Greg Chism
Some interesting components. Probably should have just been two books so that things weren't rushed at the end.
Overall, the writing isn't great. I laughed out loud more times than not when I'm supposed to be... Titillated? I was bummed that the author couldn't get all of the science correct (I was trained for research in parasitology), but worms are definitely having a moment...
Very good. I did not find is darkly funny, but I guess I can see how some might. Having different perspectives throughout tell their stories was well done. All are likely unreliable narrators - we are all bad at remembering details perfectly - but it's hard to tell.
Overall, It's tragic. It's sad. It's a really important book to read in my opinion.
Reading this as an academic who loved Dante's Inferno was a major letdown. Dark academia loves to take aim at academia as an "it's all bad actors" take, and this didn't feel different.
True, there are A LOT of bad actors, but it's mainly from complacency and the slow moving nature of academia.
The author is a PhD student, so I felt this was a mix of catharsis but romanticism... It could have really pushed some boundaries on academia being a hell of its own making, but the book being really her hell makes it too reductive.
My last gripe is that most of the world building was basically textbook explanations of things. This had the opportunity for a great "reality isn't what they teach you in school", but that's not really what we got here.
Just dissatisfied overall.