Scan barcode
makaylabrown's review against another edition
4.0
oh my god i actually loved this that ending???????? not at all what i was expecting for being a random find this was so good very impressed with it AND WHO WAS GONNA TELL ME THIS IS A REIMAGINED VERSION OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS WHAT THE HELL LMAOO not a bad thing just would not have suspected that
luciearan's review
4.0
V případě této knihy je tou největší tragédií, její přirovnání ke knize Na větrné hůrce od Emily Brontëové. Což ještě ke všemu hrdě hlásá už anotace. Protože, i když třeba i byla zmíněná kniha autorce inspirací, řekla bych, že celkové propojení je velice volné, a rozhodně bych tak tuto knihu neoznačovala, jako její moderní zpracování. Protože pokud ano, její hodnocení by bylo vskutku tragické.
Pokud bych však odhlédla od tohoto přívlastku, a hodnotila příběh jako takový, bez jakýchkoli návazností, vyjde z toho na druhou stranu poměrně dobře. Je celkem originální, ať už díky prostředí, tak lehce detektivní lince, dobře zpracovaný a poutavý. Samozřejmě, že se nejedná o žádnou hlubokomyslnou literaturu, to ale od YA contemporary romance snad ani nikdo neočekává (já tedy alespoň ne, rozhodně ne od YA z roku 2013). Jako oddechovka je čtivý a nenudí, a v rámci letního čtení, mi docela příjemně sednul do nálady.
Pokud bych však odhlédla od tohoto přívlastku, a hodnotila příběh jako takový, bez jakýchkoli návazností, vyjde z toho na druhou stranu poměrně dobře. Je celkem originální, ať už díky prostředí, tak lehce detektivní lince, dobře zpracovaný a poutavý. Samozřejmě, že se nejedná o žádnou hlubokomyslnou literaturu, to ale od YA contemporary romance snad ani nikdo neočekává (já tedy alespoň ne, rozhodně ne od YA z roku 2013). Jako oddechovka je čtivý a nenudí, a v rámci letního čtení, mi docela příjemně sednul do nálady.
bookgirl4ever's review
3.0
Chelsea's mom left when she was three years old. Her father rarely talks about her mother and as she gets older, he slowly edges out of her life. On her birthday, Chelsea finds a shoebox containing pictures of her mom with another person cut out and a letter from her mother to her stating a vague reasoning for abandoning the family. Chelsea decides to visit the return address on the letter, the Underground, a hot club for up and coming bands.
Catherine, Chelsea's mother, grew up in The Underground, owned by her father. It is here she meets a broody musician called Hence who she falls passionately in love with. The passion is mutual, yet Hence has a dark side that leaves Catherine heartbroken.
Alternating chapters in the voice of Chelsea and her mother tell the story of Catherine and Hence's romance, as Chelsea tries to figure out what happened to her mother. Wuthering Heights retelling.
Not as wonderful as Jane, but still a page-turner.
Catherine, Chelsea's mother, grew up in The Underground, owned by her father. It is here she meets a broody musician called Hence who she falls passionately in love with. The passion is mutual, yet Hence has a dark side that leaves Catherine heartbroken.
Alternating chapters in the voice of Chelsea and her mother tell the story of Catherine and Hence's romance, as Chelsea tries to figure out what happened to her mother. Wuthering Heights retelling.
Not as wonderful as Jane, but still a page-turner.
kaitrosereads's review
4.0
Catherine, a modern day retelling of Wuthering Heights, is another fabulous novel from April Lindner. Her debut, Jane (a modern Jane Eyre), blew me away and while Catherine was not quite as good, I still greatly enjoyed it. In fact, I can't stop thinking about it.
I have never read Wuthering Heights and honestly, in this case, I think that was a good thing. I had no idea what was going to happen and Catherine ended up being a whole new story for me rather than a retelling. There were twists and turns that readers of the original may have been able to see coming but I certainly couldn't. While the story was definitely a contemporary story, there were quite a few hints of mystery and there was even a little bit of history. It all blended well together and made for a very interesting story and a quick read.
