In a lot of ways, this book almost felt like a test run for Station Eleven, which was a book that meticulously constructed to create an engaging story line crafted from carefully woven together narratives. This felt a bit less polished. It certainly wasn't a bad book; quite the opposite. I enjoyed it. I just simply did not care. I didn't care about any of the characters. I didn't care about their connections. The way each character POV was associated with every other character POV felt topical and not well thought out. There were very few moments of "Oh that's an interesting connection that adds additional context to the story." and more moments of "Why do I need this character's perspective on what's happening? What does this add? I don't care about this person."

The only thing that potentially elevates this book is the context of Station Eleven. The knowledge that the story of Station Eleven happens very shortly after the events of this book really drives home the message I think it's trying to convey. It exists as a foil to Station Eleven in the sense that seemingly world altering events, like losing your entire life to a ponzi scheme, absolutely pale in comparison to the fall of civilization. That both things can be devastating in their own way even though one is objectively worse. When considered in the larger world that you get in Station Eleven, this is an excellent companion novel in painting that juxtaposition. However, I believe in reviewing books based on their merit alone and try to not use another book as the baseline when possible, so on its own, this book was simply middling. If the author wanted highlight this juxtaposition of individual's perspectives of world-ending events between the two books, there should have been more cross referencing, or even formally pitching this as a prequel.

Would I recommend this? Yeah sure, it was good enough. If you haven't read Station Eleven, this will be a sort of interesting look at how lives can be ruined via financial corruption. But you'd really get the most out of it if you have read Station Eleven first.