Cathy's Key

Cathy Vickers Trilogy #2

by Sean Stewart, Jordan K. Weisman

Sechs Monate sind vergangen, seit Cathy herausgefunden hat, dass ihr Freund Victor unsterblich ist. Und als wäre das allein nicht schon aufregend genug, erfährt sie nun auch noch, dass ihr Vater gar nicht an einem Herzinfarkt gestorben ist, sondern ermordet wurde. Cathy beschließt, seinem Tod auf den Grund zu gehen, und entdeckt dabei Unglaubliches. Plötzlich überschlagen sich die Ereignisse: Cathys Tagebuch und ihr Handy werden gestohlen, ein wahnsinniger Stalker verfolgt sie und bald schon sieht sich Cathy sogar in einen weiteren Mordfall verstrickt ┤

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Paranormal, Teen

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Sean Stewart (born June 2, 1965) is a U.S.-Canadian science fiction and fantasy author.

Born in Lubbock, Texas, Sean Stewart moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1968. After stints in Houston, Texas, Vancouver, British Columbia, Irvine, California and Monterey, California, he now lives in Davis, California, with his wife and two daughters.

He received an Honors degree in English from University of Alberta in 1987, following which he spent many years writing novels. He gradually moved from writing novels to interactive fiction, first as lead writer on the Web based Alternate Reality Game The Beast.

He served as a consultant on several computer games, and was on the management team of the 4orty2wo Entertainment experiential marketing and entertainment company, where he was lead writer for Haunted Apiary aka ilovebees and Last Call Poker. His newest novel Cathy's Book seems to represent the melding of his two careers, as it crosses the alternate reality game format with a teen novel. In 2007, he and several 4orty2wo co-founders left that company to start Fourth Wall Studios.

Awards:
* Arthur Ellis Award Best First Novel winner (1993): Passion Play
* World Fantasy Award Best Novel winner (2001): Galveston

Reviews

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

[February 01, 2009] was an important date! I found this book and was introduced to one of my favorite series! The war of the immortals has just begun, all in order to stop death and time. It has been six months since Cathy received a card on her birthday from Victor asking her to wait for him and it might take two years for them to meet again.



I felt really sorry for Cathy and her horrible relationship with her mother (whom I feel sorry for as well), and the bad Jewel who I can't stand, who stole her diary/artbook and clothes! What a bitch! Emma is so materialistic, I knew that from the first book but sometimes she seems to me without feelings.



The end was so sad and shocking, I felt sorry for Cathy; to love and idolize someone for so long and have all those feelings shattered in minutes is so harsh! I love the modern take of the mythology (even if none is real) it seems real and so much fun!

[the tortured poets' society · Rating 1 out of 5]

Le premier tome possédait la Pire Fin Livresque Au Monde.
Celui-ci est tout simplement l’Histoire Livresque La Plus Wtf Au Monde.
Y a rien qui va !!!
A chaque fois que tu te dis que ça ne peut pas être pire, CA LE DEVIENT !!!
C’est du grand n’importe quoi.
Et les documents ?? Y en avait la moitié qui ne servaiant à rien, voire qui n’avaient aucun rapport avec l’histoire !? LA LETTRE EN ESPAGNOL WTF ??? J’AI FAIT CHINOIS LV2 MOI !
bref c’était nul-

[Quill&Queer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel came with a pile of papers, a metal coin and a hospital bracelet, which I absolutely put on immediately. A lot of this book involved Cathy trying to not get sexually harassed by her boyfriend's Dad, which was a bit weird, but I did enjoy the introduction of Jewel and Denny.

[Maura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I was able to read in one sitting. I stayed up all night reading this. I didn't stop. I just read and read, didn't stop. It never once got boring, it was fast pace, and it felt like I was watching a movie. I'm not doing a review on the first book in the series, Cathy's Book, because I don't have it anymore and I don't remember much. At first, before reading this, I was worried that I wouldn't remember the storyline or wouldn't be able to follow along but the authors did a wonderful job of recapping and the whole story was easy to follow along. The ending will make you want to read the next one ASAP. The book also is very unique because they give you items inside the book which are evidence and your able to phone the characters, check their voice mail, e-mail them, go to websites the characters visit, see pictures, birth certificates, Chinese coins, ect; It's just wonderful book that will have you on feet the whole time. The characters are lovable. My favorites are Cathy, Emma, and Jewel. I can definitely see anyone making this into a movie. Also every page has doodles in it which makes it more fun and unique to read. It is written in a story/diary like way and I know the readers will enjoy that. I don't really have any complaints about this book it was amazing and having items inside made it even more fun. All I can say if you haven't read this yet then go, go, go to the bookstore and buy it. Remember Cathy's Book is the first one, Cathy's Key is the sequel, and Cathy's Ring is the thrid and current book out right now. Anyways I love it XD.

