this was an indictment of white suburbia & toxic masculinity. it was also about collective trauma, and groupthink/hive mentality, and how painful it can be to grow up. there were a lot of big ideas that weren't executed properly. characters felt rather flat (some i knew were intentionally drawn that way; others felt unintentionally underdeveloped), and the nonlinear narrative made things Confusing (trust, i love me a story that's Out of Order but this just didn't do it for me).

but overall, it was an ambitious book ... what initially drew me to it was the use of the fourth person POV -- it's not one you see used often in fiction. i think, if anything, this was a decent example of what kind of stories can be told when you break outside the mold of first person limited & third person omniscient.