Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was what happens when someone has an essay topic - we should be concerned about data privacy - and then turns it into a novel, just because. There was just no story here. There were some good characters and a handful of interesting set pieces, and a nice writing flourish or two. But the plot, the world, the pacing, and the structure were all so thin and so frustrating.

The book is told through three point-of-view characters: Leila, a nonprofit worker in Myanmar; Leo, ... a guy who... drinks?; and Mark, a sellout author of a self-help book. But the book would be much better off getting rid of two of the points-of-view (literally any two, it doesn't matter). Because all the additional points-of-view do is dispel any genuine sense of mystery in the plot and, somehow, add so much unnecessary confusion.

And the world of the novel is so thinly explained that every plot beat feels entirely unearned. The book sets up two shadow organizations. Each of these organizations are at times, all powerful, and at times, entirely in the dark. The reach and capabilities of the organizations seem to depend only on what is convenient for the plot in any moment. It's a maddening inconsistency for a novel whose emotional arcs turn so critically on the overreach of corporations and governments.