The only issue is this book is too short. Intimately human and thought provoking. Super readable, and I wish there was more here.

This one didn’t capture me with its characters, and I wasn’t very into it for the first half of the book. But then it turns and redeems itself very well. Slow burn, but very interesting.

It’s been a long time since I read an entire book in an afternoon, or one as fascinating. Well written, smart, occasionally funny and very thought provoking, I am sure I will read it again … and again.

Brilliant, beautifully written, perfectly plotted. You’ll guess the crux before it’s revealed, but will revel in the confirmation. Better than Station Eleven, tighter structure.

Well written but I struggled to sustain interest … until I became engaged by my emerging understanding of what was going on

While her faith in humanity’s perseverance is far greater than mine, her futurist work has a stark realism to it that makes it totally believable. This is a quick read if you’re not careful to savor the details. Enjoy it! I did.

It is great to read a story that gives a new perspective of our future where pandemics are a reality. Overall well written, not really a thriller but it’s wonderful to travel through time.

The Netflix show “Black Mirror” accelerated my desire to read this book. Only because the title “Sea of Tranquility” is an Easter Egg in many episodes. Though not the same “Sea of Tranquility” referenced in the show I figured it had some important revelatory meaning all the same. This fast and engaging read that definitely offered its own revelatory moments. One of those instances sheds new light on what each episode of Black Mirror could mean. The insights can be distilled down to interactions that raise questions on being and the nature of reality. If you know Black Mirror then you discerning if life is a simulation is a compelling puzzle to figure out. The most important ask is how do we know what is real and what is not? Emily St. John Mandel uses multiple clever uses of language, pacing, and timeline to tie multiple short stories and characters together into a common thread. The ending of which will either leave you vexed or in a soothing calm; having released your need to define reality.

I am still not sure if I can even begin to comprehend what I read…but I am moved. I felt this story in my heart, so much that it hurts a little.

This book is about time travel and the possibility that our reality is merely simulation. The government, through the Time Institute, owns a time travel machine and uses it to investigate irregularities that occur at different points in time and to investigate the simulation hypothesis — that our “reality” is really a simulation, which may be why the irregularities occur. The author sets the novel in several different time periods and connects the pieces and characters at a good dramatic pace. The writing is crisp and sparse, not flashy. But I was drawn to the characters and story and had a hard time putting this book down.