Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc.

This graphic novel follows our main character, who skips Sunday mass for the first time. It explores guilt and faith. I like the book's art style. I completed it in one sitting.

🖤♦️Don't forget to go to mass♦️🖤

This was a fun, cozy horror and extremely relatable read that was beautifully illustrated!

Being raised in the Catholic church, with nearly mirror beliefs, I could see myself in Cat's shoes when navigating the modern world, when your own personal beliefs and values are pinned against the expectations that your parents had for you, and although my demons and Cat's demons are no where near the same, I resonated with them.

I devour this one in one sitting. It kept me engaged and entertained, wishing there were more.

I recommend this to anyone who has struggled between living the life they created for themselves vs. the life your parents wanted for yourself. (I know a little too intense, but in a cozy horror kinda way)

I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this e-book ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Saint Catherine is a graphic novel about overcoming religious trauma. Catherine is feeling guilty for missing her first mass and winds up possessed by demons. We get to know her friends, boyfriend, and ex, and see the fracture between her childhood and adult life. I really enjoyed the art style, and how the story resolved as well as its commentary on the catholic church. Thanks to First Second and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

I've been on a weird graphic novel kick lately, so I thought I'd give this a shot! It wasn't quite what I expected, as the cover makes it seem more horror-leaning than it actually is, but I had a good time with it. It was an interesting take on Catholic guilt.

Three-and-a-half stars to Saint Catherine!

Saint Catherine is a unique graphic novel about catholic guilt and recognizing the difference between making a bad decision and being a bad person. I really enjoyed the art style and art work. I wish we got more of a conclusion to one aspect of the story- the ending is the only area where this graphic novel fell a little flat for me. Four stars!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Saint Catherine!

Excellent and a little heartbreaking. I like that most ages could read this book and take something from it. Not what I was expecting, but not in a bad way- this story makes you think more than it scares you.

I received this ARC for free and I’m leaving a review of my own volition.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This graphic novel was a great look at a young woman’s journey to forgiveness and finding herself. It deals a lot with faith and understanding that you can be a good person even if you live a different lifestyle. Catherine is flawed and she does some messed up stuff, but we follow her guilt and self doubt and I still wanted her to be ok in the end. There’s an interesting twist here that I didn’t really see coming. The end was also very bittersweet and I really enjoyed the art. I felt myself a lot in Catherine and she mirrored thoughts I’ve had when I was younger and questioning who I am with and without religion. Love books that explore this concept!

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books for the e-ARC of Saint Catherine!
5 / 5 ⭐

“The only thing the church ever made me feel is scared, guilty, and alone.”
Saint Catherine is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about religious trauma, Catholic guilt, overbearing parents, and coming to terms with your inner demons.

CWs: failed suicide attempt, cheating

I loved this. The color scheme was simple yet striking, the art similar. The story was right up my alley in terms of the "twist." We have a lot of exvangelicals and people who are struggling to move away from their religious upbringing (or religious trauma) so I can see this fitting quite a few needs in our audience especially among young adults.

This was so incredibly interesting, and I REALLY enjoyed the art style, as well! I like how it dealt with religious upbringings and trauma, but in its own way. I would really like to see more from this artist in the future!

Thank you for the ARC!

The linework and coloring were simple, yet incredibly effective. I loved the way scenes and people were blocked through the book. This is a personal thing of mine, but I don't tend to read books that have cheating tropes, which this one does, and it honestly surprised me. I would've loved to see the storyline been her messing things up and intentionally hurting people, and then having to deal with the fallout of that, instead.

I loved the bridge scene, 10/10.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

this was a fantastic graphic novel from start to finish. i loved the art style, and especially loved the color palette.

saint catherine is extremely multifaceted and will probably hit close to home to those raised in a religious catholic household. there is fear of god, hell, and being a bad person, as well as weaponizing that guilt/fear. while this graphic novel is very religious-centric, there are also a lot of non-religious aspects that many readers can relate to such as uncertainty of the future, indecisiveness about careers, cheating partners, suicidal ideologies, and overbearing family members. BUT! there is also a lot of positivity: platonic love, caring friends, and the love of mothers.

i am very interested to see what anna meyer creates next!

Saint Catherine by Anna Meyer is a coming-of-age tale of a young woman who is convinced she is possessed after skipping Sunday mass for the first time in her life. This event, while seemingly harmless to Catherine and she loves, actually is the catalyst for Catherine confront the things she has been avoiding. This was a page-turner; every situation Catherine ever tried to avoid snowballed into an avalanche Catherine couldn't outrun--which made me forget a very important event that happened early in the story. I appreciated the natural meeting the supernatural, and the function of the two aspects combined—and the study of Saint Catherine herself as a last resort for learning to "be good" as well as to deter her internal demon from ruining her life.

