I received an eARC from Edelweiss+

I really struggled with this book and ended up DNFing it on page 137 of the eARC.

The positives:
I really love this cover. Even though I didn't really enjoy the actual book, the cover does a good job or reflecting the central event that ties all the characters and their POVs together. I also enjoyed the inclusion the paddles decals at the start of each section. The writing was also decent. Despite the choppiness of the story/stories, it somehow managed to make things flow. This story with lower quality of writing would have been an early DNF for me. The writing is the only reason I tried to push through. I think I will keep an eye out for this author in the future and maybe pick up a book that's in a genre more to my tastes.

The negatives:
I just did not care about any of the characters. I found most of them to be pretty unlikeable and the massive jumps in time/events in their lives made it impossible to get invested in the characters. I almost got through all of Isabelle's POV before I realized I was completely skimming the last 5+ pages because I just didn't care.

I think these types of books are for a very specific audience. By "these types," I mean books where nothing really happens and you just observe events that are somehow supposed to make you evaluate or reflect on yourself or a part of the world around you. Unfortunately, I do not tend to be that general audience.