This would probably be a 3.5 star review if Goodreads allowed 1/2 stars. I liked Cloud Atlas. I should probably read it again - but I don't want to. I probably should have read it all in one sitting. The first half I read on a flight to Maui. It was great. Kept me totally engaged, the story moved along .. moving from one part to the next was seamless and the little references from one to the next were great. I did have a bit of trouble getting into it - Cloud Atlas starts slow, but after about 20 pages, I was hooked. 
 Then, I put it down for about six weeks and then tried to finish it. First, I got hung up on Part 6 which is written in (what I found to be) a very challenging dialect. And for me, that really got in the way of the story and what was happening. But I finally got through that and then began to work my way back through the different novellas. (Cloud Atlas contains 6 intertwined parts or novellas. You start in Part 1, get about 1/2 way through and then Part 2 starts .. this happens til Part 6 where you get the full story. Then, you get the second half of Part 5, then Part 4 .. all the way back to the end of Part 1 which is how it ends). But I let so much time pass that I forgot key bits in the first half. 
 So, I probably missed some things. Which is why I say I should go back and re-read it - but I only genuinely enjoyed 2 of the 6 parts (Luisa Del Rey (part 3) and the Sonmi story (part 5)). 
 I thought the structure was interesting. And there is no question that Mitchell is a solid writer. My main reason for reading it is b/c I wanted to do so before seeing the movie. So, I'm now equipped for that. I'll probably hang onto it and maybe take it up again after I see the movie. 
 Read it if you like a bit of a challenge and like a lot of variety. I did enjoy his visions of the future, but was frustrated by the dialect being so challenging (maybe that makes me a hick :) But if I were to re-read it, I would probably just read each part separately as its own entity. Just to pick up the details.