This book wasn't on my radar until it was selected for a group buddy read. I went into it fairly blindly and I think not having any expectations helped me to fully enjoy it. 

The narrator of the story (who remains unnamed) grows up in a prison with thirty-nine other women. It is assumed by them all that her confinement with them is the result of some kind of roundup mistake. 'The child' has no memory of her life before the bunker and isn't even certain she is human as she is so different from the older women who have memories of a world she was never a part of. 

The first section of the book has a much different feel to it than the second two, causing the entire tone of the book to shift. It took me a bit to adjust, and I can't say I enjoyed the remainder as much as the beginning, although I still found myself vigorously annotating almost every page. Pacing suffers the greatest loss here and becomes erratic as far as the passing of time is concerned. 

Though under 200 pages, there is a lot to take in on every page. The author presents questions and musings on what it means to be human against the backdrop of what could be a post-apocalyptic world or another planet. Most of the details remain vague, never disclosing when and where the story might be set. We are left in the dark with the prisoners.

On one hand, I feel like I would have been more connected to the characters if I'd been able to know more about them, but the impact of the book would have been lost if everything was tied up neatly. The narrator's feeling of disconnect from her companions mirrors the disconnect I felt as a reader and I found that to be brilliant. 

I found this to be a unique reading experience. It took me a long time to get through despite how relatively short the book is. There was a lot to take in and the lack of cohesion in several areas made this a thoughtful read. I didn't love some parts of it, but as a whole, this was an impactful experience.