Sea of Tranquility

Emily St. John Mandel

2022

January, 2023

7/10

Excellent writing. Felt relatable and 'alive'. There were a few too many quips about gender roles and other things that felt very personal (like it was the author speaking, not the characters), but I can overlook these.

However, towards the end, the book turned into a fictional recount of Covid-19 and far too much time was spent on talking about pandemics. Were the book written at any other time, maybe I wouldn't mind, but it felt almost like the pandemic talk was only there because of the time. In other words, it was unnecessary, and overstayed its welcome.

The ending events were mostly predictable, but good overall.

As a whole, the book was (mostly) well-written and engaging. My only complaint is that it all lacked substance. Any moment which could have posed grander thoughts or questions was wasted on pandemic talk. Therefore, I would dare to call the book 'simple'.