If the excellent Pride and Prejudice was "just a bunch of people visiting each others' houses", and Middlemarch was "the same thing, but a bit too long", then this is "the same thing, but every character is a self-obsessed cretin".

It was a bit of a mixed bag. I don't generally like books that are mostly about people making other people suffer needlesly. In the beginning there were a few places where we got a wink and a nudge from the author, hinting that she knows exactly how pathological the characters are, and wants you to take it as such; but most of the second half was really horrid for me.

SPOILER: The ending helped it a bit, though I do think it's hilarious that "every main character died" counts as a happy-end here. 😀