This is one of those peel-back-the-layers narratives, where the protagonist gradually reveals the details of a pivotal event until finally you get The Big Scene. In this case, the narrator is Sean Phillips, who was left severely disfigured by an accident when he was a teenager. He reflects upon his life since, and the life he had before that, much of it in the context of a play by post game that he invented. The way Darnielle weaves these threads is tremendously deft and, on the whole, I found it to be a very compelling read. (It doesn't quite look that way given the dates on my reading, but I read about 30-40 pages and then had to put all my reading aside. When I picked it up again, I started over and read it in just a few sittings.) 
 But, for as much of a WOW reading experience it was, I wasn't sure how I felt about The Big Scene. You will know the basic contents of it long before it happens. There's dread it as it plays out and by the end my eyes were bugging out a bit -- it's not badly done. But, it felt like something was missing. There's a promise of depth throughout, and I totally felt like Darnielle was delivering it up until that point. (view spoiler)[I came away feeling like the adult that simply didn't understand. Seriously... WHY? (hide spoiler)] 
 That's why the book sat here starless for a week. It's possible some of what I want is buried in there and would be discovered upon rereading. I did flip back a few times as new things were revealed and it was pretty satisfying to see the groundwork there when it came to the Lance/Carrie stuff. I admit I wished there'd been a little more depth on that, too, though. 
 So, overall a great reading experience for me, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of love/hate over this one.