I wanted to read this because I remember loving the film adaptation as a kid and watching it multiple times with my mom who was a huge Jodie Foster fan, and I remember seeing Interstellar for the first time and thinking that it evoked a similar feeling in me that Contact had, so naturally I was excited to get into this. I would say I did like it for the most part. Sagan's writing is thoughtful, although I did struggle with it quite a bit. I loved how every "phase" of the story gave me something to think about: from the reception of the Message, the aftermath of the trip to Vega, to Ellie's personal life. Overall, I think it takes a smarter person than I am to appreciate this novel so I'll be reading some analyses of this book later on.