I’m of two minds on this book. On the one hand, what relationships are depicted in this book feel incredibly well characterized and developed. This is the richness of the novel that you need to sink into to enjoy it. Especially because it’s a first person narration on the opposite end of verisimilitude; incredibly selective in its framing in service to the exploration of theme rooted in character dynamics.

On the other hand, this framing makes it feel very difficult to feel time and place, and even to get a full sense of character for the protagonist. It feels incredibly siloed and therefor, unreal at times, or maybe emotionally manipulative, since there is no grounding. It also does not feel at all like the voice is a sixth-year PhD candidate. It sounds like a young adult composition, too simple at a sentence by sentence level. When there are interesting thoughts, just by virtue of contrast to the usual simple structure, they feel almost like epiphanies because of the defaultism in language the diction cultivates throughout.

On a conceptual level though, Transcendent Kingdom is incredibly well executed. It is very tight thematically—to the point where everything else feels perfunctory. So I feel enjoyment and engagement will really vary depending on how interested you are in the exploration of ignorance and faith, enlightenment and education, and the vibrancy of a life orbiting close associations with addiction, depression, and responsibility rooted in family dynamics.