This book started very strong with excellent world building, sense of place, and an intriguing premise: the idea of a world being broken up into 10 year increments, where in one direction (beyond a heavily armed border) is 10 years into the future, and in the other direction it is 10 years into the past - sort of like time zones but much smaller in scale. It was thoughtful and felt reminiscent of some of my favorite works like The City of Ember and The Ferryman. But it became bogged down as the mechanics of this world fell apart. The main character becomes reclusive and lives a very stagnant life for much of the middle of the book, and it made the reading experience feel stagnant as well. Lots of interesting stuff to chew on, but it didn’t hold my interest or surprise me in any way.