This was so captivating -- I saw someone talking about the euthanasia rollercoaster on Twitter and this book came up, and it very much intrigued me. And then I realized it was by Sequoia Nagamatsu, whose short story collection I thoroughly enjoyed! 

This is very much a plague/pandemic novel, and it's at times saturated with grief and horror. Nagamatsu creates a 30,000 year old plague that starts shapeshifting cells for your organs into cells of different organs. This sweeps across the world, and you see its effects in a series of fourteen or so short stories about different, yet interconnected, characters. From a scientist involved in the discovery and spread to his granddaughter embarking on a space journey away from Earth; from a man who repairs robot companion dogs that preserve loved ones' memories to his great great niece's struggles; from a death hotel manager to his brother's contribution to previously mentioned spaceship, the stories are wide and interconnected. All of the stories are so very human, and Nagamatsu treats his characters with dignity and respect as they traverse a trying reality. 

I really enjoyed this set and felt that all the chapters worked very well together. Some will inevitably stick with me more than others, but overall I am very much glad to have read HOW HIGH WE GO IN THE DARK. I'd definitely recommend to anyone who can stomach a plague/pandemic novel that is extremely compassionate and captivating (not particularly graphic in terms of the plague itself, but the depictions of death and grief can be very graphic at times).