*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Title: Katzenjammer
Author: Francesca Zappia
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 9780063161658
Synopsis:
Cat lives in her high school. She never leaves, and for a long time her school has provided her with everything she needs. But now things are changing. The hallways contract and expand along with the school’s breathing, and the showers in the bathroom run a bloody red. Cat’s best friend is slowly turning into cardboard, and instead of a face, Cat has a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh. Cat doesn’t remember why she is trapped in her school or why half of them—Cat included—are slowly transforming. Escaping has always been the one impossibility in her school’s upside-down world. But to save herself from the eventual self-destruction all the students face, Cat must find the way out. And to do that, she’ll have to remember what put her there in the first place.
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Beautiful and devastating all at once, Katzenjammer is one of those books in my TBR pile that I should have gotten to WAY sooner than I did. I just didn’t know what I was missing. I spent a night last week reading this until far too late, intent that I needed to finish. Can something be absolutely devastating and breathtaking at the same time? Because this was. It’s unusual, experimental, artistic, and it makes a huge statement on the needlessness of hatred and violence, especially amongst today’s youths.
Be forewarned, this book is incredibly sad and may be a trigger for some, particularly surrounding topics of abuse, bullying, gun violence, or mass shootings. I do wish there was some kind of warning on the book because some of the events are quite traumatic. It’s not meant to be a feel-good kind of story, and the resolution may leave you feeling conflicted. But if nothing else, it’s intensely thought-provoking and moving in a way that I didn’t expect.
So poignant, so topical, so timely. Zappia captures the beauty and the devastation that is high school, particularly when you are someone who doesn’t fit in. Cat is an artist, but with her lazy eye and her love of creating unusual art, she’s not someone who fits in. She also happens to be best friends with one of the football star’s younger brother, Jeffery, who is equally as quirky as she. Her proximity and inadvertent crush on Jeffrey’s brother makes her an easy target for the cruelty and incessant bullying of the jock crowd. Cat is instantly likeable and relatable. She’s a very tangible character who is living in a world of chaos, just trying to have regular human experiences, just like anybody else.
In tandem with her story is a parallel and surreal world where Cat and her schoolmates exist, but as altered versions of themselves. This is an inescapable world of survival, full of hatred and violence. This world makes this story so special and terrible all at once. Cat must learn why she and her classmates are trapped in this world, sifting through unknowns and terrifying theories. Only by uncovering the truth can Cat escape.
You’ll cry, you’ll get goosebumps, and you won’t be able to put it down. This was one of my top reads for the year. No matter how upsetting the material may be, Zappia is a masterful writer.
Worn Pages and Ink 