Perfect YA story about the power of friends from the internet. ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/09/2023137-catfishing-on-catnet-naomi.html ( )

So this is a YA novel about a girl forced to switch schools a lot because of her stalking father. The way she stays socially healthy is something called CatNet, which is basically a forum/chat client for people who like cute animals. What she doesn’t know is that this forum is run by a super-intelligent AI who, well, likes cute animals too. And as the girl and the AI become friends, the AI discovers things about her father. Things that make the girl think she might not know the whole truth.

It’s very good. The pace is fast. At first, you think it’s going to be another cliche YA novel about “poor girl trying to fit in at school”, but the AI is a fun addition to what otherwise would have been a mopefest. It’s more positive than the back matter makes it out to be. My only complaint is that it wraps up a little fast. But it’s got everything I want–cats, robots, adventure. This book was much better than I expected and I will be reading the sequel. ( )

This was another one of my series-sampling audio listens, to see if I might want to pursue it in print someday. The verdict: yes, probably, or possibly I might continue it in audio.

Audio Narration
This audiobook has two narrators, Casey Turner and Corey Gagne. Most of the story is told from the first-person perspective of a teenage girl, Steph, and Casey did all the narration for that. I thought her narration worked really well for the character. I almost felt like a teenager was talking to me. Not in an annoying way. I did sometimes have trouble distinguishing between when Steph was speaking out loud versus thinking internally.

The chapters are alternated with shorter chapters told from the perspective of an AI character, and Corey did the narration for that. He read them in a slightly robotic voice (again, not in an annoying way) that worked really well for these sections.

Story
The story focuses on an eleventh grade girl, Steph, whose mother moves her constantly, multiple times per year, claiming her evil father is after them. Because of the frequent moves, Steph doesn’t really have any friends, but she’s recently discovered an Internet site called Catnet where the moderators assign people to small chat room groups called clowders with other people they believe they'll fit well with. So Steph gets to know some people around her age through there, and then she unexpectedly makes another new friend at the new school she’s moved to at the beginning of the book. There’s another POV character who gets less page time, told from the perspective of an AI. I don’t want to say much about that because it would spoil some of the discoveries early on in the book.

This was a pleasant surprise. I knew nothing about it, or at least didn’t remember anything I’d read about it from friend conversations or reviews in the past, but for some reason I went into it with very low expectations. It’s definitely young adult, and maybe it wasn’t the world’s most realistic plot, but I thought it was a lot of fun. There is some romance, but it doesn’t dominate the plot at all which I appreciated. And no love triangles, thank goodness! I’d had my fill of that in my previous audiobook.

I enjoyed the ambiguity earlier on in the story about which parent was evil, or if Steph’s mom was just crazy. I’d been pretty sure I knew which was the case, and I did prove to be correct, but I occasionally waffled in that belief early on. Catnet was fun, the characters were fun, I enjoyed the friendships, and the story held my interest. It’s was a nice, light listen, perfect for audio because it didn’t require much focus to follow. It could have used more cats considering the name of the book, but it wasn’t completely devoid of cats. Maybe not the best book to give to a young person (or an adult!) who doesn’t already understand the dangers of oversharing with friends you make but don’t really know on the internet, because this book acted like those dangers were nearly non-existent. Admittedly the kids were introduced to each other by a benevolent AI who presumably did research to make sure they were all really who they presented themselves to be, but I thought it didn’t present a very realistic picture of internet safety.

Also, did anyone think the password was CedarPoint or maybe Sandusky? I was too excited when it sounded like she was describing Cedar Point and I kept yelling what I thought was the password at her at appropriate(?) times throughout the rest of the audio book. I was disappointed to be wrong.

The ending wasn’t bad, but it could have been a little more satisfying. The main plot is wrapped up, but not that tightly. I felt like the resolution is likely to come unraveled eventually, and there are several other open questions and potential new problems by the end. A new element is also introduced at the very end which is clearly a hook into the next book. I’m not sure how many books this series is supposed to end up with, or if it’s one of those open-ended series that might go on for quite a long time, but I’d definitely be interested in reading more someday. ( )

Adorable and awesome and fun. With also some ohmygosh lookout! :) ( )