I don't know what I was expecting when I picked this up, but it wasn't this. This is my first Butler, so I didn't really know much about her books besides the fact that I see her books recommend on the regular. I found this story to be much more philosophical and religious than I anticipated. The writing was intriguing. Good thing, too. Start quoting Bible verses at me too much, and it can really take me out of a story. However, this book manages to have that conversation without losing my interest. It all sounds very cult like, but I found many of the points and subtext fascinating. Especially with the end goal of seeding the stars. How could I not approve of that?

I enjoyed thinking about the concepts and intentions of this book more than the characters and their relationships. The love interests are throw-aways, and many of the side characters seem irrelevant.

The disopian setting is a real fear I share. A world where American society slowly slips back into a culture of slavery. We already live in a world where it's okay to not pay your employees a living wage. You can get someone to work 40 hours a week for you and not have to provide enough for them to even house, cloth, and feed themselves. Let alone enough for options, a life, or a secure future. While it may take a little longer to get to the future depicted in this book, I could definitely see this as a possible future. Except instead of pyro being the drug of choice, it will be opioids. 

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy slightly older speculative/ science fiction that deals in philosophical questions. Basically, do you like a book that uses wild, remote, and plausible possibilities to make you think?