I finished: The Museum of Human History by Rebekah Bergman.
First of all, I really enjoyed the characters and their relationships and those are the main subject of the novel.
Like, A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, The Museum of Human History puts the emphasis on the characters rather than the plot. For example, the conspiracy behind the drugs and medications is there, but ultimately it is just background. This isn't what I'm used to from sci-fi.
Bergman challenged my assumptions on what is important in life and made me think. I'm still processing the novel and trying to figure out what she is trying to convey.
This is definitely a reaction to the opioid epidemic and a treatise against the attempt to avoid aging, pain and ultimately death. Bergman calls on us to live our lives as they are and support each other through the pain and suffering rather than try to find magical fixes, because they always backfire.
But Bergman also attacks the idea of study and preservation, the museums, of Prehistory or of Entomology are demonized. The people who love to study and teach are doing it wrong, they are not learning about life they are ignoring it and hurting the people around them.
As a student of history, family photographer and science enthusiast, I feel attacked. I think learning about the world we live in and remembering our past is a way to give life meaning.