Mona started off strong with its flawed titular protagonist and her dry cynical observations of the literary scene, but as it went on I found myself confused by all the multiple characters who are only defined by their nationality and eventually bored with all the focus on the interactions amongst the characters and their speeches and activities at the festival. The novel frequently delves into discourses about literature and the modern world, but these are often just dropped in, as if the author was trying to cram in as many ideas about culture and society as possible, but it felt like a loose collection of scraps of ideas rather than a tight consistent theme. For once I wished a book was longer! This book was quite short and I would've enjoyed more development of the mystery aspects in order to build up the tension more effectively towards a rewarding climax. The ending did not feel satisfactory and was a complete genre shift. The writing was beautiful but occasionally veered into over-writing (I'm reading the English translation so my view on this is limited). 

This book had a sudden, weird ending.

A book that will appeal to academics, international travelers, and writers. The book was mostly a trip around the world via its characters. If an ending makes or breaks a book for you, you may find this book polarizing.