The concept of this book was so clever. The oxymoron of bringing capitalistic bureaucracy fueled audits to the abstract realm of dreams… or, wait, isn’t that already happening in a less concrete way now?
The desperation of Abernathy to get his head above water, all while clinging to a wild naivety, was almost repulsive because it was so familiar.
I thought it was an interesting choice to have Abernathy act as the protagonist for this novel when there were such dynamic and compelling women involved in the dangers of dreaming around him. Artistically, it makes sense. It throws questions of gender and patriarchy and privilege into sharp, cloying relief. But it also left me wanting mom of the other characters.
Abernathy is not a hero but he is achingly real. And he makes just as many terrible decisions as he stumbles into good ones. It takes resources to be “good”. Time and safety and energy- the world is small when you’re fighting to survive.
Trigger warning for unnervingly accurate depictions of depression and the terror of student loans. 

Quotes:
"On the bright side, the fact that Abernathy has no choice means this must be his destiny" (91).
"... was it enough to merely survive? Abernathy can barely manage to maintain a base-level existence. His whole goddamn life is what, really? Not much. Not anything. Stupidity. Cowardice. Self-loathing. When you hold it all together and try to get a look at it, there's not even that much to see. Is there worth in the things you cannot see?" (171).
"Abernathy's thoughts are weird and moving really fast. He tells himself he is excited. That's all. One thought keeps hitting him on the inside. oh god, he thinks, all lowercase and desperate, like a private whisper. oh god oh god of god. He sits on the bed, half-dressed. If he didn't know any better, Abernathy would suspect the wet, hot, desperate feeling creeping through him to be a type of despair. But what could he possibly feel despair over? He's alive, isn't he? That's more than most people can say" (216).