4/4.5
I've had this book on my shelves for eons, and I finally read it thanks to a strong recommendation. Reading it now, it's clear that this isn't my usual genre, but that doesn't detract from how incredible the book was. The writing was stunning, and the character-focused story made it all the more intriguing. I do have beef with the long chapters as they were more like sections and less like chapters. They were so long, and sometimes I found it hard to keep reading, but I liked what was happening, so that helped. The fact that this was only told from Richard's perspective, but you could so clearly see the other characters' development was super interesting. Each person was unique and contributed to the story's progression in one or another. There were some moments I was on the edge of my seat and others where I could sit and digest what was happening. That being said, the ending had me reeling and the last chunk of the book definitely went by super quick. I'm glad this was recommended to me because it would have continued to sit on my shelf otherwise. Overall, this was engaging and interesting and I enjoyed reading it!