I really loved this book, but I loooooove a story with unlikeable characters. It’s super interesting to me. That said, you listed these reasons to be able to relate to the characters/plot that you felt like made it so you should have enjoyed it more. While I think that’s fair, I’d argue that this book is more of a character story than a story about video games/programming/etc. It’s more about those things being the things that are important to those characters than the story being about those things, if that makes sense? So maybe that’s why those things weren’t enough to make it so you enjoyed it more. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with not being able to connect with the story—like I said, I loved it, but I can see where it might not be people’s cup of tea. Are there any other books with similar aspects that you did enjoy more?

It's been a few months since I read it but I didn't like it very much. I loved Normal People (haven't read Conversations with Friends) but I feel like the characters lacked the chemistry that I really loved in Connell and Marianne, so I didn't care as much about their story. I liked that she was doing something different and I liked that we got a story also about the friendships of these girls. I felt like, by having four characters to deal with, we didn't get to go as into their lives as we did Connell and Marianne and they turned out kind of flat because of it.