I stuck it out to the end, which is why I gave it two starts. Had I not finished, I would have given it one. But the ending left me wanting a bit more.

This story is told in 5 parts as the mysterious box moves from person to person. Every single one of these people are insufferable and proustian. I hated all but the last story.

I listened to the audiobook. The male narrator did nothing to differentiate the characters when he had ones that alternated talking. The female was fine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my copy of this audiobook

The Box by Mandyy Suzanne Wong was very intriguing. Different premise and interesting plot points. Beautiful cover.

Intriguing concept, indigestible writing, The Box's premise immediately hooked me: a nameless city undergoing a strange weather phenomena (endless snow), while we follow various perspectives as a mysterious object (the titular box) makes its way across different hands. At a high level, I appreciate the interconnected short stories setup (and the author uses different formats for each), it is a delight when elements from previous stories resurface in a new context. The literal and conceptual meaning of a box is also thoughtfully interpreted, covering topics from urban planning (city as a cluster of boxes), capitalism (modular system and reproduction), intellectual property, and our innate curiosity to discovery—the fact the book cover is a visual representation of the box itself is a stroke of genius.

Unfortunately the writing is where The Box lost me: long-winded and intensely verbose. I'll confess I don't pick up experimental literary fiction often, but this one in particular feels like there's a gap between its language and content—I don't think what it's saying is that profound (unless I completely miss the point), but the language used is what makes it impenetrable. Out of the 6 stories, Remainder is the most intelligible (not saying the story itself is anything ordinary—about a gardener working in a 'escape room' hotel), and possibly the only saving grace for this novel.

I don't mind being challenged when reading a literary work, but in the case of The Box the reward doesn't feel at all fulfilling; instead of using language to deliver out of the ordinary insight, it comes across as a pretentious spectacle. The audiobook narrators are well-performed objectively, but this might be the type of writing where listening will just bring more frustration and confusion.

Thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the audiobook ARC!

The Box is a riddle. The Box is a mystery. The Box is an enigma. To quote the great Winston Churchill, "It's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." It's a good

The Box, like the titular box, is hard to describe, hard to categorize, and unopenable. I would recommend it for anyone who likes convoluted prose and mysterious writing style and voice.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

Sooo this was definitely not for me. It just did not keep me interested. It was meh. But I think that’s a me issue and not the book.

This one was kind of meh for me, but I may be the wrong demographic. The prose is incredibly verbose with lengthy sentences stretching giant passages. When authors do this, it feels like they are trying to impress upon all us peon readers that their extensive grasp of the modern vernacular far exceeds our own…well I tried.

The plot is broken into six parts, following a mysterious box that cannot be opened but is the source constant misery, pain, woe, confusion, regret, and so on. The parts are difficult to follow and I found myself repeating passages several time. The audio production was well done and this helped keep my focus for the most part. However, this is not a book you can listen to while doing anything that will allow your mind to wander.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Well, unfortunately, you can't like them all, and although this one has a clever premise and some interesting interaction between the characters (I am reviewing the audiobook) it seemed a bit pretentious to me.

The societal points it was trying to make could have been made more simplistically, and I felt it made a few sweeping generalizations in what I assume to be broad indictments of society as a whole.

Not my cuppa, but it certainly could be yours, to me it was a bit too cynical and sarcastic when I was looking for a bit of escapism and entertainment.

For some reason this file keeps crashing my app, so I'm unable to listen, but it looks like this would be good for fans of The Measure.

This book was just not it for me. While I enjoyed the idea of different people being in possession of this thing at different time, I just found that overall story fell flat. I really had to slog through it in order to finish.

I will say that I did enjoy the narration. Both narrators have a clear, well-paced diction that was a silver lining to the monotany.

🧚🏻Thank you so much to NetGalley, HighBridge Audio, and author Mandy Suzanne Wong for providing me with an advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I don't give up on books. Once I start one, I finish it. It might take me months to force-feed, but I WILL prevail. With that being said, I burned through this one as fast as I could so that I can get it out of my head in an equally timely manner. The book description and cover art were exceptionally intriguing. This marketing team deserves a lot of praise for their schemes and tactics... but as brilliant as they are, they couldn't help the book. Terrible. Nauseating. Painful. I still have no idea what this book was about.
I'm done.
Hope you guys enjoy it more than I did.

Oh no I have to be the first review...? Okay then, if I must...

This is a very *specific* book. This isn't a book you're just going to pick up and start reading. You need to be in the right mood and headspace for it. The opening pages set you up for what you're about to get, so at least you'll be prepared. Beautiful prose in some very hefty paragraphs. I think to people who are prepared, who are ready to sit down and really spend some time with the book, it will reward them in big, big ways. It's a book you have to sit with a bit. I don't think it's an accident that the cover is designed to make the book resemble the titular box. It IS the box, and we're one of the characters whose path it crosses.

I feel like this is a book that will be loved or loathed. And I think the majority of people who loathe it won't give it a real chance (I've seen reviews of people giving up after five or ten pages, which is like walking out of Jojo Rabbit during the opening credits and saying the whole movie is just clips of propaganda films).

The female narrator was very, very good. The male narrator was fine, but I found his energy a bit too much at times.