I can see what Blas de Roblès was trying to do here: juxtapose a realistic narrative about a dysfunctional ebook factory with a fanciful romp that parodies and pastiches Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.P. Lovecraft, Jules Verne, and others, in order to make a statement about the grand tradition of storytelling and its role in forming humanity's cognitive universe. But the latter portion felt forced and had a fanfic vibe to it, and there was a LOT of sexual violence and slimy objectification of women throughout the book which I found completely unnecessary and painful to read, especially combined with a pointless false rape accusation that added nothing to the story. I agree with this review that "these scenes [were] neither humorous nor carefully handled," and that "they lacked empathy, and this detracted from the other, better-explored themes." Add to this a good dose of transphobia, with the character of

Spoiler

Louise, who allows herself to be harassed and assaulted out of sexual desperation, and then grows so attached to her abuser that she jealously sets up a cis woman to be imprisoned and humiliated

. Nasty stuff and, again, totally unnecessary.

The whole "ebooks are the downfall of literature" motif (which I find silly, but whatever) was handled much more eloquently in [b:The Invented Part|31945192|The Invented Part|Rodrigo Fresán|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475302626l/31945192._SX50_.jpg|40126624] by Rodrigo Fresán, also available from Open Letter.