Somehow I've read this book 3 times and never written a review? Okay, so here goes...

First read: I sat down and read the whole book in one sitting. I was entranced, mesmerized by the questions it asked and the lyrical and kind of indistinct method of the telling. It was the kind of book where as soon as I finished it I wanted to start over again from the beginning right away. That's not to say it isn't weird, because it is, but that it somehow manages to transcend it's weirdness and portray a horrified fascination and helpless compulsion towards discovery and knowledge and exploration.

Then I watched the movie. Which is also amazing but so totally different from the book that it's almost unrecognizable.

When I read it the second time, I was caught by the same notions which were then immediately dispelled by the dumpster fire that is books two and three (I like to pretend that it's a standalone for that reason, even though we leave off with quite a bit unresolved).

And this most recent time, I finally listened to the audiobook. There's something about hearing the words spoken (because the book is meant to be a journal) that really brought it all to life in a new way, made the characters (especially the Psychologist and the Surveyor) feel real in a way that text alone can't quite manage.

TL;DR read this book, watch the movie, they're both brilliant, but do not read the rest of the series.