This was a great read that explored the ideas of what culture would look like if the hippies won. I loved the hyper focus on one woman's story and how she explored this new way of life as she grieved the "passing on" of her wife. I felt the focus at the micro level rather than the macro was an interesting structural decision that really paid off in its execution as we learned about the full extent of the world through the limited lens of the jaded protagonist. However if you like alien invasion books, this probably isn't the one for you. This is a book about grief and dealing with one's place in the world with an alien invasion backdrop. Don't go into this expecting a full exploration of the "soft invasion."

I have complicated feelings about the themes of the book, which could be boiled down to the fact that there is value in the preservation of "historical" ideals such as gender, race, age, and sexuality, especially in a post gender, race, age, and sexuality world. That in a society where no one is left in need, we are still benefit from the lessons that were learned in hardship rather than leaving those lessons behind since we have finally achieved true harmony in the universe. I ultimately agree with this overall theme, but I couldn't help but feel that there were undertones of "kids these days" sentimentality that would really make me pause to consider what message the author was trying to portray. Those who might be considered "progressive" in the book are painted to be the ones out of touch while the the traditionalists who often speak about the good ole days (before the world was literally living in paradise) were the ones painted as rational and down to earth. Sometimes I agreed with this sentiment (blackface is bad and should always be considered bad y'all). And sometimes I didn't (your community taking an active interest in your wellbeing is actually good probably).

The writing was fantastic, surreal, and dreamy. The side characters were hit or miss, being written as one note lovable/hateable while the main character has consistent ideals but oddly inconsistent behaviors. The pacing of the book was good considering how short it is, and while there is a loose plot, it takes a backseat to the social commentary which I think works in the books favor. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it definitely lends itself to a reread.