Scott G. (Cabanachat) reviewed on 2/2/2022 + 7 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

I was truly surprised, after reading a lot of the Goodreads reviews, by how extreme the reactions to this book have been. It is, apparently, way more polarizing than I'd realized, with people tending to either totally hate it or fervently love it.

I am most decidedly amongst the latter. What starts out feeling like an ideal casual beach read grows into a uniquely compelling study of our expectations of information and/or the lack thereof. Ironically, the recurring complaint amongst its detractors seems to be rooted in their own expectations of it.

Was it originally marketed as a high-suspense thriller? It seems many readers approached it believing it would be just that and, while it could technically fit that criteria, it quickly becomes clear that there is much, much more afoot.

I'm not going to dive any further into this as it's undoubtedly best for potential readers to come to it as free from expectations as possible. I'll just reiterate that I really loved it and found the slow reveal of its actual intent to be nothing short of masterful. Can't wait to inhale his (thus far) two other novels.

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