thank you to colm tóibín for understanding what few do: all the books i like should get sequels.

this book is the absolute most i could enjoy any story that refused to go anywhere i wanted it to go, and in fact at any given time was following one nightmarish plot point with another unique hellscape of its own making.

in many ways this book was very similar to the last one — woman leaves one life and visits another path she could have taken and has to choose between them, ending on an emotional crisis and then a cliffhanger — but it wasn't as charming and i found it very stressful.

it also had three perspectives, which was a bummer because i love eilish (an evildoer who can do no wrong in my eyes) and i don't much care about anyone else.

it was still evocatively written and in many ways an excellent read, but it just wasn't so much for me.

bottom line: i guess i'll just hope for another random sequel in 15 years.

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tbr review

i haven't read the first one yet but i still know i want to read the second

(thanks to the publisher for the copy)