2.5 stars. I liked the main characters, especially Mark and Ben, but it was rather relentlessly depressing in multiple ways. The main story is one bad thing after another, but the side characters beating eachother and hitting their babies, horrible pervy men and rape scenes... All that felt very unnecessary and without nuance. I recently read The Outsider, in which arguably the victims are worse off - but the overall story is more optimistic and I enjoyed it a lot more. I guess that's the difference between a second book and a 58th book!