So I finally finished this! It took me a long time to read. I can’t quite put my finger on it why, but when I was about a third into the book I lost interest a little bit and had to make myself pick it up again to continue reading. It was a very intriguing story so I wanted to know how it ended but maybe the pacing was a little slow for me? Halfway through it picked up again (when Byatt’s chapters start) and the end, especially, was very thrilling and on-the-edge-of-your-seat-exciting.

At times, I didn’t fully understand the characters, so I was surprised or confused by their actions sometimes. On the one hand it made me feel like maybe I wasn’t paying attention enough and should be reading something between the lines, but on the other hand it made the story really interesting. Predictably of story or character usually isn’t a positive thing anyways