I was really torn on this one. Was it a 4 or a 3? Because there were certainly things I loved about it, but there were quite a few things that didn't work. 
 It's most egregious offense, imo, was being at least 100 pages too long. This allowed the plot to meander down several tangents that never achieved any sort of emotional resolution. Now, certainly it can be argued that that's reflective of real life--what is life after all, if not a succession of random tangents, few of which provide emotional resolution? But here I thought two or three too many tangents combined to smother the narrative and undercut its resonance. 
 Which is not to say I didn't bawl.