Catherine is the daughter of a wealthy club owner. She lives above the club and so she spends a lot of time in the music scene of the 80s and she gets to know some very different people. When Hence shows up on the front step, Catherine can't help but feel bad for him and ends up getting him a job at the club and a place to stay. From the very start the two are drawn to each other and a very intense romance develops and Catherine's story really tells all about that. Chelsea is Catherine's daughter and she has come looking for her mother who disappeared 14 years ago. She ends up at the club and there she finds some unexpected help from Cooper, a very shut-off Hence, and her mother's diary. As she gets to know Hence in present day she also gets to know him in the past through Catherine's journals. The journals also help Chelsea find out more about her family and what really happened to her mother.
The story alternates point-of-views and time periods. The point-of-views switch between Catherine and Chelsea and the time period switches from the 80s to present day. While this would seem confusing, it's actually not at all. Catherine and Chelsea are two very different people with distinct personalities and voices. You will never not know whose point-of-view you are reading. It was handled very well and I greatly enjoyed the alternating perspectives.
Overall, Catherine is a very complex, well thought out retelling of Wuthering Heights. I was invested in Catherine's and Chelsea's stories from the very beginning and this book put me through a ringer. Don't expect your traditional happy ending with this one but it will definitely leave you satisfied. April Lindner has made a fan of me.
I have never read Wuthering Heights and honestly, in this case, I think that was a good thing. I had no idea what was going to happen and Catherine ended up being a whole new story for me rather than a retelling. There were twists and turns that readers of the original may have been able to see coming but I certainly couldn't. While the story was definitely a contemporary story, there were quite a few hints of mystery and there was even a little bit of history. It all blended well together and made for a very interesting story and a quick read.
Catherine is the daughter of a wealthy club owner. She lives above the club and so she spends a lot of time in the music scene of the 80s and she gets to know some very different people. When Hence shows up on the front step, Catherine can't help but feel bad for him and ends up getting him a job at the club and a place to stay. From the very start the two are drawn to each other and a very intense romance develops and Catherine's story really tells all about that. Chelsea is Catherine's daughter and she has come looking for her mother who disappeared 14 years ago. She ends up at the club and there she finds some unexpected help from Cooper, a very shut-off Hence, and her mother's diary. As she gets to know Hence in present day she also gets to know him in the past through Catherine's journals. The journals also help Chelsea find out more about her family and what really happened to her mother.
The story alternates point-of-views and time periods. The point-of-views switch between Catherine and Chelsea and the time period switches from the 80s to present day. While this would seem confusing, it's actually not at all. Catherine and Chelsea are two very different people with distinct personalities and voices. You will never not know whose point-of-view you are reading. It was handled very well and I greatly enjoyed the alternating perspectives.
Overall, Catherine is a very complex, well thought out retelling of Wuthering Heights. I was invested in Catherine's and Chelsea's stories from the very beginning and this book put me through a ringer. Don't expect your traditional happy ending with this one but it will definitely leave you satisfied. April Lindner has made a fan of me.
lydiature's review
3.0
Hmmm...this book.... This is a tricky one for me. You see, I really liked April Lindner's adaptation of Jane Eyre; Jane Eyre also being one of my favorite books of all time. So, I thought if she ever wrote another adaptation of a classic, I would read it...until I found out it would be Wuthering Heights: one of my least favorite books of all time. After some debate, I decided to give it a shot.
The more I read Catherine, however, the more different and new it seemed to be from Wuthering Heights (and what a relief that was). Though still with the undercurrent of WH, I found it to be a whole lot better, and I hope she keeps writing adaptations, because she is a very skilled author.
The more I read Catherine, however, the more different and new it seemed to be from Wuthering Heights (and what a relief that was). Though still with the undercurrent of WH, I found it to be a whole lot better, and I hope she keeps writing adaptations, because she is a very skilled author.
forestq's review
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
So this is not a book that you read in parts. It's easy to read so it's able to be read in one sitting. Everything from the characters, the journey through the book, and the ending kept me on edge because it was interesting but it also took a turn every time that I thought I had it figured out.
pagesofpins's review against another edition
2.0
A retelling of Wuthering Heights, in which the stories of mother and daughter are told using their alternating points of view: Catherine's obsessive love for "Hence" back in the 70's punk rock scene, and Chelsea's search for her missing mother Catherine almost twenty years later. For the most part the author did a good job of updating the roles of the characters: rather than an adopted gypsy at a farmhouse, Hence is a homeless musician taken in by a family that owns a club. Rather than taking up with a snooty gentleman, Catherine wants to attend snooty Harvard, which drives Hence into the arms of a groupie (Nina/Isabella). Later, Chelsea befriends Coop (Hareton), who is Hence's protege rather than son. The appeal of the original is here, but so are all the flaws.
