Orion

I adored this book until the last...40 pages or so. The ending made me want to scream and throw things. Why cure him of his autism and take away everything that made Lou him? As an autistic person, the treatment of this as a good thing (because look, now he can be an astronaut! It only requires he give up everything pleasurable and good in his life, and all his relationships!) Ugh. Still 4 stars, because of just how much I loved everything preceding, but just...ugh.

This book showed such promise at times that I trudged through it, but it never quite managed to redeem itself. I finished it feeling like nothing much had happened in the previous 500 pages, despite a story that spanned several continents and over a hundred years. I felt like all the interesting parts were told in summary, glossing over the details so we could get back to Alma's internal narrative and the verbose, florid dialogue that was incredibly hard to actually comprehend as people talking. Overall, I never cared much for any of the characters, and couldn't quite get myself invested in their stories – I mean, 27 years are glossed over as ‘and then Alma studied moss until she became an old woman', essentially. I applaud the author for what she tried to accomplish here, but it wasn't to my taste.