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Sunday, January 27, 2013

{REVIEW} CATHERINE by APRIL LINDNER

CatherineSeries: Stand alone
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Publisher: Poppy
Publication Date: 1/2/13
Format:  eARC
Pages: 320
Source: Received from publisher for review.

A forbidden romance. A modern mystery. Wuthering Heights as you’ve never seen it before.

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.



This may surprise some (or most) of you who read my reviews on a regular basis...but Wuthering Heights is one of the great literary loves of my life. As a teen, I was obsessed with this book. I read it over and over again, much to my friends' confusion and my Literature teacher's delight. I even rented the movies repeatedly; the Laurence Olivier (that man could do crazed) and the Ralph Fiennes/Juliette Binoche version. Seriously, my teenage dramatic-self wanted a man to lose his mind over me, to walk the cliffs brooding for me. I wanted to be Catherine. Well, excerpt for the whole spoiled brat and dying bit. Like I said. Obsessed.

Having said that, I should also point out that I had unreasonably high expectations for Catherine, and I was wary. How many times have we all been burned by re-imaginings of favored classics? This book made me happy. As happy as a tragic, doomed love story can make anyone.

What made Catherine work, in my opinion, is that Lindner took the best parts of the original, and made them work for this story. You still have the story within a story, but this time it is Catherine's daughter Chelsea, searching for her long-missing mother, who discovers the story within her mother's journal. The story is told in alternating time periods: Chelsea in the present, Catherine twenty years prior. On her search for Catherine, she finds her mother's first love, Hence. In this version, Hence is an up-and-coming rockstar, and Catherine is other girl who loves him. This time, the two are a much easier to love pair. Hence is broody, and does become cruel at certain points, but he's not the sometimes-monster of the original. This Catherine was not awful at all! She is a teenage girl, hopelessly in love, who wants Hence as well as a life and career of her own. The circumstances that drive them apart were realistic to characters in their situation.

As far as Chelsea goes, there is much more to her story than her search for the truth. When she finds Hence, she also meets Coop, a young man who works for him. At first reluctant to get involved, Coop becomes Chelsea's best friend and asset on her journey. As she comes to revelations about her mother's life, she comes to some about her own as well.

Like I've already said, I am a huge nerd when it comes to Wuthering Heights. I could honestly sit here and break down the comparisons for hours. I went into this book worried, and came out a fan. Catherine was cleverly and beautifully told, and in my opinion, did the original story proud.
 

Favorite Quotes:

  Nothing would keep me away from Hence now that I was sure he felt the same way about me that I did about him. Because I was sure. I lay on my bed a long while, replaying the events of that afternoon, remembering how we'd held each other in front of China Yearnings, how Hence had taken my face in his hands, and how, into the tent made by hair, he'd whispered that he had loved me almost from the moment we met.  ~ eARC, 38%


  "I know Hence can be...unpredictable. But I could never break up with him. There should be a word for something that's beyond love, something this strong." I closed my eyes. "It's like my heart is made out of Silly Putty and he can stretch it all out of shape just by saying my name..."  ~ eARC, 72%


   He leaned over again. This time I twisted in my seat to meet him halfway. He brushed back the hair that had fallen into my eyes. Before I could think of what to say or how to react, he was kissing me as though everything that had ever happened in our lives had led us to this moment.  ~eARC, 85%



  "You wanted to keep Catherine away from me? If there's anything beyond this life, you'll be sending me right into her arms."  ~eARC, 91%




You can purchase at:
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22 comments:

  1. I have this book on my kindle. Glad to see you liked it :)

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  2. Aww, I'm so glad this book met your expectations. I really hate when books disappoint, especially if they are retellings or " re-imaginings" I'm not a huge fan of Wuthering Heights, but it's been awhile since I read it and my taste have changed since then, so maybe I will try this one out.

