This was a very easy read. It almost felt like a throwback to the kind of thrillers I used to read when I was younger. Dan Brown or Dean Koontz vibes. As if one of those authors was tasked with explaining the "multiverse" concept to an audience less familiar with sci-fi or superhero tropes.
So much of the novel feels dated in that way. Crouch's male gaze festers throughout the whole thing – the way he'll often describe female characters as "a blonde" or "a redhead" etc. felt really uncomfortable to me.
It also feels like it takes the protagonist a long time to catch up with the premise of the book readers are already familiar with before they begin reading. By the time he's come to terms with what's happening to him, you're halfway through it.
I do want to give credit to the turn things take in the finale though (spoiler warning), with multiple instances of the protagonist returning to "his" world. That really complicated things and muddied the ethical waters in an interesting way. It's a shame the finale ultimately breaks down into violence, though. It feels like a more inspired solution was sitting right there – Jason should've brought his family into the box in order to create additional instances of them, who could then unite with his branched selves, and multiple versions of the family could have their own unique happy endings. It's still possible something like that happens after the events of the novel, but the text itself doesn't really allude to the idea. As it stands, the ending ends up feeling bittersweet and somewhat unresolved.
A nice breezy read, especially as a palette cleanser between other books, but ironically enough, a better version of this story could've been told.
by Waste_Sleep6936