This book is very much a social commentary, but I hardly noticed it. The story and the characters are so engrossing and immersive that, while I fully understood the very timely and frightening social issues being addressed, it wasn't in my foremind as I read. As I read I was just completely caught up in the plight and emotions of the characters. When I stopped reading, that's when it would really hit me - the weight and the impact of the story on how we live our lives today. And all throughout this read I was trying to figure out how the two timelines were going to interweave. I thought I knew twice and was wrong both times. Then I thought they just weren't going to at all. But they did. And they did in such a beautiful and poignant way that the full impact of the author's message really hit hard in those last few pages.