I've been known to "accidentally" stay up reading until 3 a.m. This book had me truly accidentally staying up -- until 5 a.m. on several occasions. As a lit major in college and later an English grad student, one of my favorite things about used books was (and is) seeing the notes that other people made in them. So when a friend and fellow book nerd/English major recommended this book to me, explaining how one of the three stories twisted together is told completely in the margins through the notes the two readers, Jen and Eric, make, I was intrigued. When she told me that JJ Abrams was behind it, I knew I had to read it. The way she described the plot twists and character development particularly just had an essence of LOST to them... and I loved LOST.

The book is called S., but the book you actually read (once you break the seal on the case) is Ship of Theseus (S. is the main character, a man with no past, shanghaied and taken aboard a strange ship, trying to figure out his present and future, as well as the role that a mysterious woman named Sola plays in it) by the fictional author V.M. Straka. VMS was a complete mystery in life and death. Just as scholars have long debated whether Shakespeare existed and, if so, actually wrote his own work, this book shines light on the [fictional] mystery that is Straka's life and works. Most people agree that Straka was a pseudonym, but who was he really? Why was he so elusive? What was the deal with a group of writers to which he may have belonged, known as The S.?

Throughout SoT are footnotes made by Straka's editor/translator, FX Caldeira. Through the footnotes, a second story is approached -- that of Straka's identity (to some degree) and intention. But it soon becomes clear to the readers (Jen and Eric) that the footnotes are more than what they seem. Within those footnotes are codes creating messages from FXC *to* Straka -- codes that may give more information about his identity and the story behind the group known as The S. -- which may or may have followers still present today.

And the third story running throughout is that which takes place in the margins. Jen (a senior lit. major at Pollard U., working in the library archives) and Eric (an ex-grad student who was studying Straka first for his would-be dissertation and now for publication) meet when Jen finds Eric's Ship of Theseus book in the library. She reads it, leaves him a note inside, and soon they begin passing the book back and forth, learning more about Straka and FXC's relationship, as well as building their own on the pages. They exist completely in the margins and yet are brought just as completely to life.

As Jen and Eric study Straka, they're racing against the clock to beat out Professor Moody -- Eric's former dissertation advisor who stole his work and plans to cash in on it. But there's more mystery to the Moody story when strange men start to follow Jen. Does it signify the presence of some kind of new group?

It sounds complicated to be reading three stories at once, essentially. Every reader will figure out their own approach to this book (I read the story, stopping for each footnote as it was inserted. As passages were marked and notes were in the margins by certain parts, I read those at the same time. Other people read just the story, then go back and read the margins.)

The way the story is written (JJ found a great writer in Doug Dorst) is reason enough to read this, but the presentation is A+. It's what makes this a total reading EXPERIENCE. I mentioned you break the seal on the S. slipcover to get the book SoT out. It's designed as a 1940s-50s-era library book, cloth-bound and imprinted, complete with a Dewey Decimal System library sticker on the spine. The pages are made to look worn and aged (smooth paper, color print, as opposed to recycled paper and black ink only). IT EVEN SMELLS LIKE A LIBRARY BOOK. I have no idea how they did that, but it's amazing. I spent 1/3 of my reading time inhaling the pages. The writing in the margins looks for all the world like it's actually handwritten there in various pens and ink colors, the handwriting helping to characterize Jen and Eric and give them personality. But what's more, the ephemera included within the pages helps to provide context and clues as you (and Jen and Eric) work through the mysteries. And by that I mean you'll find things like...
1. Maps scribbled on napkins (be careful unfolding it... it's printed on an actual napkin!)
2. Obituary cards
3. Handwritten notes on yellow legal paper (I had an extra first page for this one, which temporarily reminded me that these are mass-produced. That's how easy it is to forget that you're not reading something totally unique)
4. Pictures
5. Postcards
6. A wheel for helping to solve the footnote codes (I never did figure out how to use it).

There's more, too. Although it does make it a bit difficult to read in bed because if you're holding it up completely vertically, the inserts tend to fall out. They're in specific pages where they're referenced, so it's kind of important to make sure they stay there. Be careful in that respect!

While there's a lot going on, the book manages to stay pretty linear. There were times I went back and re-read parts just for my own clarity, but it was usually when I'd been tired and wasn't sure I'd caught everything. There are definitely some strange and creepy elements here, and there were some themes that I related to LOST (possible time jumps, issues with fathers, etc.). When I finished reading it, I did go back and re-read the FXC's Foreword again.

The end is a little ambiguous, I think, but I think it leaves it open to interpretation (plus, you'll find out more about the history of the final chapter's construction when you read the book and FXC's foreword). I feel like (as I did with LOST, and I'm sorry I keep drawing that parallel just because it's JJ Abrams, but it WAS familiar) now that I know how it ends, I'd almost like to re-read the entire thing and I'd probably have a firmer understanding of the story, the clues, and the time frame in which Eric and Jen are leaving their notes (the ink color is the primary clue as to whether it's early on when they meet each other, or later).

Two VERY minor gripes about this book:

1. The Jen character grated on me a little bit sometimes. She just got so dark, whiney, and attention-seeking sometimes that it got annoying (perhaps because it reminded me of me when I get in those moods... although I'd like to think I'm not as bad as she is). She's sometimes so forward that it's uncomfortable and I almost feel embarrassed for her in some of the notes that she leaves. She also reads everything as pertaining to love and relationships (though that could have something to do with her personal life and what's going on with her as she reads it). That gushy stuff was kind of Meh after a while. Still, sometimes I liked her quite a bit and found her to be funny. Also very smart.

2. VERY VERY MINOR AND BASICALLY NON-SPOILER SPOILER ALERT FOR #2: At some point in the book it becomes clear that Jen and Eric are in the same place when they're leaving each other notes in the book. As in... I just wrote something, haha, here's my pen... now you write something! I understand why this had to be done because it's the way the story was and it's also because of the nature of the characters (Eric said he likes the notes because it makes the book a kind of scrapbook). This annoyed me because it reminded me of when couples live in the same house and comment on each other's Facebook statuses or write on each other's walls. When people do that, I lose my freaking mind. YOU'RE LIVING IN THE SAME HOUSE. Stop trying to be cute or showing off or putting your relationship on display or whatever. I get irrationally angry about that, so it made me feel irrationally angry in the book too.

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes smart fiction and/or mysteries. It's an English major's dream, for sure, as it naturally lends itself very well to discussion. You'll WANT to discuss this book with someone. You'll tell other people to read it just so you HAVE people with whom to discuss it. The mystery is just enough that it breaks it open to interpretation.

This is the longest review I've ever written. I cannot say enough great things about this book.