If I had to guess, I’d say that is the thesis of this novel. At least, I can see how it tried to be.

These characters felt absurdly disembodied. For instance, I can’t recall if the MC’s appearance was ever explicitly described. I had no idea what she looked like, aside from being “above-average pretty.” 

Even the sexual intimacy felt detached from the characters’ bodies somehow. There is (allegedly) a frantic, desperate lust undergirding each rendezvous, but I wasn’t actually sensing any of that in the text, just told it was there. It all read as very… dry, almost clinical. No sensory details to ground the scene in the tangible world. Just some quick staging.

Also there was no character depth. Nothing made me want to care about these people. There’s such minimal exposition; it just begins and then it’s PLOT PLOT PLOT, and we’re expected to be instantly invested without really knowing who they are or why we should care.

Additionally, there are no real meaningful side characters, no friends (the other contestants occasionally have moments of depth, but they’re brief), the MC’s family get like, one and a half scenes on-page. It’s just so… sparse and soulless.

Lastly, the romance is bizarre and unbelievable. During their first conversation they’re already speaking to one another as if  they have some deep bond, but then every conversation after is manipulative and combative and I kept wondering “wait so do they actually like one another?” 

I understand what the author was trying to do, I think, but it just wasn’t executed successfully at all.