Naomi Kritzer

LODESTAR AWARD WINNER FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK From Hugo and Locus Award-winning author Naomi Kritzer, Catfishing on CatNet is a thought-provoking near future YA thriller that could not be more timely as it explores issues of online privacy, artificial intelligence, and the power and perils of social networks. A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice/Staff Pick A Kirkus Reviews Best Book A Junior Library Guild Selection An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Novel A Minnesota Book Award Winner for Best Young Adult Novel An Andre Norton Nebula Award Finalist An ITW Thriller Award for Best YA Novel Nominee A Lodestar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Book “A pure delight...that’s as tender and funny as it is gripping and fast-paced. This book is perfect. From the believable teenage voices to the shockingly effective thriller plot, it swings effortlessly from charming humor to visceral terror, grounding it all in beautiful friendships, budding romance, and radical acceptance.” —The New York Times Because her mom is always on the move, Steph hasn’t lived anyplace longer than six months. Her only constant is an online community called CatNet—a social media site where users upload cat pictures—a place she knows she is welcome. What Steph doesn’t know is that the admin of the site, CheshireCat, is a sentient A.I. When a threat from Steph’s past catches up to her and ChesireCat’s existence is discovered by outsiders, it’s up to Steph and her friends, both online and IRL, to save her. “Alongside the uplifting message about inclusivity, diversity, and found family—characters of various ethnicities identify as gay, bisexual, nonbinary, asexual, and still exploring—Kritzer’s take on a benevolent AI is both whimsical and poignant. An entertaining, heart-filled exploration of today’s online existence and privacy concerns.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Novel

Catfishing on CatNet

Janice Hopper

I really enjoyed this book. I honestly don't read much YA because, well, I'm old, and the problems of teenagers just don't grip me as much as they might have 30 or 40 years ago.

But I adored this book. I forgot I was an old woman, and got totally into the friendship and perils of the kids in the Clowder on CatNet. I worried about Steph and her mom, and her crazy, abusive father. I worried a LOT when things got hard for Steph. I even cheered the little bit of romance that happened. And I am really, really over almost ALL romance. 

Good book. You should read it.

Didi Chanoch

Naomi Kritzer's 2015 short story "Cat Pictures Please," which one the Hugo and Locus awards, was about an all powerful, all knowing AI that just wanted to help and only wanted cat pictures in return.

This book is an expansion of that idea. Not a sequel or a direct expansion of that story, but definitely a return to those themes. The AI here knows a LOT, but they (their pronouns are they/theirs), but not everything. And they still want to help people, but are very modest in their aspirations. They mostly do it with a social network they created where the uploading of cat pictures is highly appreciated. 

I won't delve into the plot, but it is both a techno-thriller and - much more crucially to what the book IS - a story about friendship, family, and love. This is the kind of story I need right now. One where good folks band together to help against an emerging threat. It's funny, thoughtful, sometimes tense. The characters are well drawn and believable. And they're good people. I think we all need stories about goodness right now.

A Kirkus Reviews 2019 Best of the Year Selection. How much does the internet know about YOU? A thought-provoking near future YA thriller that could not be more timely as it explores issues of online privacy, artificial intelligence, and the power and perils of social networks. Because her mom is always on the move, Steph hasn’t lived anyplace longer than six months. Her only constant is an online community called CatNet—a social media site where users upload cat pictures—a place she knows she is welcome. What Steph doesn’t know is that the admin of the site, CheshireCat, is a sentient A.I. When a threat from Steph’s past catches up to her and ChesireCat’s existence is discovered by outsiders, it’s up to Steph and her friends, both online and IRL, to save her. Catfishing on CatNet is a surprising, heartfelt near-future YA thriller by award-winning author Naomi Kritzer, whose short story “Cat Pictures Please” won the Hugo Award and Locus Award and was a finalist for the Nebula.

Michelle Boyea

Please note, I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was truly awesome! I love reading about AI and the capabilities that this technology has. It’s closer than we think.
This book has everything from friendship to drama to action/suspense to happy endings. I would have liked more detail into the background of Steph’s mother and father. But I did enjoy the way that the author progressed the story. I am very curious to see what happens next!

Alexia Cambaling

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen!

I also read the author's award-winning short story Cat Pictures Please which features the same concept about a benevolent AI who tries to help humanity. If you're familiar with Isaac Asimov, the three laws of robotics was heavily featured in the story and makes use of it in a very interesting way. I highly recommend reading that alongside this book as it was a very good short story on its own and when combined with this book, becomes even better. You can read for free on the Clarkesworld Magazine website.

Catfishing on CatNet is the story of a girl whose mother is on the run from her father. They're always moving from one city to another and as a result, Steph doesn't actually have in real life friends. What she has are friends in an online chatroom where she spends an inordinate amount of time because they're essentially the only group of friends she has that she doesn't have to  abandon on her next move. Then, she moves to a new city and a lot of things change when she starts to question her life and the administrator of her Clowder chatroom reveals themselves to be a sentient AI.

Catfishing on CatNet is essentially a YA thriller set in the near-future and it does have a couple of twists thrown in as Steph gets the answers she's looking for and finds out about her parents' past. Here, the story does get a little out there at some points and there were times when I had to blink and put the kindle down because it can get a little crazy. However, for the most part the story is fairly straightforward and could use a few twists and turns.

The writing was pretty okay overall and the book reads fast. I think I read this in a day or so. It was very fast-paced and it's very easy to get into the story which was a good thing. I did hope for more science fiction stuff involving the A.I. and in that, I was kind of disappointed but it's okay.

The characters were pretty good. Steph didn't have a lot of real friends except for her Clowder until she moved to a new city. I liked how diverse her group of friends was in terms of sexuality and race. Steph herself was questioning her sexuality- she didn't really have time to have a crush before. 

As I said, the plot can be a little out there and does get a little crazy. However, it's still decent and pretty enjoyable as a lazy afternoon read. Overall, I can recommend it to anyone looking for a cute story with a decent plot and a good, diverse cast of characters. Again, I recommend that this book be read with the short story I linked. It really adds to the experience.

Emily C Peterson

This was just.... Not for me. Objectively, there's nothing wrong with it and the writing is great. I just didn't care about it as a reader. Gave up after 5 chapters.

Lloyd Dalton

From my daughter:
This book features a young teenager Steph and a computer AI. I liked the book because it was a pretty dense book with a lot of good topics to write about in my english class. The book helped me not fail my book summaries in class. :D (I may or may not have snuck the book into choir and read it the whole time)

Ben Nathan

This is a 4+ start review because I just had so much fun reading it. An AI that's a character you can feel making decisions and growing is so refreshing. Plus as a HS teacher, I can appreciate this interactions in the book so much. Bravo.

Catfishing on CatNet A Novel

Reviews