The art was great, and the boyfriend is hot. I recommend.

Thanks, NetGalley and First Second Books/23rd St., for the opportunity to read this work!!

i received an e-ARC and will be giving an honest review

currently sitting in a fred meyer starbucks trying very hard not to start crying, haha. in a good way! this was a phenomenal read. i don’t quite have the religious trauma as deep as catherine does, but i went to a catholic school for a few years in middle school as someone who isn’t catholic and that sure killed a lot of my spirit. haven’t been to mass since, thank god, but reading this brought back a lot of memories and feelings id tried to just push back and never worry about. i’m obsessed with everything about this. the art is jaw dropping, i kept finding myself lingering on pages just looking at how stunning it is. once it’s published these will certainly be used as home and lock screens on my phone.
catherine’s guilt both around religion and her personal life was so well written. it both doesn’t immediately forgive her, leaving her w 0 repercussions on things that she did mess up, but it didn’t completely villainize her. it reminded the reader that she’s human and that she made a mistake and that has consequences, but it won’t destroy her life.
the side characters were also so well fleshed out!!! i loved how we got good chunks of their story without taking away from catherine at all.
i do also like how ambiguous it all is. how it can be a bit open ended if you think about it a bit.
the isolation that catherine put herself through is something very familiar to me and i really loved how it was written. you could understand catherine as she literally had demons in her mind but you also see how it’s affecting her friends and boyfriend. it really showed both sides just so, so well.
i think that the beauty of the art really tied everything together perfectly. it created an atmosphere of eye candy, in a way, so each page felt addicting to look at, to search the page and see all of the details. i’ve always been a huge fan of that aesthetic, pastel, one-hue type of digital art of messy bedrooms, and this totally fulfilled all of my hopes and dreams for that.
i’ve been talking a lot about the art and such and not about the plot and how personal it is, mainly as to not spoil much, but i just need to say how stunning this book was in every way. i just can’t get over the dialogue, the story, the characters, the relationships. i really and truly felt for catherine in a way that i don’t feel with characters often. a deep and personal thing that made my heart ache a bit. this was absolutely incredible. thank you to the author for this story

I don't think that it was quite as spooky as I expected based on it being tagged as horror, in fact there were times where the demon was even a little cute. But I really liked this. The art was great, especiality illustrations of the saints. I liked the characters and their relationships to each other felt very grounding, at times it almost felt like catching up with friends. The story moved quickly and was interesting. While not a completely new topic,Meyer's voice is so authentic that I didn't need it to be a fresh idea for it to be a great read!

Got an E-ARC from NetGalley. I didn’t grow up Catholic but I still really relate to the feelings of shame the main character felt about whether she was a good person or not. I really appreciate graphic novels that follow adult characters with complex relationships and the art style was very appealing. My only critique is that I felt a bit confused by the timeline and how long her possession lasted.

I received this copy of Saint Catherine from NetGalley. I really enjoyed this quick read, and will certainly return to do a more thorough reading. As someone who was not brought up with religion, I found Meyer's perspective on religious guilt and acceptance fascinating and tender. The illustrations are succinct and effective. I loved the beautiful queer love story the most!

It may come as a shock to all of you but I was raised Roman Catholic. Can you imagine that this heathen was baptized? Went to church every single Sunday. It didn’t matter if there was a foot of snow outside or if I was sick, there was no missing Sunday Mass. This graphic novel hit very close to home for me.

The instant I started to read this, there was an instant connection with the main character and myself. I saw a lot of myself in her and that was one of the main reasons why I enjoyed this. The story was unique. The entire idea about a demon haunting someone who missed mass was very entertaining and oh so bizarre (in the best way)

Saint Catherine was a great story that was very imaginative. The art was soft and beautiful. I really enjoyed everything about this. You’ll never guess how this one ends and it makes you enjoy this story a lot more.

Saint Catherine is a beautifully written & illustrated graphic novel dealing with religious trauma. This was such a creative approach to this topic. There is one question left unanswered, but other than that this was an enjoyable (although a bit heavy at times) read.

Saint Catherine brilliantly balances humor and heavy themes of religious trauma. The whimsical demons add a light touch amid serious subjects, while the art enhances emotional depth. I felt connected to the characters and having a similar religious upbringing I resonated with the author's end note.