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I have to admit that I wasn’t drawn to this book because of Eleanor Catton. It was purely because of the Shakespeare reference. I read the title and had to find out more. It sounded like an interesting read and it was certainly creating buzz. So I pre-ordered it. I was a bit concerned because I normally end up disappointed by hyped books. It was also much longer than the books I’ve been reading recently. That’s probably why it took me so long to finish. It didn’t help that I was reading it during a really stressful time at work and didn’t feel like reading much. In the end, I put down the physical book and bought an audiobook copy. I’m trying to stop relying on audiobooks but I had to this time. Otherwise, I’d still have been reading it this week.