I’ve never read her previous novel, but I picked this up on a whim in a book store and breezed through it. Very nicely developed and written, exploring themes of solitude and identity. The main character is one of the most charming that I’ve encountered in a very long time, sweet in a way that wasn’t annoying — really quite a feat in itself I think.
It’s really inventive and has a “world-building” (although I’m loathe to use that term, it’s probably the best term to use) that is beautiful and mysterious. To my taste she revealed neither too little nor too much.
I loved this book so much! "Charming" is a great word to describe the narrator. I did love the first half more than the second half, though, personally; wasn't super stoked on the direction the plot/explanation took. I think I might just appreciate vague metaphysical musings and such over more "concrete" sort of developments, although that may easily just be chalked up to personal taste. I just thought the first half was a lot more "profound" than the book as a whole ended up being. Although I thought the last couple pages wrapped up the book quite nicely! Thanks for sharing.
Yes I agree with you, the drive of the plot near the end was much less interesting than the beginning, I think because for so long you basically know around 80% of the 'mystery' and so much of the last chunk is devoted to the details of the remaining 20%. I think the length helps, if the book were twice as long yet the proportions were the same, it would not have worked as well. Thanks for the comment :)