I am what psychology refers to as an HSP, a highly sensitive person. For science the name is pretty darn straight forward (and this article does a great job of hitting the nail directly on the head: http://huff.to/NzpiTm) but one of the aspects of a 'highly sensitive person' is being constantly hyper aware of the environment around me. That all sounds very cool-super-agent-y of me (and, I promise, it's really really not) but what it does boil down to (or just one small aspect of being a highly sensitive person) is because my mind is in so many places, looking at so many things, taking everything in, I'm easily distractible. As a result, it takes more for me to focus on something. When I do, I really do, but still it takes more work for me to focus. While my husband doesn't notice the guy kicking my chair at the theater, or the person on the bottom row checking the time on his smartphone, or the one eating her popcorn rather loudly, I do and so, in that moment, I'm taken out of the movie completely while he's still glued to the screen. While it has it's moments of helpfulness, this aspect can downright suck when trying to enjoy something. On the flip side, if I find myself enjoying something and forgetting all else it's a great indication of what I feel about the quality of that 'something.' 
 So when I found myself on the train this afternoon, on the way home from work, suddenly feeling like the train has taken longer than normal getting home, looking up and realizing I passed my stop because I was reading this book, I knew...this is a damn good book. Since, in that short time, I forgot the people talking around me, the conductor's announcement, the gum smacking, shuffling on and off, sound of the handicap ramp going down, the train's horn, you know, the usual business of public transit... but to instead be wholly immersed in this story. In that moment, that's all that was happening, this story. To me, that's the best darn review I can give a book. It's like when I'm watching a good movie or show and look down to realize there is suddenly a cat sound asleep on my lap and yet because it's sound asleep it clearly wasn't suddenly and so I must have been lost in the story to forget all else going on. 
 The second best review I can give this book is that it is 'genre bending,' or more neglecting genre altogether and just telling the best story he knew how to. If I wanted I could try and force it into the thriller genre, the sci-fi genre but still, because it's much more than that, it would be pushing it (almost literally) to try and fit it into a category. And I like when books break the rules while still following others (in the case of the science). 
 Lastly, this book made me walk away thinking 'damn, this would make for such a fantastic movie' (in the right hands, of course). And I realize I only say that for things that put me in a place to truly visualize everything going on, as if I'm watching a film as I read it. It's a wild ride but also with many wonderful takeaways and life lessons. It also sort of left me with this feeling that few stories leave me with (The Matrix being at the top) where I wonder, could this be possible in this reality? Does the red pill (or in this case, (view spoiler)[the box (hide spoiler)]) really exist? It's what I love about stories that take science (considered this very hard and defined thing) and showing you just how many possibilities science presents and making you wonder what is real and what isn't, what is possible and what isn't? 
 Needless to say, I highly recommend and very much look forward to the eventual film adaptation and hopefully reliving this cleverly crafted story.