It's a little bit of a stretch on the 'magical realism' scale but I still absolutely enjoyed this book. With each part of the story, you're easily sucked into the world and mannerisms of that section's focus character while also smoothly transitioning into the next character's section. Each of the characters' lives is so utterly tragic, and if there's only one thing that you learn from reading this book it's that life is too short and there is no 'correct' way to live your life (even a long one).