Content warnings: death, suicide, and probably more

Dropping at 67 pages because it triggers my anxiety too much. I enjoyed a lot of the narrative, though Nao is unbelievable to me as a teenager and reads more like a younger child. I liked the little comments she made about the world around her. The characters and narrative were too unpredictable in that I didn't feel like I could attach to anything or anyone, especially since death is talked about consistently, at least during the beginning.

Be warned that sexual assault, child prostitution, and bullying are major plot lines. Probably not suitable for younger readers, and adults should proceed with caution.

This book starts promising but totally fails to deliver. Ruth is boring, one dimensional, and static. She is treated like an idiot by everyone in her life and usually just takes it. Her husband is just as flat and literally only serves to communicate information either pointless, or that the author thinks you're too stupid to figure out yourself.

Nao is supposed to be a 16 year old girl, but her narrative doesn't fall in line with that at all.

The majority of the book references a goal that is never achieved, the authors attempts to be edgy with "quantum time" hi-jinks is dull and predictable.

The first 30 pages or so are intriguing, but it falls apart quickly after that.

note added march 2026 cuz I know the readalong is gonna make this OLD review get some views: I read this book YEARS ago and my review here is definitely colored by the wild ass book club I read it with that did not know how to properly engage with topics like under age prostitution (they thought it was fun and quirky and like, actually didn't have issues with full grown men sleeping with teenagers) & my anger about that absolutely impacted the way I read this book. I would probably come to different conclusions if I was reading it now as a much more discerning and well read reader not mad as hell that this book was picked and no CW/TW were given. Needless to say, I promptly quit that book club. 😅