a wonderful conclusion and I really enjoyed the way the romance concluded as well. This was a powerful read and I definitely look forward to more from this creator!

Very reflective and emotional graphic novel, the art style is pretty and the story makes you reflect.

Saint Catherine follows a lapsed Catholic who thinks she's being possessed by demons after skipping mass for the first time. Meyer blends supernatural horror with quarter-life crisis as Catherine deals with relationship drama, family expectations, and twenty-seven legions of hell (who are surprisingly quippy). While the story takes some unexpected turns away from traditional horror, it offers a clever exploration of religious guilt through both literal and metaphorical demons.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc for review.

Sometimes (rarely) I miss slinging comic books and deciding what weird wonders to order for the shop. The way I would have ordered 10 copies, been reprimanded, and then sold them all.

Saint Catherine is Catholic Guilt turned squidgy demon. Bad choices. Good friends.

I grew up in a very mixed religious area, but contrary to the popular belief of peers, I never went to church. I went to one Catholic mass (as a condition of sleeping over my Catholic BFF's house on a Saturday) and returned years later to that same church, very, very late as a plus one to my boyfriend's (who wasn't calling himself my boyfriend) cousin's wedding. So while I definitely don't "get" the Catholicism how some of my Catholic girlies would, I did once light a candle in front of Saint Valentine's skull in Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, which immediately blew out. But really, I did see a lot of my Catholic friends reflected in Catherine.

I do wish that the pacing and introduction to some of the secondary characters was a bit smoother. The art was fantastic. The friends were fantastic. And the story felt the right amount of fever dream.

Saint Catherine is a really intriguing graphic novel about Catherine, a woman in her 20s who no longer considers herself religious, but was raised Catholic and still attends Mass every Sunday for fear of upsetting her mother, and also because she believes bad things happen to her when she doesn't go. Her boyfriend convinces her to skip one Sunday, and after that she is possessed by a demon claiming to be the Prince of Hell. I am not Catholic, but I found Catherine's struggles of guilt and grappling with the idea that making a bad decision doesn't make you a bad person very relatable. I found the art style to be very cute and cozy and I very much enjoyed Saint Catherine!

This takes Catholic guilt to a whole new level. The relationship between Catherine and her mother was very realistic and the legion of demons just made it a bit more interesting.

This was such an honest, unfortunately close-to-home look as growing up in a religious household and then becoming your own adult. Catherine struggles with obsessive worry around attending church, leading her to believe she has been possessed by a demon when she willingly misses Sunday Mass for the first time in her life. As someone who had to seek therapy for guilt and obsessive thought patterns surrounding my own connection to faith, I felt so intensely represented in this novel. I loved that it sought to deal with family bonds and guilt, rather than the perceived morality of the religion itself. A wonderful adult graphic novel I will definitely be recommending to friends.