I picked this up on kindle for 20p a while ago and it's the last of Scarlett Thomas's books that I've read. I'm a big fan of her work ever since a friend gave me PopCo a couple of years ago.
This is very different to her later works, and also quite different to her earlier works. My enjoyment of it sits between the two. It is certainly better than the Pascale 'mysteries' but nowhere near as technically, philosophically brilliant as The End of Mr Y or PopCo.
The plot centres around six people waking up on a desert island and the conversations that they have there. I think for me, being of a similar age to the characters at the time the book was written and set, it totally rings true. I relate to the thoughts and feelings they had, the games and shows they talk about, the feeling of wanting to get away from it all and be apart from a broken society. I don't think it has dated especially well, and I can see why some people reading it recently wouldn't like it. But then a book written now with people talking about Miley Cyrus and X Factor probably won't remain current for twenty years either. That's the nature of pop culture. Thomas herself says in her 2012 preface that she can't even remember Another Level now.
It's an easy read and the plot is character driven and not especially taxing. No, they don't discuss great ideas, their analysis of society and gender is mired in their own experiences and not full of insightful solutions to the issues. It's not really supposed to be either. It's an experiment in writing a novel about ordinary people discussing pop culture in real everyday language and that's exactly what it is.
I probably won't re-read this again and again or add it to my list of favourite ever novels, but it's a great study in late-90s 'slacker' culture.