I think I'll leave a real comment until after the Book Club, but the four-star rating - the ubiquitous four stars- needs some explanation, and it's maybe just to do with my reading.
It was Mat Tobin who pointed out to me the analogy between "being broken" - the metaphor of bodily falling part under the attacks to our self-esteem is a running theme - and images of self-harm. Is this intentional, or subconscious, or merely (there's a dissertation in that word alone) in my reading of the book? Is it badly targeted or braver than I might have expected? Is the ambiguity part of its strength?
So my first read through gave it five stars as a brave and lyrical exploration of the bad places we go to, especially around academic failure, but now I'm not so sure...