A Touch of Jen

“‘I think it's a waste of time to try to achieve perfection, because if you look at all the versions of the world everywhere, overlaid one over the other, then that is perfection. It's nice to keep in mind that if something doesn't work out for me in this life, it does in another.'”

pros

- really interesting and unique premise
- attention grabbing despite the insufferable characters
- very unsettling and suspenseful when the supernatural stuff first begins
- my favorite tropes of rude/odd/offputting women and a somewhat weird plot slowly devolving into complete insanity

cons

- characters sort of disjointed, abstract, and unrealistic (despite it being purposeful)
- little to no rationale or motivation behind any of the characters actions, and the most integral of their feelings/values didn't feel convincing or supported by any of their choices (are they even obsessed w jen?)
- explicit inspiration taken from The Fly but not as striking or meaningful
- i know the writing is meant to be very stylized and somewhat detached/clinical but this detracted from the warm prose and groundedness that i usually look for in books, no matter how disturbing the subject matter (ex. earthlings)
- killed off my favorite characters (alicia and jake) to further a plot thats outcome didn't even feel conclusive or satisfying