This moves along nicely, which was a better experience, for me, than the previous one I tried, Life After Life (I think?). I usually don’t get along with child perspectives but this was quite well done. I can’t say I ever really got too attached to any one character but the writing was strong enough that I didn’t mind that, and I was curious enough to pick it up daily.

There is a rather large plot beat that feels like it’s almost just a footnote, which felt a bit strange. Though, in this section, toward the end, lots of life events are truncated like that, almost like an epilogue. It was just a bit jarring because of how much weight very small plot beats get across the book. The families… eccentricities, I guess, often are normalized by the narrator because, well, they have been, but it also feels like the story itself doesn’t have any real emotional heft to it in the end because the narrator has the detachment, most of the time, so I adopted it as well, as the reader. It is similar to going to museum, for me. I don’t really tend to connect with historical items and curious beyond passing curiosity, before they’re forgotten, probably forever. Probably that will be the same experience with this book. Not a bad thing, but not enough for an exceeded expectations fourth star, either.