I wanted to like this book. This book wanted to tell a story. There were flashes of brilliant world building and entries of ornithological wonder. There were some really intriguing ideas in there, and even the start of some interesting characters. But ultimately, things like long, drawn out fight scenes and EVA assignments wore me down. The backs and forths between time periods, the almost childish bickering between friends/lovers, and yes, even the main character’s self-esteem issues, all distracted from the storyline here. I found the plot (and logic) to be filled with holes, too redundant, and boring to keep me in it. Especially towards the end. It just kept going in circles, sadly. The author’s note at the end actually did not surprise me at all: it was based on lovers’ quarrels in public and written during a very stressful, strange, and isolated time for the author. Makes sense.