I'm going to sacrifice my pride and be completely honest with you – I did not want to like The Catalyst. There were two reasons for this, and I am ashamed to have to tell you that the first was jealousy. The author, Helena Coggan, is fifteen. Fifteen, for goodness sake, and published! It's not a bad book either. With a gripping plot, likeable characters, action-packed suspense and amazingly vivid events, someone so young must be immensely talented to create this – a book which prevented me from revising and had me glued to my chair all day, to start it in the morning and finish it in the evening.
The second reason was that I've read so much dystopian and fantasy fiction that frankly, I'm growing a bit sick of it. But when I tell you that 'The Catalyst' is dystopian, don't go running off like I was tempted to do. The plot, focusing on a future society where people are divided into those who are able to perform magic and those who are not, is expertly orchestrated and astonishingly transfixing throughout. I actually (surprisingly) enjoyed that the book was a merging of dystopian and fantasy, two genres which, alone, can become quite repetitive and overwhelming, but together, became unique and intensely gripping. There was just the right amount of accessibility yet also a tendril of unfamiliarity to keep the reader hooked at all times.
The characters of The Catalyst were kick-butt and sassy – always great ingredients for providing a bit of action and drama. The protagonist, Rose, was in possession of a potentially fatal secret, but again, don't run off, because this isn't one of those cliché secrets – this one actually enhances the story and has a purpose.
Although the prose was at times a little unwieldy and confusing, I felt that the real strength of this book was the plot. It had me hooked from the initial chapter, and I enjoyed every second of it. Overall, I am completely in awe of Helena Coggan's ability to create such an enjoyable work at such a young age, and would recommend The Catalyst to fans of The Hunger Games, the Divergent trilogy, and also the Mortal Instruments, since it slightly retains that 'fantasy in modern society' element. This book explored something deeper, too: how divides within society can be so influential and life-changing, and how it is impossible to categorise something or somebody because, well, we're all different.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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