Book Review: “Cat and Mouse” by Jacquelyn Phillips

Title: Cat and Mouse (The Games We Play #1)

Author: Jacquelyn Phillips

Published: March 19th, 2017

Publisher: A Lady And Her Pen

Find the Author: Goodreads

Disclosure: I was sent this book for review. As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

My name is Roxanne Vaughn. Most people just call me Roxy. My parents call me a disappointment. I’m not gonna lie—I hate how much they detest me, but I’ve learned to embrace their scepticism. What better way to write poetry than to feel like an outcast? Insecure. Ugly. Stupid. Even writing about my failure in pre-med has earned me some notoriety in my creative writing classes. Although, some people believe I should write fiction, I don’t know if I could do that. It would probably end up being some distorted version of my own sick reality. I’m originally from San Diego, the daughter of two well-known doctors, and the younger sister to the perfect God-send of an offspring. I moved to Rohnert Park to attend Sonoma State, to escape the pressures related to living with my parents and in the hope of creating some friendships along the way.
I just so happened to meet two extremely different boys—one in San Diego, one in Rohnert Park—on this journey to self-discovery.
I just so happened to fall in love with the wrong one.
I’m not one of those “typical” party girls. Well, at least I wasn’t. My three best girlfriends converted me to their religion of drinking and bad decisions every Thursday through Saturday night. I guess you could say I live two lives. Possibly three, if you count hiding in my bedroom from societal pressures one of them. I’m just a normal girl who puts her pants on one leg at a time. Except I’m sleeping with two different guys every time I put on said pants.
Life could be worse.
I could be striving to live the life of a penniless poet, bussing tables to afford an education my parents refuse to pay for. I could also be in a relationship built off of a foundation of lies. But who am I to judge? I’m just a simple twenty-something year old girl looking for her place in life.
Maybe you’re in the same position as me. But if you’ve already found out who you are—all that soul searching crap—don’t rub it in my face. I’m working on it. It’s just taking me longer than expected.
I’m a poet. I’m a bad daughter. I’m a good lover. I’m a loyal friend. I’m a hot mess. But is there more to life than just that?

First Thoughts

So, as you all may know, my Blogger dash has been acting seriously weird lately. Every post takes forever to load and then on top of that, several of my reviews (old and fairy new) have been deleted! Every trace of them, except the links on twitter, directing to nowhere, have vanished. Silly me writes everything here and I didn’t have a back-up, which I really should have done. But, with that said, I’m slowly starting to find out which book reviews were deleted and put them right back up. Cat and Mouse is one of them – one of the best, lesser-known novels I’ve read this year!

Review

My first thought when I started reading Cat and Mouse was that I knew some part of me would resonate with Roxy, our main character. She’s a college student, kind of lost in the midst of growing up and it sucks – and that, I totally get. She was like one of my best friends, I could just feel myself thinking, “Yes, a thousand times yes” when she would say something, or think something, about being a twenty-something girl trying to live up to her siblings image and find a place in her Parents – who refused to pay for her education – hearts, no matter how small.

But, Roxy’s life is a little more complex than my own. For one, she’s dating two people. At the same time. So, ultimately things are up in the air where her own heart is concerned. Her friends are there for her, but more so on the party scene. I thought that Jacquelyn wrote these college experiences and lifestyles with the feelings about going out with your friends and the pressures, so well written and thought out. In fact, her writing didn’t feel forced or unnatural at all and it was just like reading something from Gemma Burgess, a twinge of New Adult mixed with the remnants of leaving YA behind and Adult ahead.

Overall, I can’t fault Cat and Mouse for anything. I don’t get to read a lot of lesser-known novels, because I get so many requests for them, but I am so thankful that I got to read this book. Roxy is a poet (and so am I), she was strong and wise (even if she didn’t know it) and I can’t wait to read more in the series (soon, I hope!). Jacquelyn – you have something epic to be proud of! For fans of New Adult, Roxy’s story about finding your place in the world (or faking your way there) will be your new favourite book. Highly recommended, four star read. Amazing!

Rating & Recs

For fans of New Adult, but Adult readers will love this too!