Instruct: Classify the given Amazon review as either positive or negative.
Query: Struggled to finish

I've read quite a few Culture books but this one was really hard to finish and I've had to skim through many pages as they were the "blah, blah, blah" kind of style. The flashbacks really killed the story for me. It was quite difficult to follow it with so many interruptions. I would finish a chapter and dread the inevitable flashback that was so hard to digest! I've read the reviews about the "surprising" ending. Maybe I missed something but the ending meant nothing to me and it didn't really have any significance on the main story. Anyway, even if I ignore everything I've mentioned so far, the story is quite weak and too much like a Hollywood blockbuster movie. The only thing missing is a car chase on a busy highway where the main character escapes from a horrific crash... wait, it does have that!