Self-Portrait with Nothing

Literary sci-fi mystery, following a forensic biologist called Pepper, whose life is changed when her biological mother, a famous but mysterious painter known for her paintings rumoured to access other universes, suddenly disappears. 
I mostly liked this book, especially the plot but also the use of alternative worlds to talk about themes of choices and consequences but also, motherhood, relationships, happiness felt original. The author's writing was really good, sharp and engaging.  The plot itself was also interesting but I felt the execution was lacking.  The main character's lack of self esteem and references to alternative versions of herself was an interesting characteristic yet sometimes of her actions and thoughts felt a bit repetitive. I did like her relationships with her adoptive mothers and with her husband especially their nerding over historical and scientific knowledge.  I felt the mixed of genres could have been smother, and I think I would have preferred to see more sci-fi, more exploration on the way the paintings work and also the character's scientific knowledge (that came a bit at the beginning and then very late into the book), 
I struggled with the pacing, especially because I felt some plot parts could have been more developed and others felt superfluous. Also the beginning was too slow and at one point as the story started to become more interesting, the pace picked up way too fast.
A good debut book with an original plot that despite a lack in its final execution, shows promise for her future books. 

This is a book that I will be thinking about for a while. It starts out pretty slowly as a kind of family drama about a woman who was abandoned as an infant trying to deal with the demands of her (in)famous biological mother, who has gone missing, and then becomes a sort of sci-fi thriller.

I loved the characters (every side character is memorable), the relationships and the ending.

My only real complaint is that I wish the book had been a bit more clear on the job that Pepper was doing and who those people were - that felt kind of glossed over. Otherwise, phenomenal.