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  3. I'm glad that this was a really good retelling. I love Wuthering Heights too. I have read it countless times, though not in a long time sadly. I was a bit nervous about this one too since so many times retellings are a disappointment. I'm happy this one does the original justice. Fabulous review babe!!

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  4. I have to admit here that I have never read Wuthering Heights! I really want to start reading more of the classics because all of these re-tellings are coming out and I want to be able to compare them. This sounds good. Throw a rock star in anything and you have my attention! Happy that it lived up to your expectations!

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  5. I didnt think I could love you any more but now I do. Wuthering Heights is probably my favorite book ever, I just absolutely love it. So naturally I am super excited to read this book and I am so glad to hear that it is a good re-telling. Great review!

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  6. I think I'll add this one. I loved Wuthering Heights.

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  7. Wuthering Heights is one of those books that has been on the "If I'm Ambitious, I'll Read It" pile but now I guess it's booted up even more on the TBR pile. This sounds like a great book and I love the quotes!

    Great review!

    Sunny @ Blue Sky Bookshelf

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  8. I loved, loved Wuthering Heights, and I have been scared to read this because I didn't want it to fall flat. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and your review makes me want to go read it NOW!

    Jennifer
    YA Sisterhood

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  9. Oh, wow. This sounds great! I still need to read Jane. I own it, lol.

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  10. I loved her retelling of Jane but Catherine didn't really work for me. I think it's because I'm not a fan of mysteries in general and it's such a big part of this story.

    Wuthering Heights is my husbands favorite book of all time and he keeps begging me to read it. I wonder if I would have liked Catherine more if I had read the original first.

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  11. Really? Um...will you still be my pal if I admit I wasn't a Wuthering Heights fan? I love my HEA endings too much and tragedy is so...tragic. Glad you liked it though.

    Valerie

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  12. I've never read Wuthering Heights. I was going to once and then never took it back to the library before I read it. This sounds like it could be an interesting book though. Going to add it to my tbr list.

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  13. This sounds really interesting, but I will admit I have never read Wuthering Heights. I know, I took all the literature classes in high school too, but Wuthering Heights was never required reading. There are a lot of classics I have not read, so I may have to have a Classic Book read-a-thon or something.

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  14. Wow, this sounds really good, and I don't even really like contemporary novels! Glad to hear this one was a winner!

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  15. I haven't read Wuthering Heights, but keep meaning to. I am glad that it made it work.
    Happy reading,
    Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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  16. I'm SO happy that you liked this. I hadn't read the original in years, but I really liked the way she updated the story. I'm happy to read a review written by someone who's a huge WH fan :)

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  17. I'm a little afraid to pick this one up, because tragic love breaks my heart, and Wuthering Heights is the epitome of tragic love. However, I LOVED April Lindner's Jane, a Jane Eyre retelling. Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorite classics, and I loved Jane even more than the original. I know, gasp! So I'm thinking maybe Catherine isn't as heartbreaking as Wuthering Heights? I hope, I hope, I hope. Wonderful review, Andrea. :)

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  18. I'm going to admit I have never read Wuthering Heights and didn't even realize this was a retelling. I just thought the synopsis sounded good with following both characters 20 years apart. Glad you enjoyed it!

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  19. I have never read Wuthering Heights either...shame on me. Loved your review. This book sounds great. I was sold with the pretty cover .

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  20. THIS SOUNDS FANTASTIC!!! And believe it or not, I am actually going to be reading Wuthering Heights for my english class in school, so I am really looking forward to that, especially after you mentioned it! And I can't wait to pick this one up right after I read it...that should be interesting. I am super excited to read this book and I'm glad to hear that it is a good re-telling. Great review, Andrea! :D

    ~ Maida @ Literary Love Affair

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  21. I actually haven't read Wuthering Heights yet but I do have it. I recently grabbed this book as well and I think it sounds fantastic! I loaned it out all already so it may be awhile, but whenever it is I look forward to it. :)
    Thanks for the great review that got me excited for it!

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