There is unfortunately no difference in the voice of the mother and daughter, and for all the praise Chelsea hears about Catherine being brilliant and driven, there is little to no evidence of this other than diary doodles being "really good" and a mediocre poem Chelsea relates. "Impulsive" Chelsea herself comes off as impossible empty headed (Is there a difference between car accident trauma and a gunshot wound? Why is this guy insulted that I said I would never hook up with him? He cannot POSSIBLY like me. I could totally run this club even though I've never heard of any of these bands and have no head for music.)
Teens attracted to obsessive, Twilight-style love will enjoy Catherine and Hence's intense relationship, provided that they buy into the following: It is love when a man becomes moody and sullen because a strange man looked at you, it is exciting when a cute boy has a mysterious past of being abused, nothing in common nor any conversation is needed because it is love at first sight, and being obsessed with each other (complete with stalker wall of photos, in this case) is true, true love. Though Chelsea and Coop's romance ends more happily, it's flat enough that it's only important as a echo of Catherine/Hence dysfunction--in fact, Coop gives Chelsea the same line Hence gave Catherine years before.
To enjoy this book you have to buy in to the implausible bits. Not just the gothic carryover of dead Catherine scratching at the window or ghostly figures walking along the side of the road (no moor was available), but the fact that a shoulder wound proves fatal, that people are constantly believing coverups from Chelsea that make no sense, that everyone is easily found using Google twenty years later, that Chelsea's dad just cannot find his runaway child....and on and on and on.
"There should be a word for something beyond love, something this strong." 225
There is unfortunately no difference in the voice of the mother and daughter, and for all the praise Chelsea hears about Catherine being brilliant and driven, there is little to no evidence of this other than diary doodles being "really good" and a mediocre poem Chelsea relates. "Impulsive" Chelsea herself comes off as impossible empty headed (Is there a difference between car accident trauma and a gunshot wound? Why is this guy insulted that I said I would never hook up with him? He cannot POSSIBLY like me. I could totally run this club even though I've never heard of any of these bands and have no head for music.)
Teens attracted to obsessive, Twilight-style love will enjoy Catherine and Hence's intense relationship, provided that they buy into the following: It is love when a man becomes moody and sullen because a strange man looked at you, it is exciting when a cute boy has a mysterious past of being abused, nothing in common nor any conversation is needed because it is love at first sight, and being obsessed with each other (complete with stalker wall of photos, in this case) is true, true love. Though Chelsea and Coop's romance ends more happily, it's flat enough that it's only important as a echo of Catherine/Hence dysfunction--in fact, Coop gives Chelsea the same line Hence gave Catherine years before.
To enjoy this book you have to buy in to the implausible bits. Not just the gothic carryover of dead Catherine scratching at the window or ghostly figures walking along the side of the road (no moor was available), but the fact that a shoulder wound proves fatal, that people are constantly believing coverups from Chelsea that make no sense, that everyone is easily found using Google twenty years later, that Chelsea's dad just cannot find his runaway child....and on and on and on.
"There should be a word for something beyond love, something this strong." 225
stephisbranded's review against another edition
4.0
I actually really loved this. It is unique and fun. It was a very believably "Wuthering Heights" story but with more mystery and a lot of rock and roll.
e_d_ivey's review against another edition
4.0
There was something haunting about this book, yet at the same time it was genius. I read Wuthering Heights for the first time recently, and was a little disappointed, feeling confused over the characters and like it didn't hold up to my expectations. This helped to unpack those confusions a bit. The characters weren't exactly alike, but the similarities helped me to draw parallels and to understand the modern version better than the original. I realize this makes me seem stupid (a person who prefers to read adaptations to originals can't truly appreciate these great novels), but I feel most often like adaptations are an enhancement to the originals. So I'm stupid; I don't understand a lot of the implications that classic novels hold. Sue me. But I do have a desire to read those classics, however much I don't understand them, and books like Catherine and Jane (although I do love the original Jane Eyre) not only help me to see the original in easier-to-understand ways, but it also helps me see the originals in a new light, a new way to look at the story that so many people, sometimes myself included, love.