I was skeptical going in to this. If you’re following my reviews, you probably know that lit fic and I don’t always get along. And it was a bit dense, especially at first.
I knew going in this was made up of a series of interlocking stories, which was probably another reason I was wary. It’s actually cooler than that, though. The book is structured in a sort of mirror. The first story is set in the 18th century and is told as a diary, and in the second, the characters have a copy of the diary, etc. This goes on all the way until far in the future in a post-apocalyptic story, and then links back the same way, so that it ends in the 18th century again.
Like all the long, dense books I’ve read this year, I’m sure I didn’t devote the right amount of time or mindspace to it. Next year somebody please remind me not to did this anymore. I should just read all the fluff all the time. What really got me was the ending. It really brought the whole book together and made me wish I hadn’t rushed a bit through the rest of it and put in the work.
CBR Bingo: Snubbed! (It lost a bunch of awards.)