The Catalyst

Helena Coggan’s only 16, but this debut novel has a lot going for it: a kick-butt heroine, magic, monsters, a tangled supernatural near-future London where newly magical Gifted are pitted against non-magical Ashkind. Rose Elmsworth, a Gifted, is the daughter of London’s leading detective, an aspiring detective herself. But she and her adopted father share something more.

Their Gift can turn them literally into monsters, beasts that prey on whomever they see.
Rose and her father have learned to control their monstrosity. But when an escaped murderer brings back David’s past, Rose and David have to choose sides. And both sides want to use them to kill, or destroy them.

There are rough edges in this book, but Coggan is already an show more accomplished thriller writer, sending her characters through a Space Mountain of political machinations and violence. And Rose Elmsworth herself is a treat. Trained by her father, at 15 she can defend herself with magic, hand-to-hand fighting, or logic; but she’s still in school, dating the Ashkind boy she may have to kill tomorrow. Coggan gives her heroine breakneck courage and mordantly funny dialogue, but Rose is morally complex too, afraid of her own capacity for violence.

Fans of THE HUNGER GAMES will love THE CATALYST. Coggan is working on a sequel, THE REACTION. Good news. show less

While I enjoyed this book, and think it has a lot of potential, there are a couple of aspects that left me scratching my head.

First, the spirits that have merged with humans after a tear between (dimensions? universes? who knows?) seem to have no influence or control over the person that they're part of, but those inhabited by 'angels' and those inhabited by 'demons' fought a war for no apparent reason. While the book keeps talking about how those inhabited by angels think those inhabited by demons are all evil (apparently because of one rebellious group that didn't want to knuckle under to control by the angels), there's just not enough backstory to tell us WHY. The book begins with the rift, then skips forward until AFTER some sort of show more war, and drops us in the middle of the society that developed afterwards. There really needs to be a lot more explanation of the whys to make this story click, and it isn't there.

Second, why 'angels' and 'demons'? Again, there's no backstory. As far as I could tell, there's no heaven or hell discussed in the book, no real difference between the angels and demons that would account for the names, and no real religious implications of the names. Again, I'm left a bit befuddled. It could be that the names were just arbitrary -- demons had black eyes, angels had green, and they had to be called SOMETHING.

Even with those weaknesses, the story was interesting, but it would've been a lot better if there was more to the story. show less

*spoilers!!*

>>>>>

I like how this book started. Another dimension opening up, people turning into green-eyed or black-eyed things, London basically collapsing, it was a great intro.

Learning about Rose and her father, what they are, was really interesting. I really liked the explanations of the differences between Ashkind and Gifted, Angels and Hybrids. I feel like I really got emersed in this world with all the descriptions.

The Test process was written very well and it really kept me thinking and reading and enjoying. I don't like how the Department acts like they own Gifted children. The way they just forced her into the army later was horrible, I felt so bad for her!

Reading about Loren and Tabitha made me want to know more and more show more about this world, how an Ashkind could have magic, etc. I like that Rose helped Loren and Tabitha, even if she was forced at first. There was a definite point where Rose *chose* to keep helping them, and I'm really glad she did. She helped him escape and ran with him and Tabitha, defying her father and the Department she's grown up with. That was very interesting to read about.

Regency... The first time it was mentioned I wanted to know more. Every time it was mentioned as like this secret thing that wasn't talked about, it just made me more and more curious. So when David and Loren's past with Regency was finally revealed, it was awesome. I really liked that part of the story, learning what David was really capable of, learning just how strong Regency was.

And then things started happening so quickly. Loren and Tabitha and Rose got caught, and then suddenly released, with a lot of finaggling from David. Then learning that Maria's sister is in Regency, and Terrian sending them out on this total suicide mission against Regency, but it was all a trap by Regency... And then they send Rose into Regency as a spy. That scared me. Especially when Regency trapped her in that room and filled it with Insanity Gas, and she turned into her Hybrid monster... I was scared that she was truly broken at that point. This book made me worry a lot about Rose!

Finally the big climactic fight and it turns out the Gospel was the biggest enemy all along! That was a twist I did not see coming. David dying really upset me for awhile, until the truth came out about him and Rose's plan. The plan worked perfectly and the ending was so... I want to read more! The ending was good but open, and apparently there will be a sequel. I can't wait! show less

Very engrossing science fiction, once you understand the scientific principles behind the novel. In short, a physicist has caused a "crack in the sky" :- in other words, has opened a portal to another dimension. This dimension has cause two types of beings - called here Angels and Demons - from another dimension to infiltrate the Earth's population. This has meant that some people have an "Angel soul" in them, some have a "Demon" and most have a little of the "magic" ( read Energy) that can either make or break them. This "crack in the sky" has resulted in two terrible World wars and we, the readers, enter after the second war in a time of relative stability. Rose is the adopted daughter of David, a brilliant strategist for the show more Department, a covert group dedicated to keeping the peace by eradicating rogue "magic" holders. What no-one knows is that both David and Rogue have a secret, they become uncontrollable 7 foot "monsters" (like werewolves) every 6 weeks and if they were found out, it would mean certain death!. Rose is about to sit her magic exam. Every 15 year old sits an exam with an Angel ( a very powerful being) to determine their future career. If their "magic" is substandard, then they are "leeched" - the magic drained from them. Rose is worried that she will be found out as a monster. This is a world where everyone knows exactly what you are capable of by the colour of your eyes! Black equals demon, pure green equals angel, and white around your eyes means all your power has been "leeched " from you.
This is an interesting look at divisions in society - how people treat others according to their perceived class, i.e their looks!. With David and Rose, we have a different kind of "family" unrelated by blood, related by the TYPE of person they are. I particularly like the scientific basis for their "magic" - if people use it, they use energy and need to eat, otherwise they become weak. I would recommend this for Years 8 upwards due to the scientific concepts. although it will ring very true with some students as regards the boy who asks Rose out, only to tell her she is pathetic, versus the boy who is smitten with her but never tells her! show less

