Enjoyed the journey along the way. The immersion, the stakes, and emotions all kept pages turning at a rapid pace. Multiple times, I was shocked how quickly I was getting through the book. But l’m still chewing on how I feel about the ending.

I’d consider other work by the author if I was feeling in a suspenseful horror mood.

Okay, updating the ol’ review. I’ve learned a lot more about the book and the world since doing research after finishing it that I delayed while reading it to avoid spoilers.

Younger me with endless hours to go down rabbit holes would probably love this. Portals, liminal spaces, alternate timelines, multiple sources of information across multiple platforms to collate, discuss, and verify, forum posts, audio transcripts, cryptic scribblings in comments on page 17 of a conversation thread. I’d have eaten that up for hours and hours.

Older me? Older me has a TBR list that I’ll take to my grave, about 3 hours too few in the day to feel like I’m keeping my own grip on sanity, and reads book to avoid screens and getting online with its endless notifications and distractions.

I absolutely love the world he’s built/is building. But in hindsight, I view this book as more of a lore book or a player’s handbook for a TTRPG than a standalone novel. An excellent primer on the world and vague idea of how things function for you to run with and create your own stories, theories, and ideas. And that’s just not what I sign up for when I read a book that says “A Novel” in the subtitle?

And yet, I might still pick up The Caretaker and I’m vaguely curious about a possible sequel for this?