I honestly don't know whether or not I liked this book. It was definitely a departure for me, and I would say I likely wasn't in the ideal headspace to read it. I also came to it immediately after reading Wuthering Heights, so I think I was a bit tired of the darkness, though they were miserable in different ways. 

The story is told largely through the perspective of "Sadie Smith", a fairly detached sort of honeypot spy who is hired to infiltrate an anti-establishment commune in rural France. I genuinely cannot discern whether Sadie—and the book itself—is overly self important or cleverly layered. 

I was initially drawn in by the humour, but found that it was a thread that did not carry through as consistently as I'd hoped. There were some choices that felt dark and edgy for the sake of it and not so much for narrative value, but the final 10% of the book also seemed to shed some light on why they were there and where they were leading. The exception to this was the sexualization of children—I simply do not understand what the purpose of this was other than to sit in discomfort, but there are many other ways to do that and it was a choice that I admit shut down my curiosity for a good portion of the book. 

Although I found Sadie was a character that I did not find lovable, or even one I connected to in any meaningful way, I did find that the sections of the book I found most interesting were when she was alone. I don't know why that is, but I do think it speaks to an artfulness in the crafting of this character and her inner life. Bruno's interludes were occasionally interesting and occasionally lost me and I still don't quite know where I've landed with that,

though I do appreciate how he eventually came around to how is desire to eschew "progress" in service of going backward was actually a means of trying to control the future

. His end point did resonate with me. 

There was, at one point, a poignant exploration of what makes up a person, their salt. It was an interesting concept and I found that by the end I was wondering why that thread wasn't pulled and woven more... I guess, just more. 

All to say, I think the writing itself was skillful. I have marked many pages for passages that made me laugh or think. At times, reading felt like a chore. My own experience was pretty polarizing throughout, so this is a solid middle-of-the-road for me in the balance.