A review by carolinecalvano
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

We take SO LONG to get to the main juice of the book. I started this book after looking on Reddit for books about

simulation theory

, but this book is more about

time travel

than

simulation theory

, and we go through so many iterations of

people experiencing the anomaly

before getting into any semblance of a cohesive plot. I will say that the characters are compelling and that it is fun to try to solve the puzzle presented by the different components, and that it is objectively well written from a prose standpoint, but I only kept reading because the ending was basically spoiled for me, even though I was misled. I knew it was at least partially compelling because my girlfriend recommended it, and I know that

Vincent’s storyline is explained in another book by the same author

, which feels like a bit of a cop out, especially because I’m not super motivated to read

another book by the same author

anytime soon. The ending feels cheap and both too fast and too slow.