[Review] Catherine
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Title: Catherine
Author: April Lindner
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Publication Date: January 2, 2013
Publisher: Hachette
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Description
Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad’s famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?
Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a sudden illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years—a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn’t die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her—starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground.
Told in two voices, twenty years apart, Catherine interweaves a timeless forbidden romance with a compelling modern mystery.
My Thoughts
I was very excited to read this novel one because I loved Jane, April Linders first YA novel based in Jane Eyre, and also because I read Wuthering Heights last year for school and I loved it.
Catherine is told with alternating POVs with Chelsea and her mother, Catherine. We start off with Chelsea finding a hidden letter that reveals a life altering secret about her mother that sets her off on a journey to New York to find answers. It is only when she meats Hence that everything starts to fall into place, and her mothers past becomes everymore real then she every thought.
I felt myself more drawn towards Catherine's character, only because her life is a total mystery to us readers and even to Chelsea. Even though I knew where the story was going, based on the original Wuthering Heights, I never felt bored or uninterested. I actually felt myself drawn more into the story because I knew the end of the original. I was very interested in seeing what April did with the end, and boy did she surprise me.
The one issue that started to nag at me throughout the book was Catherine as a character. She was so relatable and even nice and I was a little disappointed that April did not make Catherine's character more like the original. I wanted her to be selfish, mean and greedy. I think it would have made for a very interesting story if readers were given a choice of whether to love her or hate her. It would have given a different dimension to an already captivating story.
Overall I really enjoyed this retelling, April did a very good job of keeping me on my toes, and not letting my familiarity with the original take away from her version. A great book for lovers of contemporary fiction and for lovers of the original.
3.5/5 Stars
1 comments
I actually haven't read Wurthering Heights (I know. I know.) But I am intrigued by this. Will have to finally read the original so I can start tackling retellings
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