I wonder if this author has played the game Outer Wilds, because this book explores similar existential questions through the same medium of space exploration. I highly recommend both the book and the game. If you don't play video games, I suggest watching a thorough play through for the story. I would also recommend A Psalm for the Wild-Built and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet as similar books to this one.

It's so much harder for me to talk about books I enjoy or that reach a deeper part of me, because when that happens I don't leave the book with a lot of specifics. I feel like a part of me was seen or shifted, and after I've finished I can't always pinpoint where it was along the journey that it happened. If I can pinpoint or articulate it, I don't want to spoil the discovery for the potential reader. In this case, it's a bit of both. I have an idea of what parts really got me, but I don't want to ruin the impact of those parts for anyone else. 

That being said, for those who don't mind a big spoiler and are wondering about the cat on the cover:

The cat doesn't die!