I feel cheated

This is kind of rough for me. On one hand, the story is cool and unique (I'll get to the ending in a sec). I've never quite read anything like it. The problem is mainly the writing style and pacing. In the first part, past perfect tense is used, no joke, 10 times per page in some spots. It was really distracting. The biggest issue that knocked it down is the pacing. The author would bring you into an intense scene and build tension only to undercut it with a character thinking about what their mom was doing or about a road trip. It's just such a bummer because there are some great, tense moments. I just wanted to stay in the tension.

Another issue is the ending. It builds up like an inflating balloon only to squeak out air at the end with a kind of old school "?" that is a bummer and kind of makes you feel robbed.

I still recommend it for the overall story. I may read another book by this author just to see if the issues were a fluke.