Told in three linear parts—interspersed with historical context around defenestration itself—the story of twins Marta and Nick is told at different points in their life. A lot of this is for information control and pacing, but it’s also fairly novel. Primarily, the story seeks to interrogate a family mythos around defenestration; the family curse that strikes at seemingly everyone; claiming lives or else merely taking a toll. The story has infested Marta, the narrator, who spirals throughout the story in her efforts to help her brother, who has taken a fall, deal with the psychological aspects of it in a meandering, frankly tedious ongoing bar scene where she waxes on about various stories, and distant past, which has alienated the twins from their mother. Begging the question: Where is the father?

It’s a successful, if barely, for me, format. But has some serious middle book syndrome. Reoccurring plot beats, narrative tension deflating with every reoccurrence of the same point made differently, and uneven prose, made this a bit of a slog. Unfortunate, since the start was actually quite gripping and it does land the ending relatively nicely. The theme is enmeshed in the many narratives. The characters are believable and have descent arcs. It is substantive. It also has structural issues. Overall, a mixed bag, for me.