Mixed feelings about this one. Essentially an allegory for the covid pandemic and based on the published date may have been mostly written during the height of the pandemic. The author’s structure of chapters by character led to a slow build that really never gained much momentum. Some situations in the book were clearly intended to be tear-jerkers and the overall vibe of the book was feminine book clubish. Can I even say that in this day and age? Well, I did. The end wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t resolve the origin of the “mysterious delivery of a boxed string” that each person in the world receives. I suppose that’s consistent with the mysterious origin of covid (at least at this moment). I felt the author’s effort, labored at times, to make sure she covered off on many of the “well if that’s the case, what about this…” types of questions/criticisms readers might have had based on the sci-fi element of the book. Would this book have been more impactful if covid had not happened? I think so. As it stands, this speculative fiction felt less challenging and thought-provoking having already lived through a version of it. And oddly enough, I caught covid while reading this.