[Alice Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for originality and diversity!

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again it was interesting and I love the drawing on the pages. The whole thing with her father was slightly disappointing just because of how he was, sighhh can't these people just be nice for once? Jewel was frustrating a lot of the time but also a great character.
3/5

[Chandni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the plot of this novel as much as the previous book, but it was still a fun young-adult novel. I liked the addition of Denny, but really hated Jewel as a character. However, there are some moments in this book that were heart wrenching and made me feel really bad for Cathy. There were definitely a lot of plot twists that I never saw coming.

[Jemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a sequel to Cathy's Notebook. This book was sooooo good. The sequel is about Cathy getting a note from this fortune teller who contacts her but then gets murdered by her boyfriends father who is creeping on her. She meets this girl who is a con artist and manages to steal almost everything important to her and kill someone and changes her look to look like Cathy named Jewel. Within all this drama she also found out a lot about her father. This book is really hard to explain if you didn't read the first one so read the first one, then read this. A scene i could see playing out would be the scene where Cathy has her first encounter with Jewel which was on a greyhound bus.Jewel asked for some money and Cathy said she had none. I would have them sitting far away from each other but talking. Cathy looking a little uncomfortable saying her lines with a look on her face like i know she knows i have money but there's no way I'm giving it to her. I'd have Cathy read her lines with a lot of sympathy in her voice. I'd have Jewel sound really sweet and sincere with a little shady of a tone so u can guess she's done this many times before but it works all the time. You'd have other people sitting all around some sleeping some reading some listening to ipods, on the phone, texting, or on the computer but spotlight on them.

[Federica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequel is as interesting and funny as the previous one. There are still lot of little objects and drawings, even if less than the first book.
Here the writer introduce one of my favorite character of the trilogy: Jewel. And, also, I developed thanks to this book one of my greatest fears: the exchange of identity and the stealing of an it. Really, it scares me.
Anyway, I really liked this book

[Bridget Mcloughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome writing, It was a really good page-turner

[LadyMuffinchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wie bereits Band eins war auch hier ein guter Ansatz da. Die Idee ein Tagebuch mit sämtlichen Hinweisen auf die Story zu kreieren und dem Leser an die Hand zu geben ist einfach wow. Und wie bereits in Band eins von mir bemängelt fehlt es auch hier wieder an einer Umsetzung, da sie unverändert wie vorher ohne Beschriftungen oder Hinweise in einem Umschlag liegen. Keine Ahnung, wann ich mir was anschauen soll (weshalb ich es am Ende des Buches gemacht habe 😅). Spoiler sind sonst wirklich möglich und auch, wenn man vielleicht nicht direkt weiß, was es für die Story bringt, so weiß man sonst doch direkt, dass irgendwas kommen muss, wobei die Dinge eine unter Umständen gewichtige Rolle spielen. 

Auch Cathy ist unverändert ein nerviger, höchst naiver und egoistischer Charakter mit der Tendenz die wichtigen Sachen im Leben nicht ernst zu nehmen (mit ihren 18 Jahren erwarte ich da wirklich was anderes). Wie Emma es passend beschreibt: Die Cathy-Show geht weiter. Wobei auch Emma in diesem Band nicht gerade sympathischer wird und auch, wenn ich die Gründe von ihr (und ihrem Vater) für einen Bruch mit Cathy verstehe, so sind auch diese auf relativ egoistischen Standpunkten aufgebaut. Und gerade deswegen kann ich nicht nachvollziehen, weshalb nach Drama pur nach 4 Kapiteln zwischen den beiden alles wieder im Lot ist. Der neu eingebrachte Charakter der Jewel war auch nicht unanstrengend, wobei sie jedoch realitätsnaher gehandelt und gedacht hat, als die anderen Figuren...

Die Geschichte über die Unsterblichen geht hier weiter, jedoch wird nicht wirklich viel mehr Information an uns herangetragen, weshalb auch dies wieder mau ist. Die Geschichte an sich ist auch eher lasch und wer mit Spannung rechnet, sollte sich eventuell was anderes zum Lesen aussuchen.

