I haven't read such an interesting book in a long while. When I started reading this book I was expecting a more standard sci-fi story, though I was curious about the reasons for it winning both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards when first published. 
 The topics of the book are really interesting: ranging from morality and determinism, to gender and feminism. 
 The way the book presents certain ideas makes it an amazing literary work. I loved the style and certain sentences that bring up philosophical and ethical questions without deviating from the plot. 
 The structure of the book might seem a little bit weird at the begining when you are trying to figure out how the world she is talking about looks like and who she is talking about. It is not an absolutly linear story: Some short chapters are placed in the middle of the main story line in order to provide you with some essential information about the world you are reading about and its inhabitants. To my mind, it is a very smart way of presenting the society without having to introduce forced conversations into the main story. Also, the point of view changes so you have to be prepared to be a little bit confused and to flip pages back and forth to form a clear image of the place and the characters (unless you have a better memory than I do). 
 Despite this, it is a great reading that presents a very interesting point of view on various philosophical issues, particularly free will and the question of gender and sexuality.