I was really entranced by the subtle writing style and I liked and appreciated the conversation-like narration. I never felt like the book dragged on, even though it included minute details of the lives of the protagonist and her friends. I appreciated the fact that large chunks of time were passed in a few sentences, even events that would have provided additional insight for the reader about the characters. I liked the flow I guess I could say. 
 I think the book prompts us to ask ourselves as individuals and as a society some very difficult questions. I think this is why some people really don't like the book, because they don't want to face these questions, or don't feel they should be asked. I think the book answers some of these questions, but purposefully doesn't answer all of them. 
 Here are some of the questions prompted in my mind by the story: 
 Are there people in the world being compelled to labor or sacrifice in our behalf while we sit back and enjoy their "donations" in ignorance of their plight? And if so, and if we are aware, how do we live with ourselves and with this knowledge? 
 Do we have personal views that prevent us from believing a life created by science contains no soul and is therefore eligible to be treated as less than human? 
 Do we fear the "other," and do we prevent ourselves from investigating whether or not our fear concerning the other is rational or not? 
 How much do we value our own lives and the lives of those we love when it comes to the expense of others who we don't know and love? 
 In what ways or to what extent do we roll over and allow others, who have contempt for us, to plot out our fate? 
 Do we sacrifice our intimate relationships because we elevate our unshared experiences to the point that they outweigh our shared experiences? Or, do our sacrifices bring us closer to some and draw us away from others? 
 So yes, great and thoughtful book, however I have to say I felt there was too much unnecessary swearing and I completely disagree with the authors opinion on the purpose of sex. Because the main characters couldn't have children, they were taught sex is less meaningful for them and that it was unnecessary for them to be cautionary about who they slept with. By the same token, they were taught that the reasons others were particular about who they slept with was mainly because of the consequence of children. I disagree. Sex is much more than this. As manifestation of selfish desires without commitment sex is just simple lust. However, since true love is a yearning for endless association, sex reaches it's highest purpose and desirability when it is apart of that kind of a union, an endless union. Sex is really the ultimate symbol of union. 
 This from a great speaker on the subject: 
 "...marriage was intended to mean the complete merger of a man and a woman--their hearts, hopes, lives, love, family, future, everything. 
 ...such a total union between a man and a woman can only come with the permanence afforded in a marriage covenant, with solemn promises and the pledge of all they possess--their very hearts and minds, all their days and all their dreams. 
 Can you see the moral schizophrenia that comes from pretending you are one, ... sharing the physical symbols and the physical intimacy of your counterfeit union but then fleeing all other aspects of what was meant to be a total obligation? 
 In matters of human intimacy, you must wait! You must wait until you can give everything, and you cannot give everything until you are legally and lawfully married. If you persist in pursuing physical satisfaction without the sanction of heaven, you run the terrible risk of such spiritual, psychic damage that you may undermine both your longing for physical intimacy and your ability to give wholehearted devotion to a later, truer love. You may discover to your horror that what you should have saved you have spent, and that only God's grace can recover the virtue you so casually gave away. On your wedding day the very best gift you can give your eternal companion is your very best self--clean and pure and worthy of such purity in return." -Jeffery R. Holland 
 http://www.lds.org/new-era/2000/02/pe...