This book is/was everywhere. EVERY. WHERE. It was recommended to me a number of times and was featured on Pajiba Archives in the article “What are the most talked about books of 2019 so far?” It was almost the case to choose being obstinate in the face of enthusiasm: I almost didn’t want to read it BECAUSE everyone was talking about it. However, I decided to dive it and I now understand the hype. It was, good; however, it just wasn’t my cup of tea, or at least not the tea I was looking for at the moment.
Well written? Yes. Interesting premise? Sure. Unique setting? Okay. The problem I had with it was that it too many details and too much exposition.”Everything but the kitchen sink” style storytelling is not my cup of tea. Get. To. The. Point. The first 1/2 dragged on too long for me. Plus, sense the subject matter was so bleak, it mad it seem eeeeven longer. Our heroine is alone and lonely and lonely about being alone and very very by herself. Yikes. I’m also not sold on the plausibility of the plot, and felt the “mystery” a bit thin. It was either a “did she or didn’t she” situation but Owens tried to make it seem more mysterious even though she didn’t include enough variables to really ratchet up other possible outcomes.
That said, I really enjoyed the back 1/4 of the book a lot more than the beginning and thought the conclusion was very well done so with all that I would almost give my rating a to a 4 because of it, but the first chunk was such a battle for me to get through that I’m leaving it where I landed at a 4. I would say this is a good book, and it’s an exceptionally well-written book, but it isn’t the kind of storytelling that draws me in.
