I really wanted to love this book, because the previous book by this author, The Trauma Cleaner, was one of my favorites, ever. And I read a lot. But this book just never came together for me, at all. The first half was very slow, and I felt like the way the book was put together was incredibly disjointed. Every time I started getting into one of the six stories told throughout this book, it would jump to another story, and another, then back, and I could find no rhythm or reason. I will add that I read an advance copy - thank you NetGalley! - so maybe the final version is better organized and flowing? But the copy I had was hard to understand. I felt like the author had a point or a moral, but with all the stories constantly interrupting each other, it was not conveyed to me. I still gave it three stars because I did find some of the stories interesting, and because I love the author’s first book and am still looking forward to reading her next one.

I’ve never read anything like this - a well-researched, fascinating book about different belief systems and what makes them tick. Most were foreign concepts to me - and were so interesting to read about the different ways different groups make sense of the world and our place in it. Thanks to Tin House Books for the advanced copy.