The half of the book that is set when Persephone and Sam are teenagers is so cringe that it feels like this book isn't meant for an adult audience, but then the half of the book set when they are adults feels so dull in a my-life-is-SAD-and-i-have-ADULT-PROBLEMS that it feels like it's not meant for a teen audience either.

Fortunately, the fact that Persephone

SLEEPS WITH SAM'S FUCKING BROTHER WHILE SHE IS DATING SAM

brings it all together to make it unpalatable for audience's of all ages.

DNF at 21%. Too painfully dull in the way that only YA that promises to be thrilling can be . . .

Lauren is so, so young. Not just in actual age, but in her religious fervor and the way she cannot bear to be laughed at. I kept going back and forth on if Butler was presenting Lauren as a symbol of the kind of person she thinks everyone should strive to be, or if she's gently mocking her for her faith while surrounded by Cormac McCarthy brand horrors.

This is an apocalyptic novel, a religious novel, and a road trip novel, and I wouldn't have picked it up if I had known.

I love a pop science book, but this wasn't one of the better ones; Hossenfelder thinks she's a lot funnier than she is. I also wasn't a big fan of how she kept bringing everything back to religion. This feels like the kind of book you give a religious person when you're trying to convince them that science is real.

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would, but it's still much too long.

This book did not age well. The focus on a gender binary is outdated, and I cannot fucking stand when people say "females" and "males" instead of "women" and "men" and she does it often. Her obsession with god is groan-inducing at the best of times. I had to put the book down for a while after she claimed that Monica Lewinsky was worse than Clinton because she wanted to portray herself as a victim but also gain fame and money. I know this was written in 1999, but in 2023 we understand that Lewinsky was a young woman overwhelmed by the power of Clinton's office and truly was a victim of that situation as well as the media. And it's really hard to listen to hooks write about the need for love in our society when she is preaching this disdain.

As other reviews pointed out, she is tone deaf. She freely talks about her two homes while saying even if you hate your job you should find a way to love it. There is no space in her worldview for nonbinary or queer people.

I think her overall message is good. And I know she has helped many people view the world in a new light and I think her contributions are valuable. But this book is not it.

Surprisingly fun steampunk Alice in Wonderland.

Satire is not really my thing.

Some of the ideas are fun, but it felt very much aimed at a younger crowd.