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Book Review

Publisher's Note:

From acclaimed author Francesca Zappia, American Horror Story meets the dark comedy of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis as Cat searches for a way to escape her high school. Katzenjammer is a tale of family, love, tragedy, and masks—the ones others make for us, and the ones we make for ourselves. Eerie and thought-provoking, this novel will haunt fans of Chelsie Pitcher’s This Lie Will Kill You and E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars. Features illustrations by the author throughout. 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. Told in chapters alternating between the past and the present, Francesca Zappia weaves a spine-tingling, suspenseful, and haunting story about tragedy and the power of memories. Much like the acclaimed Eliza and Her Monsters, Katzenjammer features black-and-white illustrations by the author thr…

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Katzenjammer

by Francesca Zappia

Reviewer: Beckie
Genre: Suspense
Recommended Age: 18+

Overall Book Review:

Katzenjammer is the story of Cat and her friend Jeffrey who have become seemingly trapped in a school and have turned into non-human or humanoid beings.  The student population has been divided into multiple factions and a murderous rage has overtaken some of the former students.  The school itself has become a living and breathing entity and the mystery of why they are trapped and who the ultimate culprit is unwinds as the novel progresses.

The novel is written in a dual plotline format.  Every other chapter is a flashback of a memory from Cat as she progresses through high school.  The alternating chapters are current day and focus on her search for the person/thing responsible for murdering some of her fellow students.  The back and forth is quite well-done and transitions smoothly.  No choppiness exists as the author deftly weaves the flashbacks into the current day plotline as memories and explanations for why some things are the way they are.

Readers should be cautious and carefully note the content analysis below.  There is a great deal of triggering content within this book and would caution that younger readers should avoid this novel in its entirety.  More mature readers should approach with caution.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy provided by the Publisher

Profanity/Language:  6 religious exclamations; 5 mild obscenities; 3 religious profanities; 7 derogatory names; 17 scatological words; 15 anatomical terms; 21 f-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore:  Numerous short and multi-page graphic scenes of dismembered bodies, bodies being torn apart and/or smashed, internal organs coming out and graphic mutilation of body parts; multiple instances of being hit in the head with baseball bat; numerous scenes of pools of blood, blood dripping from faucets or fountains filled with blood; multiple threats with weapons such as crossbows, harpoons, or bats; face is pushed into a bowl of soup; scene of school shooting where multiple students are shot to death including graphic shot to face.  Violence is very graphic in nature.

Sex/Nudity:  Female sitting on male’s lap; two instances of hugging; arm around waist; discussion about having sex, not graphic in nature; reference to being a lesbian; scene of kissing which is overlaid with sounds of sex on video and posted to internet.

Mature Themes: 

Death, school shootings, bullying, mental disorders.

Alcohol and Drug Use: 

None

Overall Book Rating
Profanity/Language
Rating:
10
10
Violence/Gore
Rating:
10
10
Sex/Nudity
Rating:
7
10

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About the Reviewer

Beckie
I am a full-time mom, full-time wife, and overtime reader. I have been an avid reader for as long as anyone can remember. It must run in the family because both my mother and grandmother are also voracious readers and often pass books back and forth. Almost any genre can spark my interest, but I often go in streaks, reading a bunch of books from one genre, then switching to another for a while and back again.

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