Eine geringfügige Besserung sehe ich lediglich darin, dass die Kriminalität von Cathy nachgelassen hat und durch Jewel die Story und Dialoge auch etwas Witz hatten. Dennoch nicht ganz das, was ich mir von dem Buch erhofft habe. Band 3 werde ich wohl (auch aufgrund dessen, dass ich ihn nicht habe) eher nicht lesen 😅

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einige Zeit ist nun seit den Vorkommnissen in Cathy's Book ins Land gegangen. Cathy versucht sich mehr oder minder erfolgreich im Arbeitsleben. Doch immer wieder scheint ihr das Schicksal einen Strich durch die Rechnung zu machen. Entweder trifft sie auf die falschen Personen oder sie hat einfach nur Pech. Jedenfalls endet jeder Job in einem Desaster. Nicht nur, dass Cathy Geldprobleme hat und sich noch immer regelmäßig mit ihrer Mutter zofft. Tsao hat es noch immer auf sie abgesehen und hält nur wegen ihr die Firma ihrer besten Freundin am Laufen. Ihre große Liebe Victor scheint nach wie vor verschollen, auch wenn er sich ab und an für einige Augenblicke sehen lässt. Und zu guter letzt wird ihr von einem Mädchen, das sie im Bus kennen lernt, ihre Identität gestohlen. Denn Jewel rauscht samt ihres Handy und samt ihres Tagebuchs einfach ab. Das Buch, in dem die Wahrheit über Victor und die Unsterblichen steht... und wäre das alles noch nicht schlimm genug, erfährt Cathy, dass ihr Vater wahrscheinlich gar nicht so gestorben ist, wie sie es immer dachte, sondern, dass er ermordet wurde. Oder steckt noch etwas ganz anderes hinter der Sache?

Die Fortsetzung des Buches war wirklich gut gemacht und endlich kam es auch einmal zu ein paar spannenden Szenen. Trotzdem fand ich manche Szenen sehr übertrieben und gekitscht. Das hätte so nie und nimmer funktioniert, deswegen gibt es einen Stern Abzug. Dass es ein Geheimnis um das Ableben von Cathy's Vater gibt, hatte ich mir schon fast im ersten Teil gedacht, wusste nur noch nicht so recht, in welche Richtung ich weiter denken sollte. Dass es natürlich so ist, wie es ist, macht einige Szenen aus dem ersten Teil einleuchtend. Egal wie man es dreht und wendet, Cathy scheint Probleme immer wieder magisch anzuziehen. Sie könnte einem schon fast leid tun.... könnte. Was mich auch an diesem Buch wieder sehr fasziniert hat, war, dass jede Seite mit Zeichnungen und Randnotizen versehen war. Da hat sich wirklich jemand sehr viel Mühe gegeben. Auch die beiliegenden Beweismittel waren wieder sehr interessant, auch wenn sie diesmal nicht direkt mit der Geschichte zu tun hatten. Im Großen und Ganzen ein gelungenes Buch, dass man einmal gelesen haben sollte!

Gebundene Ausgabe: 192 Seiten
Verlag: Bastei Lübbe (Baumhaus); Auflage: Aufl. 2008 (1. Oktober 2008)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3833938013
ISBN-13: 978-3833938016
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 13 - 17 Jahre
Originaltitel: Cathy's Key
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 14,8 x 3 x 23,8 cm

[Abi Pellinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book in the Cathy Vickers Trilogy, this is a series that I intended to read so many years ago and I'm excited that I'm finally making progress!

This series follows a teen girl as she's dating an older man (who happens to be immortal) whilst navigating her relationship with her parents, her best friend, and some other immortals that have taken a real disliking to her

If you wanna check out my review of book one, Cathy's Book, the click here!

I picked these books up originally because of the multi-media style formatting. Each page is just covered in doodles and I love looking at them and seeing how they relate to the content we're reading. There are also centre pages in my edition that have similar content to the extras that were loose with my edition of book one. They add so much extra to the story and really make you feel more engrossed.

This is definitely a YA series and I would've been so much more obsessed if I'd read this at the time I actually bought them (see my first review for more of that story) but it still holds enough of its own that in my mid-20s I'm still enjoying it!

I'm really interested to see what happens in the last book. They're such short books that there can't be that much more but I have so many questions! I just hope they're all answered.

On CAWPILE I gave this book: Characters: 8, Atmosphere: 7, Writing: 6, Plot: 7, Intrigue: 7, Logic: 6, and Enjoyment: 7, which gives an overall total of 6.86 which is a 3* read.

Don't get me wrong, these aren't my new favourite books. You can probably tell that. But at the same time they're really fun, I adore the doodles and the friendship and the refreshing portrayal of the parental relationship is nice to read too (although ever so slightly tropey). Let's see how book 3 does!

[McKenzie Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOSTALGIA! Reading this book for the first time as an adult brought back so many teenage memories for me. All of my complaints from the first book were pretty much resolved in Cathy's Key. Cathy felt a little bit older, and a little bit less cringey teenage girl, but she still felt like her. Similarly, the writing felt a little more solid in this book. This was also the first book where I actually got to look at all of the "evidence" in the little plastic envelope (I had the paperback edition of the first book). That was such a cool and inventive concept, which I think drew a lot of young readers back in the day (myself included).

