Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Cat Rising is a beautiful story, endearing, funny, poignant, and complex all at once. These characters, Cat and Lily, felt like old friends to me and by page two I was hooked by them both. Stylistically, Chadwick's mastery of language makes this a rich poetic read. Cat Hood is a complicated woman making challenging life decisions and we root for her along the way. To find Lesbian characters living happy, believable, lovable lives is a gem of a find and for me this is a diamond.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Cat Rising is a beautiful story, endearing, funny, poignant, and complex all at once. These characters, Cat and Lily, felt like old friends to me and by page two I was hooked by them both. Stylistically, Chadwick's mastery of language makes this a rich poetic read. Cat Hood is a complicated woman making challenging life decisions and we root for her along the way. To find Lesbian characters living happy, believable, lovable lives is a gem of a find and for me this is a diamond.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book to have read
Review: Cat Rising is a great book about finding someone to share your life with. Although it's lesbian literature, anyone can read it and take something from it. It has an impecable mountain backround to it that makes me feel at home. At points in the book I just wanted to curl up with my dog and sit in front a fire with a blanket and a cup of apple cider.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Chadwick has written an engrossing book, full of realistic characters -- complex, charming, vulnerable yet brave. It is the story of Cat Hood who lives in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. She has a day job as a carpenter (Girls with Hammers) but her life is about to change. Cat has been writing since she was a child and at the age of 34 she's just been published -- a first book that is getting a lot of attention and is guiding her toward a new path in her life. At the same time, she has met someone who could be "the one."Trying to cope with the changing tides of relationships, career, and impending fame; coming to terms with ghosts from the past; Cat struggles with the ever-shifting shapes of a life in transition. In the process, we are taken on a rich and insightful journey. This is a wonderful book. When I finished it I wasn't willing to put it down, so I went back to the beginning and started reading it again. If I had to describe it in a word, it would be Treasure.
Rating:
Summary: In the Southern Tradition
Review: Every once in awhile you come across a book that qualifies as literature: Bastard Out of Carolina, The Color Purple, Ruby Fruit Jungle. Cat Rising falls into that category. The fact that the main characters in Cat Rising are lesbians is both a bonus and inconsequential to the story. Although the author, Cynn Chadwick, was born a Yankee (Southerners will know what I mean), she brings the hills of North Carolina into view with a Southern drawl whispering in your ear. This is a book so rich with language you can hear, taste, touch and smell the story. This is not to say that the writing is wordy, but it is alive with detail like the way someone leans against a doorway, or how the aroma of cooking fills a kitchen, or the way someone smells when you hug them. Reading this book is a sensory experience. The story revolves around Cat (Catherine) Hood, an orphan, a writer, a lesbian, and lifetime resident of a Southern small town. Like all small towns, everybody knows everybody, and they still manage to coexist. As essential to the story as Cat, is her best friend, Lily. These two have known each other since childhood, and like sisters they love, embarrass, support and exasperate one another. The dialogue that ensues between these two is both funny and thought provoking. In fact, the dialogue throughout this book rings true to the ear and is as much a part of the character development as the action. It's the relationship between Lily and Cat that acts as the barometer of change that's occurring in Cat's life. It's a humorous, heart-wrenching, and vivid portrait in which we, the readers, glimpse our own humanity. As much as this book is about self-discovery, it's also a story about family. It's because of Cat's real and extended family that she is both pushed and thwarted in her journey towards herself and her history. It may sound odd that a book whose main character is an orphan reflects the complexity of family life, but it does. Buy this book. Curl up for a good read. It'll make you laugh and cry. It's a book that reminds us why we love to read in the first place. The other good news is that there's a sequel on the way.
Rating:
Summary: In the Southern Tradition
Review: Every once in awhile you come across a book that qualifies as literature: Bastard Out of Carolina, The Color Purple, Ruby Fruit Jungle. Cat Rising falls into that category. The fact that the main characters in Cat Rising are lesbians is both a bonus and inconsequential to the story. Although the author, Cynn Chadwick, was born a Yankee (Southerners will know what I mean), she brings the hills of North Carolina into view with a Southern drawl whispering in your ear. This is a book so rich with language you can hear, taste, touch and smell the story. This is not to say that the writing is wordy, but it is alive with detail like the way someone leans against a doorway, or how the aroma of cooking fills a kitchen, or the way someone smells when you hug them. Reading this book is a sensory experience. The story revolves around Cat (Catherine) Hood, an orphan, a writer, a lesbian, and lifetime resident of a Southern small town. Like all small towns, everybody knows everybody, and they still manage to coexist. As essential to the story as Cat, is her best friend, Lily. These two have known each other since childhood, and like sisters they love, embarrass, support and exasperate one another. The dialogue that ensues between these two is both funny and thought provoking. In fact, the dialogue throughout this book rings true to the ear and is as much a part of the character development as the action. It's the relationship between Lily and Cat that acts as the barometer of change that's occurring in Cat's life. It's a humorous, heart-wrenching, and vivid portrait in which we, the readers, glimpse our own humanity. As much as this book is about self-discovery, it's also a story about family. It's because of Cat's real and extended family that she is both pushed and thwarted in her journey towards herself and her history. It may sound odd that a book whose main character is an orphan reflects the complexity of family life, but it does. Buy this book. Curl up for a good read. It'll make you laugh and cry. It's a book that reminds us why we love to read in the first place. The other good news is that there's a sequel on the way.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book to have read
Review: Having been raised in the mountains of western North Carolina, this book was a like being home all over again. The characters were developed, the dialogue sharp and to the point. I loved the fact that her characters were so easy to identify with, even though I am not a lesbian nor a woman. A quick read, I would recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Having been raised in the mountains of western North Carolina, this book was a like being home all over again. The characters were developed, the dialogue sharp and to the point. I loved the fact that her characters were so easy to identify with, even though I am not a lesbian nor a woman. A quick read, I would recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Potential
Review: I expected a great deal from Cat Rising from the notes and various critiques I had read. I was disappointed that the book did not live up to what was anticipated. I believe Ms. Chadwick has much talent and the potential to write a masterful piece. However, she misses the mark here. The text flows nicely and provides an easy read. The book however is predicatable, plain and juvenile. There is no character development and we are not given enough depth of information to form a bond with any character, most importantly our protagonist, Cat. I saw her only as a hard working, shallow "I want it all" young girl in a woman's body. We have no idea who she really is and I found myself thinking that the women protrayed were one dimensional and lacked real substance. If only we knew why they felt as they did, acted and reacted as they did, we might appreciate them all the more. This would make a great beach read. If your looking for something a lot more thoughtful and discerning, keep looking.
Rating:
Summary: Potential
Review: I expected a great deal from Cat Rising from the notes and various critiques I had read. I was disappointed that the book did not live up to what was anticipated. I believe Ms. Chadwick has much talent and the potential to write a masterful piece. However, she misses the mark here. The text flows nicely and provides an easy read. The book however is predicatable, plain and juvenile. There is no character development and we are not given enough depth of information to form a bond with any character, most importantly our protagonist, Cat. I saw her only as a hard working, shallow "I want it all" young girl in a woman's body. We have no idea who she really is and I found myself thinking that the women protrayed were one dimensional and lacked real substance. If only we knew why they felt as they did, acted and reacted as they did, we might appreciate them all the more. This would make a great beach read. If your looking for something a lot more thoughtful and discerning, keep looking.
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