Obviously I'm in the minority but I found this novel insufferable. I found the writing all over the place, I thought the "mystery" was poorly conceived, I thought the entire mid-section of the novel meandering (in a bad way) and frankly undeveloped. I'm glad this author is getting so much acclaim for her book but personally I felt it needed more work. A fragmented novel themed around violence against women in a (soooorta) interesting setting could be very interesting but what is here felt so dull. What was added to the conversation with this novel? Kamchatka? No thanks. For fans of this who may be reading my review with consternation, take it with a grain of salt. I was so bored with the prose that I really checked out about halfway through and finished out of a sense of duty that is probably misplaced. I probably missed something great but I have no interest in going back and finding it.