Happy publication day!
For twenty years, Greta Davenport has lived with the guilt of surviving the accident that killed her parents. She’s tested the limits of her own mortality ever since, but little gives her the dopamine rush she craves. Not until the night she almost drunkenly crashes her car into a tree, and a peculiar blank card slides under her front door—an invitation to the Found Object Society. What she discovers there is beyond comprehension: an opulent, subterranean playground filled with aisles of objects from different eras and regions of the world. Pick an object and go on a voyage to relive the final moments of the person who died holding it, along with an unparalleled, irreplicable high. Greta’s hooked, but she can’t quiet her questions about the society and its enigmatic creators, the answers to which have implications far beyond her growing dependence on the voyages. Death is addictive, and what she uncovers will put her entire life into question. (Goodreads Blurb)
Wow, what a unique ride. It’s always a treasure to find a book where the plot and the world feels so original.
With that originality comes a heavy responsibility to make sure the readers really, really, understands what’s going on. There’s never been anything like this, so us readers need a little bit more coddling.
There are a few issues with this book that make my rating really a 2 star. First is the main character, Greta. There is a selfishness to her that makes her unlikable. I don’t think she’s going to relate to a lot of average people out there. She doesn’t even make readers jealous of her money. Or think, yeah, if I had a bank account like that, I would do the same thing. And all readers will tell you, you don’t have to like the main character to like a book. The issue was is this unlikable character was trying to be passed off as relatable and likable. Which just isn’t the case. Her selfishness and thought process made it really hard to root for her. And as she was the main POV throughout the story, it ultimately made it hard to root for the entire story.
Additionally, the super secret, highly sought after, highly elite society didn’t give any of the ‘super’ feelings. Again, maybe it’s one of those my normal brain couldn’t understand what treasures lay in this “super duper” society. I needed more from it. I needed a bit more details or explanations of why this was so addicting. I needed to know why I should root for her.
The ending was also a slight letdown. Maybe at the end that’s when you reveal the secrets behind the society. Help us readers make sense of it all. (?)
As I said, for me, this is a two star book but because of how unique the plot was, I bumped it up to three stars. And the plot is well done, don’t let my criticisms distract you.
As this is an ARC, maybe there will be a bit more tidying up. If so, I would recommend this to my reader, friends for the uniqueness of the plot.
Stats: 448 pages – Expected publication February 10, 2026
**Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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