I found the book to be rather barebones and full of nonsensical descriptions. Khaw strings pretty words together into sentences that don't make much sense and require a second pass to digest. Despite being a central focus of the story, very little is known about the characters' backgrounds or the history of their friend group; when you read the book, you'll understand why that's insane information to be lacking. All over the book feels half complete: we're missing internal thoughts, vital information on past events, and a plausible explination as to why any of them agreed to go on this trip together. I'd love to see a revised version of the book in the future as it has a beautiful skeleton: it just needs flesh and skin.

Note: if you hate vague descriptions of mental illness as much as I do, maybe give it a pass as it's unclear whether Cat's "terminal ennui" is meant to be depression, agoraphobia, a combo, or something else entirely. Clear language is never used.