His life is based on well-defined routines that allow him to make the most of his time to work, go to the gym and engage in intellectual activities that help him feel superior to the people around him.

One day, Cecilia's neighbor, Tom, complains about the noise of her radio, which gives way to the beginning of a friendship that eventually leads them to fall in love, although they do not become lovers.

When he returns to New York he constantly writes passionate letters,[5] although he maintains his relationship with Ruth due to the inconvenience that revealing the truth would cause.

[6] To create various characteristics of Claudio's personality, such as his arrogance and misogyny, Nettel was inspired by Arthur Schopenhauer's aphorisms about love and women.

[9] For the character of Cecilia, on the other hand, it was based on Nettel's own experiences, such as the years she lived in Paris and the loneliness she experienced at that time, as well as her fascination with cemeteries and the loss of a loved one due to pulmonary arterial hypertension.

[10][11] Carlos Zanón, of the Spanish newspaper El País, praised the novel, especially the depth of the characters, and asserted that it cemented Nettel's position as "a new sensation of Latin American letters.

"[12] These characteristics were also highlighted by El Periódico de Catalunya, who described the book as "a tragically gentle, choral and kaleidoscopic novel that seeks to give a resolution to the insoluble tragedy of living in the form of an antidote against the omnipresence of nothingness.

"[3] Callum Angus, writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books, particularly highlighted the way Nettel explored death, loss, and the effects of suffering on the protagonists' physical health.

[15] The author's psychological development of the characters was called "impressive" by Ruth McKee in her review for The Irish Times, although she referred to the language as "missing its heart.

"[1] In a more negative review for the literary magazine Cleaver, Robert Sorrell criticized Nettel's portrayal of the protagonists' mental health and claimed that in the first half of the book they had the impression of being "cartoon characters" due to their "exaggerated" behaviors.