some of these chapters were amongst the most poignant and satisfying short stories ive ever read. genuinely it was such a pleasure to get so immersed in this world. bro did kinda ruin it though by giving us chapter after chapter after chapter (after chapter!) of the fledgling dude™  yearning for the complex woman "but they're different characters this time cause they have ~different names~ and live in a ~different city~ !!!" ... it got tiring by the end and truthfully added a one-dimensionality in the last third of the book that really undermined the beauty of the first two. the repeated themes we're introduced to are especially powerful with the understanding that they are reoccuring for such a large swathe of time and space and to so many lives, so i need to see that reflected in the lives they affect. we are 8+ billion people and the book (though about many characters) can really be boiled down to being about one generic guy and in a couple chapters a generic girl* when the same tropes are genderswapped (there are a few exceptions tbf). I just dont think you can do a story about "the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe" justice with such a bland roster of characters. I'm going to stick with an overall 4 for now because i really loved the prose but the last few chapters dip it to a 3.75.

* 

primeval immortal god with all knowledge of civilization and humanity and her personality is just lady who likes stars? couldn't give her more depth but you could tell me she fucked every famous western mind? weird way to make what i assume was meant to be a nod to the behind every man is a great woman saying but was just strange considering how soon we learn this about her and then absolutely nothing else.