And I absolutely loved the addition of Jewel to the cast of characters! She felt like the darker version of Cathy (fitting, since Cathy calls Jewel her evil twin). Like who Cathy might have been if her circumstances were more dire and dysfunctional.

I only remembered a few details from this book, and I don't remember anything at all about the third book. So I'm excited to dive straight into Cathy's Ring!

[Ilmioangololibri · Rating 5 out of 5]

È il secondo libro della trilogia composta da “il diario di Cathy” come primo volume e “l’anello di Cathy” come terzo volume.
Le pagine del romanzo sembrano essere un vero e proprio diario segreto di una ragazzina, pieno di disegni e note. Il romanzo mozzafiato, pieno di suspance e azione racconta la storia di Cathy è dell’affascinante Victor, un innocuo tecnico di laboratorio dall’aspetto di un ventenne che, in realtà, ha combattuto la prima guerra mondiale e ha visto Hitler invadere la Polonia. Tra i due scoppia un amore dolcissimo che porterà la giovane Cathy a rubare il segreto dell’immortalità alla mafia cinese.
Ah dimenticavo! All’interno del romanzo troverete una busta con dentro le prove... mi raccomando, tenetele al sicuro!

[Garfunkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comme le tome 1, c'est une lecture fluide et adictive, qui cette fois ci développe plusieurs intrigues à la fois et amène de nouveaux personnages!
Le fil de l'histoire est très intéressant et éveille sans cesse notre curiosité.
Encore une fois, c'est une très beau livre dans la forme, avec des documents, dessins, mails et numéros à consulter au fil de la lecture
Cependant, bien plus présente qu'au tome 1, certaines informations sont délaissées: on les introduit aux lecteur comme si ce dernier les connaissait d'emblée, ce qui enlève beaucoup de surprise.
De plus, certains personnages comme Emma ou Tatie Joe sont mis à la trape, ce qui est décevant
Tut de même, c'était une agréable lecture, malgré des maladresses sur le points ethnique (ce à quoi l'auteure aurait dû être plus attentive)

[Silly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cathy’s book series are my favourite books ever, I read Cathy’s book first then this and I was not disappointed it was as good as the first book, can’t wait to read the third book, Cathys ring. Obviously the emails and websites do not work anymore but I did buy the French version of the books which has a site so that we can listen to all the voicemails, so when i reread it I will read it in French. I wish I knew more about the authors. If anyone has any recommendations of similar books please let me know.

[Eleonora Mingardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite of the series aka childhood fave #2 - I remember buying a peach flavoured bodyspray as a teenager cause I wanted to be badass like Jewell. And all that sneaky vibe around a daugher of the American Dream and a broken home makes just the perfect Love/Hate combination. Definitely one of my favourite character of all times.
A thing confirmed page by page, Cathy is such a perfect incarnation of an Aquarius and Denny is a softy.

[Ary89 - Romance e non solo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Libro carino, ma non adatto come mia lettura. Oramai sono cresciuta un po' troppo per poter apprezzare una lettura come questa. Meglio lasciare il libro a mia sorella e vedere cosa ne pensa lei. Molto carina l'idea di allegare al romanzo dei gadget riguardanti i vari luoghi visitati dalla protagonista.

[Kath West · Rating 5 out of 5]

The caliber of this book was equal to (or maybe even greater than) that of the first novel in the series, "Cathy's Book." I loved the new character additions of Jewel and Denny, and the story was interesting and fast-paced.

[♡Strawberead⁠♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5 stars I didn't think that I'm was gonna like this book this much the writing is pretty great, the characters and the story also are i just got a little of problem has the begin of the story but I really liked that one ! I definitely gonna buy tome 3 !

[Aurumora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich finde das es zwar eine Geschichte mit Jugendlichen ist, aber nicht per se ein Jugendbuch. Ich finde auch die Cover nicht so passig, weil der Inhalt eine wirklich gute Geschichte ist, mit deutlichem Fantasyanteil.

[Miriam Rapisarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molto curato nei dettagli. Carino

[Allison Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this one a bit better than the first. Maybe because I read it straight through and then went back to play with the fun extras. This worked a bit better for me. Reading the third one next.

[Pacg__nkg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really didn't like it too much was happening at once and the end was just really weird.

[Giuseppe Cipollaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha tanti colpi di scena credo che sia il migliore della trilogia

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

enjoyed the first way more, plot felt scattered but still a fun book!!

[Stefanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one took me forever to read because it was so cringey. But the ending was somewhat satisfying.

[mino · Rating 2 out of 5]

raciste + mid + l’auteur ne sait pas pace son livre correctement omfg

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cool doodles and stuff but really hard to get into and nothing relatable. Really disappointed and it cost me £12.99 from whsmith. Not worth buying!