Catwoman

by Elizabeth Hand

There’s a new Catwoman in town—a feline adventuress unlike any you’ve seen before. Discover all her sizzling secrets as she cracks her whip and sinks her claws into her most petrifying, death-defying adventure yet.

Patience Philips is a shrinking violet, not exactly a career booster at competitive Hedare Beauty, the huge cosmetics corporation where she’s a graphic designer. Self-conscious and easily unnerved, she hasn’t a chance of escaping detection after she uncovers a dirty little secret in Hedare’s top-secret research laboratory. Discovery means death, but the real shocker is what happens afterward.

In the blink of a cat’s eye, the meek designer is gone, replaced—through an ancient twist of fate—by a sleek, self-assured woman with dark, dazzling Catwoman. She has scores to settle, rooftops to roam, and a sinister underworld to prowl, as she stalks her destiny like a feral feline. She also has a good-looking detective on her trail, someone who has fallen for Patience, but is drawn to Catwoman.

As two mighty forces gear up for the ultimate showdown, the fur will fly. . . .

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Superheroes, Fiction

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

A New York Times notable and multiple award– winning author, Elizabeth Hand has written seven novels, including the cult classic Waking the Moon, and short-story collections. She is a longtime contributor to numerous publications, including the Washington Post Book World and the Village Voice Literary Supplement. She and her two children divide their time between the coast of Maine and North London.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of a screenplay that was written by John Rogers, Mike Ferris, and John Brancato. It's not a very good screenplay, IMHO, and neither was the film that was released. Hand did a good job of what they hired her to do, though, and adapted it well. She also added a lot of interesting bits of myth and lore about female/feline transformations that made it worthwhile. It doesn't follow any kind of comics continuity so far as I could tell, and residents of canonical Gotham will be lost.

[Alex Angulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it was my first book in English, so I'm exciting about that, but it's not a good book, it's easy to ready but... the story is ridiculous, but it's not important for me. It was a big first step and I happy for that, sorry for this review (?) it was my catharsis :D
About story is short and doesn't have many plot twist (just one, and it's no amazing), but if you don't have many time you can read this book.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason why I added this novel to the list of my favorite books is because of how much Feline legends and myths were in the novel. This novel went further than what the movie did. I read this last year but from what I can remember it had three stories based on feline myths that were passed down from Ophelia Powers to Patience for her to read about these past Catwomen and how they lived. I felt that was an awesome addition to this book and made it interesting to learn about the different Catwomen. I started reading the last myth but I had skipped over it because it was difficult but I read the rest of the book.

If you are looking for a novel that goes further in-depth with the Patience Phillips version of Catwoman gets this book. I love cats and for any cat lover, this is an awesome addition to his/her at-home library.

[Celest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow a screenplay for a very silly movie blossomed into a fun and action filled book. Honestly I recommend the book over the movie in this case of a book adaptation of a movie.

[Jonathan Lee B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Catwoman is popcorn with a side of corn on the cob.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the extra sub-stories added as background to the Catwoman "transformation". Enjoyed the bookj enough that I watched the movie again after i finished it. Liked the movie a lot more than the first time I saw it 15 or so years ago. However, till find the costume "weird"

[Liz Meldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 3 stars from me. I think the author did the best she could with the screenplay given to her. In order to enjoy this Catwoman at all, you really have to diverge from any previous lore or knowledge you have of her. This isn't the Gotham you know and love -- in fact, I don't think I ever saw the word Gotham written in the manuscript.

What I actually enjoyed most were the historical snippets that featured in Ophelia's book. I thought those were written beautifully, but that might stem from my preference for romance novels, where the brusque, more rushed storytelling of the rest of the book isn't necessarily a thing.

All in all, a decent read, but not necessarily a memorable one.

[Adam Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just as bad as the movie it’s based on. It at least leans more into the “she is becoming a cat” aspect. #garbaugust1.5

[De'Vaughn Brathwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this alternate take on Catwoman - a catwoman that isn't necessarily tied to Gotham City or the wider DC mythos. While a jarring concept to get used to, once I viewed it from the perspective of having a Catwoman stand on her own in her own setting, I started to appreciate this take more, especially since it leaned a lot more heavily with the cat theming (but certainly had it's way with comic-like puns).

As someone just getting back into the habit of reading (and writing), I have no complaints about the quality of the writing. I in fact really enjoyed the prose here, and look forward to studying it some more, as well as the wonderfully fine openers of each chapter!

I also enjoyed seeing how this character is written from a womans perspective and writing style, and really enjoyed the side stories delivered by the character Ophilia Powers. Elizabeth did a great job novelizing the film, while having room to add her own flare to the story. This book is definitely going to be a huge help as I try to write some fan-fiction based on this version of catwoman. <3

[Rebecca M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't know why, but I've decided to write (short) reviews for some of the books I read a long time ago.

I'm embarrassed to say I've read this. My mom bought it for me when the movie was about to come out and I read it out of respect for her... and because, admittedly, I was a bit curious. The beginning was decent if I remember correctly. I liked the character of Patience, and her friend Sally. But the book got nonsensical pretty damn fast and by the end I was like, "Really? REALLY??"

I apologized to my mother and then got rid of the book. There was just no way I was going to keep it on my bookshelf.

[Ginger Vampyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, this really is a ridiculous book. Like the movie it is not a deeper plot, stirring the soul, type of story. But it is really fun. It is a bad-ass chick kicking trash and being overly rebellious with a whip. In the novelization there are several small Cat-goddess stories from cultures through the ages, I think they are my favorite part.

[Heather Wilmoth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catwoman is story but more in depth of the Catwoman (2,004) movie, tells the story how a meek graphic designer Patience Phillips as she transforms into the feline anti-hero/Superhero Catwoman after she uncovered a conspiracy at a cosmetics company. It is just as good as the movie I loved it (Catwoman is my favorite DC Comic Villain)!!

[Andrew Wimmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Literally all I can say about this is that the novelization is better than the movie.

[Joshlynn]

oh HELL yeah

[Andria]

Very quick read, finished most of it in an hour. Story was not very captivating so I skipped ahead to the predictable ending. It was an okay read, nothing amazing. Those that are into the cannon of Gotham might not be interested.