Catherine by April Lindner

Catherine by April Lindner

Release Date: January 2, 2013
Publisher: Poppy
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: Author
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

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.

I feel the need to pick up Wuthering Heights as soon as possible!

Catherine had me flipping pages for two reasons: The mystery and the romance. Oh. My. God. April Lindner is amazing– I was so immersed in this book, that whenever I had to stop reading, it was the only thing I wanted to do! With two perspectives from two different time periods, it's a brilliant story modernly retold.
I hadn't the slightest inkling of what happens in Wuthering Heights. My mom accidentally spoiled it for me a while ago, but time went on and I forgot... which made this novel even more intriguing. Seriously, I had so many questions, and I was scrambling my mind to try to think of what happens, but in the end it all closed up in a shocking conclusion which I didn't see coming.

Both perspectives were equally interesting. I really didn't know who I favored more! There was that gripping quality to both of them and I found myself loving both of their characters. All characters were built up extremely well. I found myself getting quite a clear description on how they looked, and obviously while I hated some of the characters, I loved to hate them– their evilness does not go by me without some admiration for the language and descriptions which Lindner brings out gorgeously throughout the novel during climatic scenes.

Catherine was a great character, and because she was the subject of the mystery I found myself scouring over her part of the story, trying to see if any of the plot foreshadows what's to happen to her. It was bewitching – quite literally – with the haunting mystery of her disappearance and how Chelsea delves into her past, trying to piece it out all together. Surprisingly, I found myself able to connect with Catherine quite well. She's around my age during her parts of the novel, and even though this is set around twenty years ago, teenage girls will be teenage girls. Her love for books will always be something that I can connect to (I love characters who love books!) as well as her poetry. I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with her in most cases, and often applauding her on the actions she takes.
Chelsea is again a fabulous character, and I love her determination, will and drive to find out what happened to her mother. I frankly, would be freaked out to go by myself and seek out the answers, but this girl certainly has guts! Again, like her mother, it was natural to connect to Chelsea, and as she dives head-first into her mother's journals, it was easy to empathize with her, as she empathizes with her mother.

The boys of the story are equally interesting. Even though I knew from the beginning that Catherine ended up marrying Chelsea's dad, a professor, I found myself rooting for her and Hence to get together. Hence was everything exotic, exciting and sexy rolled into one. Perfect rockstar material. During Catherine's story, he's the boy I would TOTALLY fall head-over-heels in love with on the spot. He's seriously, drop dead gorgeous, and I was literally fan-girling majorly when reading. Hence in Chelsea's view really contrasted to Catherine's Hence. In both point of views though, his mysterious (attractive-mysterious AND mysterious-mysterious) side to him that just made me want to find out more about him.
Coop (short for Cooper) is another guy in this book, featured during Chelsea's perspective. Likewise with Hence, Coop is, how shall I put it? Um, HOT?! I found myself wanting to get lost in his eyes (he has incredible eyes, by the way), and just wanted Chelsea to spend more time with him because he's incredibly cute, and yeah, as you can see, I was majorly fan-girling throughout this novel. Damn, April Lindner can sure write guys!

The plot is absolutely killer. Like seriously, you will be hanging onto every word, because even though things may seem mellow, there's always something creepy lurking around the corner....
I also loved the setting of The Underground. I love the music mixed into it, the punk-rock-and-roll scene, bands, fans– the works. Catherine's dad is pretty famous in this novel, so it's also interesting to see how she deals with this, and how people treat her, especially boys in bands.

Well, if it isn't apparent enough from my excessive fan-girling over this book, I LOVED Catherine and highly recommend you pick this one up as soon as you can. April Lindner has turned one of the most famous classics into a modern, rock music-filled novel which teens and adults will enjoy. I should definitely go pick up Jane, because being a fan of Jane Eyre, I'm bound to love it as much as I did with Catherine!

▪ Thank you so much to April Lindner for providing a copy of Catherine for review and BTG2013! ▪

If you like this, try...

• Stay by Deb Caletti ● Goodreads
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë ● Goodreads