I have mixed feelings about this book so my rating would be two and a half stars really. There were moments that I really liked it and wanted to read more. I very much liked the format of sections in the first part of the book. The party chapter that moves almost like water from one event and year to another was beautiful to read. It was seamless. The section with the plays worked as well, giving you just enough story to carry the introduction of Lotto's plays. What I didn't like...was everything else. I disliked both Lotto and Mathilde. Mathilde is cold, even when you read about her backstory and feel bad for her, she is still cold. Lotto is supposed to be overly charismatic but I never actually saw that. They all loved him but I couldn't seem to find out why. He was way too much in love with himself and overly cocky. The worst aspect is probably the area that everyone else loves: the two parts to the novel. It's interesting that you get to know Lotto and then Mathilde in the two parts. There were areas where the one assumed something that was actually wrong, which was a good look at real life. My problem was that I wasn't a fan of the book by the time part two rolled around and I was frustrated having to read more about the characters. The two parts are really like two entire novels.
All in all, while parts and the concept of the structure are good, the actual novel itself, especially the characters, left a lot to be desired.