While I loved The Muse and appreciate Jessie Burton's writing, this story didn't grab my imagination in the way I'd hoped it would. It's a very well-written book, but if you're the type who walks into a novel empathy first, it might not be for you. By the end of the book, all the characters still feel confusing and mysterious, hiding aspects of themselves from the protagonist. This fits well with the themes of the novel, but it makes for less compelling reading. It's hard to care about them and their tragic lives when they all seem a bit dodgy, you know?