DNF. The formatting was confusing and the characters weren't interesting enough to put up a fight to get to know them. Interesting concept that the author did not land. Like being transported to a blank world.

The style of writing employed by this author put me off from the start, and prevented my from every fully engaging with the characters or their story. The concept seemed interesting to explore, but poorly executed.

I had to DNF this about 25% in. I found the formatting extremely confusing, and the lack of names for everyone even more so. Are there only two people, a man and a woman? Who are the emails to? Are the emails from the past? I was so confused that I couldn't even really pay attention to This Place / That Place in terms of analyzing oppression and colonization. Maybe something thoughtful for a book club, but too much concentration required for me.
Note: Rating one star for DNF -- I typically do not give star ratings for books I do not finish.

This Place That Place is a book that examines two sides of conflict. In a personal relationship and in political and geographic places.
The writing is jagged and does not flow. It is hard to get into and stay focused.
An interesting idea but poorly executed

A unique concept that sounded interesting was mired down by SO MANY F-bombs I felt like my eyes were bleeding. First time ever not finishing an advanced copy. Sorry. Nope.

What do you do when you are all ready for your wedding, dress on and all, and you are delayed by the announcement of yet another curfew of indeterminate length? Such is the plight of an unnamed couple in an unnamed place in Nandita Dinesh’s stunning debut novel, “This Place That Place”.

There aren’t many hints as to where the setting might most likely be. But I will forever identify it as Ukraine in the not so distant future. I read it during the second week of Putin’s brutal invasion where the story that will be forever remembered is the bravery and heroism of the Ukrainian people. Putin may well succeed in slaughtering thousands of men, women, and children, and forcing the evacuation and emigration of millions of refugees. But he will not win this war.

Dinesh writes of neighboring countries that have been at war for an endlessly long period. This is not the first curfew. The reason for the curfews is that That Place invaded This Place, but they have not won the war. There are pockets of resistance that will never give up their homeland consisting of young and old, men and women, professional soldiers and ragtag volunteers.

This could have been a straight forward drama of a country at war. But Dinesh has made it so much more with her unique and utterly compelling style. The narrative is a combination of scripted scenes from a play, survival mantras, lesson plans from a curriculum, evolving elements from Mental Health therapy. There are lists, dialogues, dream sequences, and visions.

The reader has to pay close attention to determine who is who at any given time - the bride, the groom, a parent, a relative. Someone from This Place or That Place or Another Place. Is this the voice of a dedicated occupier, a soldier with doubts, an infiltrator, a double agent? It’s about actions in real time, or maybe in the mind, or even in a parallel reality.

“This Place That Place” is simply a delight to read. Fight on, Ukraine. God is on your side.

Thanks to Melville House and NetGalley for the eARC.