Bewilderment is a touching portrait of a father and son, grieving the loss of a wife and mother, trying to stay afloat in a changing world. Robin is a special boy. His teachers think he is acting out, while his astrobiologist father Theo thinks he is just sensitive to the loss of the world around them. When an old friend of Robin's mom thinks he can help "fix" Robin's behavior with experimental brain-training instead of drugs, they take the opportunity.

Interspersed through the book are descriptions of faraway planets and life that might be there, as Theo has written a program that allows them to virtually visit these distant places. The vignettes of the planets reminded me of Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.

In the background, the setting is a near-future with a Trump-like leader and Greta Thunberg-like teen climate change activist fighting the good fight. The politics aren’t really delved deeply into, which I think speaks to our human ability to almost ignore and adapt to more restrictive laws and cruel government.

I liked this book, and did feel moved by the end, but there were some moments where it felt preachy, slow, and a bit boring. I also didn’t love how opposed Theo was to giving his son medication - struck me as a little anti-science, for being a science-focused book. I haven’t read The Overstory yet, but I’m interested to now go back and read that one too.