Great read, the main character is quite likeable with the naivety. The story is littered with signs of foreboding, like the chairs, which are hinting at violence, just to turn out to be a device of protection instead. It contains many twists like that. Of course, it is also a great homage to Tomas Mann's Zauberberg. But where Zauberberg ends in war, making all the learning and developping futile, Empusion ends after a complete transformation on a very positive note.