Ugh, where to begin? Let me start off by saying that as a reader I am more of a fan of excellent character development and story than I am of the beauty or skill of the writing. Not to say that I don't appreciate beautiful writing, I do! But to love a book, I have to really love the characters and the story as well. 
 That being said, I got through the first half of this book pretty fast because I was so into the story! I was emotionally invested in Theo and I had to know what was going to happen to him! I found myself thinking about the book almost all the time, even while watching tv. 
 But then as I was about 60% of the way through the book I realized that there was no way Theo was going to have a happy ending. I've read books before that don't have happy endings and I still love them, but I was just so bummed knowing that Theo's story was just going to end up super depressing. It affected my mood - I was feeling anxiety and disappointment and sadness while reading. Suddenly reading this book became unpleasant and I kind of had to force myself to finish the last 40%! And honestly, I skimmed the last 40%. I didn't even really read the last chapter. The story was over, but there were pages of philosophical thinking about life, death, love, blah blah blah. Didn't read it. 
 If you love reading books that demonstrate a skillful use of language, then I would recommend this book to you. If you prefer books with a satisfying story, maybe not so much. Or at least be aware going into it that the main character is a very damaged individual who in the end is able to come to terms with who he is and finds a little peace, but doesn't necessarily get what he wants.