Book Description
When Ana, a socially awkward 28-year old, finds a discarded diary on the streets of Berlin, she unwittingly uncovers a hidden world of desire, danger, and disappearance.
The diary belongs to Gabriella Meyer, a daring sex therapist living in the communist East Berlin during the 80s, where pleasure was a scarce commodity and danger lurked around every corner. As Ana delves deeper into Gabriella's life and work, she discovers that her own sexual awakening and Gabriella's sudden disappearance may be more intertwined than she ever could have imagined.
With each page of the diary revealing new secrets, Ana becomes increasingly obsessed with the enigmatic Gabriella and the dark truths that she may have hidden.
'Catalog of Desire and Disappearance' is a mesmerizing tale of passion, intrigue, and self-discovery that will leave readers breathless.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Catalog Of Desire And Disappearance' by Ana Cruz.
Read and reviewed a physical copy for Ana Cruz, Netgalley and Literally PR.
Publication date 25th April 2023.
This is the first book I have read by this author but it most definitely won't be my last!!
This novel consists of 12 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
WOW!!!! What can I say?!?! What an absolutely fantastic book that I fell in love with!!! I cannot wait to read more books by this extremely talented author!
This book is beautifully written with vivid descriptions setting the picture perfectly in the readers mind. The title, description and cover works perfectly with the storyline.
WOW!!! AGAIN!!! What an absolutely unique, gripping, sexy and mysterious page turner!!! I have never ever come across a book that is anything like this and I absolutely loved it!!! It is written from the perspectives of two strong women in two different timelines. We begin with Ana who is living in Berlin and loves her job working in a library. When she is walking home one day she finds a discarded diary amongst other intriguing items and decides to take it home. We then delve into the diary entries of Gabriella who is a sex therapist living in Berlin in the 80's where her occupation can lead to her disappearance due to the illegality of it. I absolutely loved delving into the diary entries and devouring Gabriella's life story while also living Ana's life with her trying to discover what happened to Gabriella while also trying to discover her own sexuality. This book was extremely thought provoking when it comes to how the attitude of sex and sexuality has changed over the years but not only that but how the attitudes to it are so different in different locations. It really is a charming and sexy read with just the right amount of detail when it comes to certain scenes and plenty of mystery throughout. It is also filled with friendship, family, romance, self discovery, history, mystery and everything you could ask for in an intriguing page turner. The fact that the diary entries were written in a different font was helpful for the reader to know when they are living in the past and moving back to current times. I would have liked to see the same thing done with the letters discovered later on but that is my only criticism of this fantastic read. It is an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions filled with heartbreak, jealousy, regrets, romance, anger, family, love, loss, friendship and so much more. I was completely swept into the storyline and loved having a holiday not only in Berlin (during the present, not so much the past!). I have never actually been to Berlin myself but thanks to Ana's evocative writing skills it definitely felt like I was there alongside Ana, Andre, Theo, Gabriella and Bernd.
I was fascinated with the history of Berlin and the fact that Ana has done her research (or is a certain person mentioned) shines through the storyline. It is one of my pet hates when an author does not do enough research on the topic they are writing about as it can lead to unnecessary mistakes which can spoil the storyline for me so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Ana on researching your history well. This book really is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I was utterly glued to the pages and I could not bring myself to put it down. I was carrying my book around every chance that I got. I adored the gorgeous ending and would love to see this book turned into a series. I don't want to say anything else about the storyline as I don't want to give to much away but I do want to mention one more thing. I absolutely loved the gorgeous little twist at the end which I was definitely not expecting and made me wonder how much was true or if it was a twist to make us think it was?? I would love to know the answer to that!! I would seriously recommend this book to anyone and everyone!!
Clear your schedules as this is one addictive, thought provoking and sexy read ❤️
The characters are strong, realistic and I became completely invested in each and every one of them. They all had their own problems, secrets, feelings and all had unique personalities and I just absolutely loved getting to know them all. I felt each of their love , friendship, pain, heartbreak, happiness, anger, sorrow and so much more. I loved the main protagonists Ana and Gabriella who were both such strong females. I love seeing strong female leads in books being female myself and these two were both fantastic women. I loved seeing their personalities change and develop as individuals as well as watching them bond with other characters as the storyline went on. I also adored their relationships with Andre and Theo (Ana) and Bernd (Gabriella) grow in strength and developments from page to page. I loved Andre and Bernd whose personalities shone through the book and I loved that they weren't afraid to be who they are, even though in Bernd's case there was serious repercussions. They each played their parts perfectly and I would love to see more of them in future books. Hint, hint Ana 😉. Ana does an absolutely amazing job of bringing the story to life and the characters leap out of the pages as your turning them thanks to her evocative writing skills!! It is so hard to say what I feel about the characters without giving anything away so I won't say anymore about them as I don't want to go into too much detail at the risk of spoiling it for other readers but Ana really has done an amazing job at bringing each of the characters to life and I am missing them already. Well done Ana!!!
Congratulations Ana on a unique and intriguing page turner that kept me turning the pages until I devoured it in one sitting!! I am looking forward to reading more of your future books. I would absolutely love to see this book turned into a movie!!! This is why I would like to welcome you to my favourite author list and here's to your next success 🥂
Overall a fun and intriguing read with a great ending which leaves you wondering and mystery throughout ❤️!!!
213 pages.
This book is just £4.99 to purchase on kindle and £5.88 in paperback (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
A curious observer, photographer, writer.
Purchase Links
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/5tB444g
Amazon US: https://a.co/d/dUrQFLE
