The first two-thirds were a bit of a slog. I almost gave up on it a few times, and I fell asleep more than once reading it. But the last third of the book was very good and finally provided some sort of payoff.

The descriptions of medical procedures were, unsurprisingly, wonderful. The sex scenes were vividly portrayed as well. I got really sick of the repetitive historical details and the focus on currency though.

I know this book is supposed to be highly-anticipated, but I predict the reception will be lukewarm (critically and commercially). An adequate work by a better than adequate author.