Reinventing Cato

I did not expect to like this book of the series as much as I did. I was wary about Cato because I was under the impression he was very similar to Jonty when I met him in the other books, but I was surprised, he was great, I liked him. I liked Vigge too, but I have to say, out of all Barbara Elsborg books I read, the communication is the worse here. And yet, that offers another proof that context and the way something is written is very important. It makes a lot of sense why the communication is not the best here, Vigge has never been in a relationship before, he's clueless to what he's supposed to do. His behaviour was quite realistic.

I really liked, I loved, that Devan and Cato keep so much in touch. Their relationship is great, I am so glad they are so close and that Cato trusts Devan so much. I had no idea I needed that type of relationship in this book, it makes me feel so joyful. I also like a lot that so far Devan and Jonty make an appearance in every book of the series and I'm so glad to find out Jonty met his sister and they got along, really happy for Jonty.

The plot of 'Reinventing Cato' was interesting, it took an unexpected turn after the other books. But I also see there's a stabbing theme going on. In the first chapters I thought 'oh, no, there's going to be a stabbing' and I dreaded it, but when it finally happened, I was surprised. I don't know how to make this sound good, but it was a good stabbing. It didn't feel repetitive or tedious, it was kind of natural. There were other things I thought might happen and I dreaded them happening so I'm glad they did not happen. I definitely liked 'Reinventing Cato' more than I did 'A Long Way Back' and I was not expecting that.

But back to Cato and Vigge. The communication is getting worked on (but let me just say this, Cato was very generous to Vigge, giving him so many chances. After his congratulations on the job I really wanted Cato to text him 'you know what, I did not know about the job until now, but nevermind, I've had it, I'm not pursuing this relationship any further' because his jumping to conclusions then annoyed me. Vigge would have looked for Cato and talk to him if he'd sent a text like that so all good) and they'll get there, but when they were together, getting to know each other, they were so good. I loved them together, they were clearly right for each other and despite everything I'm glad they made it work. And Vigge already learned so much about this relationship thing.

There were a few other things that I really liked in this book, I liked Cato's naughty drawer, and I liked the way he dealt with Max and Louise (was it Louise? L-something), he kept the discussion as civil as he could, he didn't escalate things, he was firm on his position. Well done. Other than that, yeah, great book, really liked it.

Pretty much ready to nope out of this one. Elsborg seems to be trying to turn Cato into a (slightly more intellectual) Jonty from [b:The Making of Jonty Bloom 54342632 The Making of Jonty Bloom (Unfinished Business, #1) Barbara Elsborg https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593558322l/54342632.SY75.jpg 84086893] since he has been such a breakthrough character, and I find it annoying instead of endearing to have another character who talks incessantly without any filter. Plus the suspense plot doesn't fit in well with the lighthearted romance. Time to take a break from this author, I think.

4.5 stars

Cato was not at all what I was expecting, and now he's my fave of everyone in this series! I laughed so much while reading, and the suspense near the end hooked me as well. Highly recommend.