I was reading it pretty slow at first, but that turned around abruptly. Early on, it got to a point where I couldn't put this book down. It sometimes feels like it meanders, but I was completely captivated. And then it shocks - with moments of action and intensity, but also with the stark clarity that Ma's prose provides on the effects of late stage capitalism. To put all these ideas into a pre- and post-apocalyptic narrative in which the world's people are struck by a swift-moving illness would seem tricky, but Ma nails it brilliantly. I'm still processing the whole thing, having finished it this morning on my commute into NYC for work (oh the irony of reading this on this route all week is not lost on me...), but I absolutely loved it. It's thoughtful and funny and satirical and devastating and tender and surprising.

Ling Ma is certainly an author to watch - I can't wait to see what she writes next.