immediately a favorite.

Like "Pale Fire" or "House of Leaves", "S." Is a novel that requires more from its reader than simply reading cover to cover.

At the surface it is a novel called "The Ship of Theseus", about a man with amnesia, trying to solve the mystery of his own identity. In the margins, another story evolves as two readers pass the book back and forth, writing notes on the margins, becoming closer through their notes, while trying to solve the mystery of the identity of the author.

It is full of inserts, puzzles, and colour-coded text. Like other works of 'ergodic' fiction, it requires the reader to put a little more effort into the experience, flipping back and forth, reading parts again with new understanding.

I read the whole text of the novel first, then flipped through the whole book again four times reading inserts and the colour-coded notes. I feel like I only just scratched the surface.

This is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. The stories that are folded within the story, and everything about the concept of how this book was written and presented is exceptional. I will admit that the reading can be slow going, especially depending upon how you go about reading through the actual story, and then all the margins. My attention span with the book would not have lasted had I read through any other way then just reading everything on one page before moving to the next. I started out really motivated to fall into the internet rabbit hole associated with this book and its stories but by the end of reading it, that motivation had decreased significantly. Jen and Eric's story is my least favorite part.

S. is an experience like none I have ever read. Do you have some time to dig your heels into this one? Good- let’s get started.

The book has been published to appear as if it is an old library book. Those coffee stains on the book are part of the illusion, no need to take your copy back. All of those writings in the margins? Those are supposed to be there as well and are the true heart of the novel. If you begin this adventure, which you most definitely should, read the entire book first. Ignore the margins as much as you can. The Straka story itself is an homage to the Hemingway style, for good or bad. Now, go back to the beginning because the real story begins back on page one. After you have read the story, read the margins. But that too can be tricky.
Eric, the owner of the library book, has forgotten the novel in a college library. Jen, who works at said library, finds the book, and leaves it at a designated spot in the library for the owner, Eric, to find again. She has also written to him in the margins. Thus, they write back and forth to each other, developing a sweet relationship while also falling into a dangerous academic mystery they try to unravel together. You also get to experience notes and postcards left in the book, by Jen and Eric for each other. By the end of the novel, you will have an intimate knowledge of the book, Jen and Eric and this uniquely told story.
*I would recommend looking up websites devoted to this novel and the best chronology for reading the margins, as in read Jen's blue notes first with Eric's black notes, etc.
-Sara G

1. Read Ship of Theseus in entirety.
2. Read blue/black margin notes. 
3. Read orange/green margin notes. 
4. Read red/purple margin notes. 
5. Read black/black margin notes. 

"A shooter is not just a man with a gun," he thinks as he runs "but a man who chooses to pull the trigger."

This book was SO MUCH FUN to read. I can't say much, but it's from the mind of J.J. Abrams a.k.a. "Lost", "Star Trek" and now "Star Wars". He and the author have many tricks up their sleeves in this novel, within a novel within a mystery that is broad in scope and painstaking in its detail. There's no wrong or right way to read the novel and the mystery doesn't stop after one tear through. This is one I will be re-visiting from time to time to see if I can unlock the mystery of "S".

For book lovers whom love the written word, this is worth the hefty price-tag.

This book is an incredible concept, but unfortunately I don't think it is "my style" of book. Between the actual book, the footnotes, the included ephemera, and the handwritten notes in the margins, there's no way you can passively read this book with so many details and intertwining story lines - you can't even read the book lying down because things will fall out of it. I commend the authors on a unique approach to fiction, but I cannot keep it all straight. I'll leave it for other folks. It's just not what I look for in literature.