Agreed. The writing is robotic and the characters are wooden. Many on reddit will fight you to the death saying this style is intentional or “you don’t get Eastern writing”.

Just chalk it up to the book not being your cup of tea and move on. No point in wasting time on a book you don’t enjoy reading. We’re not talking about a book being challenging or difficult. We’re talking about a book that doesn’t work for you.

Who knows. Years later you might give it another try and find that you like it. We’re allowed to change our tastes and our minds

I had the same experience. For me, the narrator’s attitude and talkative nature sounded too contemporary for the setting. It sounded like so many YA or teen books are supposed to sound.