This was 3.5 stars for me. It may have been my most anticipated read for the last few months. I finally had to put in a request at my library so I could get a hold of it. I guess I was expecting something explosive or at least moving, but for me, it was neither. 
 The writing was pretty conservative and until the last third of the book, mainly devoid of emotion. The parts that I found most intriguing involved how people coped together when the outbreak began in earnest. There are some twists and minor revelations towards the end of the book, but not the kind I was hoping for. 
 There are times that I read a book and desperately want to go down a path that the author left unexplored. This was definitely one of those times. I may have enjoyed it more, if I hadn't read other books that I felt had more of an impact in the pandemic / apocalyptic genre, most notably The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier and California by Edan Lepucki.