Eighteen years ago, a rift was opened in the sky and something came out; those that survived the initial event were changed irrevocably and separated into Gifted, those that could do magic, and Ashkind, those that couldn’t. David Elmsworth and his daughter Rose belong to the Gifted, and work for the Department, London’s law enforcement agency, but they also have a secret that no one else must find out or it will cost them their lives.

Much has been made of the fact that the author wrote the first draft of this book when she was 13; now, still in her teens, she is a published author with The Catalyst, which appears to be the first in a sequence. Don’t get me wrong: her achievement is remarkable, but that doesn’t mean the novel is show more without flaws. Her voice, characterisation and plot are very mature for one still so young, and this is a far cry from the usual Young Adult literature one usually finds on the shelf. The first half of the book is better than the second, when I found Rose’s actions and the resulting consequences (or rather lack thereof) rather difficult to believe, including the events leading up to the major plot twist at the end, though there is potential to develop the characters and the plot still further as the end of the novel is left deliberately open.

The dynamic between Rose and her father is intriguing, and feeds on the common preconception by teenagers that parents didn’t have a life or indeed a past before their children came into the world. Rose is a character that especially teenage girls will easily relate to (her insecurities, her fears of being different), and yet the book didn’t really grab me like it did other reviewers. I’m not sure whether I really bought into the mix of dystopian with horror elements, though to her credit Helena Coggan explores the deeper psychology of and differentiates between those who willingly embrace evil and those who commit evil deeds because they have no other choice.

At the moment I have no plans to continue following Rose’s story if this turns indeed out to be the first in a series, though of course I wish the author good luck and every success with her chosen career.

(This review was written for Amazon's Vine programme.) show less

First of all, I must say, good on Helena Coggan for writing the first draft at thirteen. Of course, the publisher meant it just for those bragging rights. But writing a book takes hard work, and I believe it is even harder if you are doing school full-time that's not even scheduled to your own liking as in college.

The book was good too, naturally. The story goes, after an unfortunate tragedy-- or fortunate occurrence, depending on who you ask-- some of the world happens to be endowed with magic, others not so much. There are the Gifted, those who can do magic; the Ashkind, those who can't; the Leeched, whose magic was taken away from them; then the Hybrids and Demons, two outlier groups that have their own specifics that the book will show more discourse on.

The problem is, the book did not provide enough detail about the aforementioned groups. The Hybrids and Demons are both said to be Ashkind, incapable of producing magic-- for the most part-- therefore why are they so disliked among society. The book never makes room for them to have their own explanations as it does for the Gifted.

Aside from that, although I think this plot had an interesting development, it was just a bit haywired. There were at least two conflicts made out to be the central conflicts and thus the book lacked a lot of focus when it came to resolving these.

We start off with Rose, a young girl, Gifted, but more gifted in her intelligence and cleverness than any sort of magic. She's adopted, the daughter of David Elmsworth, a well-known detective. She's well off, and has a path set out for her until she encounters a man by the name of Loren Arkwood. Except, he himself turns out not to be the problem, another problem does turn up, but is quickly turned over, then another, and another.

Another thing that could be worked on was the flow. I expect the author purposefully made Rose out to be pretentious and precocious. It worked sometimes, sometimes not. In other parts of the book, the material just seemed forced-- everything from language to character development.

To be fair, The Catalyst was a good start. I'm not condemning it, by any means. I simply think it could use some work. And that's not a bad thing. Only good things can be better.

For example, to note some good things, I certainly liked how the political aspect of it played out. The book refused to take a side and yet sympathized with both sides simultaneously, presenting a bird's eye view for the reader to look upon the issue. Such are politics in the real world, and it helped The Catalyst stay real.

I think, partly for that reason, a lot of people are anticipating the sequel, quietly, but excited nonetheless. show less

After the Veilbreak, in which a hole is torn in the fabric of reality and the 'souls' of otherworldly creatures come to inhabit those of humans, some are left Gifted and can work magic with energy. Others are not so lucky. Basically, this pits the haves against the have-nots and a war breaks out.
Some years later, our story really begins. Rose is Gifted and works for the Department, which is basically the Magic Police. The Gifted aren't supposed to use magic to hurt people, but someone has.
The story doesn't get less confusing from there. Rose and her dad are also Hybrids, which is a scary monster they turn into every six weeks, and they have to hide their true nature, but someone has figured it out and is blackmailing Rose with it. show more
Also, another civil war is about to break out because the non-magical Ashkind think they out to be better than second-class citizens and the Gifted think the Ashkind shouldn't be allowed to continue to exist at all.
The whole thing is pretty confusing. I think this is supposed to be a series? Maybe this first book should have been broken into more parts? Tell more about the first war? I don't know. By the time I figured out what was going on and whose side I was supposed to be on, it wasn't so clear anymore who Rose should trust. And the twists and turns kept on coming. The final confrontation of the groups was also pretty convoluted, but it left room for a sequel, so hopefully things get fleshed out and explained better in following books.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review show less