I loved the memoir aspects of this book, and reading about the relationship between Elizabeth and her snail, and how they kept each other company during a lonely and challenging time in Elizabeth's life. While I also enjoyed the scientific facts about snails in the middle of the book, that part read more like a research paper, and I thought the memoir elements at the beginning and end were the strongest and most beautiful aspects of the book. I'm glad I learned more about snails, but I wish that part had been shorter.