A little less than a full 5 stars, but definitely close enough to round up.

There are stories, and then there are literary worlds that pull you in and swallow you up and make you love almost every minute of it. This is one of those transcendental tales, told through an uniquely appropriate medium under the partnership of eloquent screenwriter and brilliant director.

This is a book about a mystery — what happened to Severin Unck? — but it doesn't read like a mystery. It's about people and places first and foremost, not what happens to them.

It took me a little while to get a feel for this book because it's a special one, very different from anything else I've read (including Valente's own Deathless). The narrative is like a contortionist you can't look away from: twisted in on itself, all but inhuman yet strangely beautiful.