This is a book I never wanted to come back to, yet found myself impressed by it when I did. To be totally honest, I think I started reading this at exactly the wrong time when the world itself felt too bleak, so reading this was just too much for me. 
The writing is quite beautiful and once you get a hang of the rhythm it is very engaging. It read like poetry but also like a panicky stream of consciousness that felt natural for the content of this book. 
I never quite felt engaged with the characters and often forgot who was who. The plot felt very realistic and the way the characters responded made sense, but I almost wish we got a better sense of who they were before this nightmare descent into fascism.
This is a dystopian book that deserves to be on the Booker list, it is well written and very compelling. However, I can’t say I totally loved it, maybe because it was too much at the wrong time, maybe because there just wasn’t enough there to keep me interested in reading. Real life is dystopian enough, especially for people outside of the Western world, and I just couldn’t stay engaged enough in a fictional story.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the e-ARC!