After claiming that I was abandoning ship, I was convinced by two readers who I respect that I should finish A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. I was won over by them and by learning that Anthony Marra had gone to St. Patrick’s and Landon as a kid. Needless to say, getting through this book was a challenge. I slogged through until about the last 40 pages when it really picked up and everything tied together. That being said, however, I cannot recommend this one. It was beautifully written and had an interesting storyline, but I didn’t get enough out of the characters, it was so incredibly depressing, and was too dark, dark, dark. Most of it moved too slowly for me and I didn’t like the time shifting (though the chapter timelines helped). Someone convince me why this one is so great. Please?