I picked this up just because it's on the N.Y Best Seller list. And I still do not have much of an opinion on it.

The story of a man who orders a mail order bride and a bride who had other plans is not out of the ordinary. The whole story was pretty much predictable as each person's charachter unfolded. No big twists or surprises there.

The writing on the other hand, has it's highs and lows. There are points when you empathize with each charachter  and picture the scenario with grave vividness and feel the sensuality in a given scene. The morbidity of the setting has you wondering how you could possibly survive in such worlds.  Then there are points when you wish the author had more of something to say via the story. So much more could have been done with such complex charachters. Also, the repetition of how people are prone to going mad is kind of irksome.

I got through the whole book solely for the reason that I've read rave reviews about it and it failed to impress. The end had me reeling with loss of words.