This is less a review and more a scattered collection of thoughts and praise, but I hope someone finds it helpful and meaningful!
-The book can be emotionally hard to read. There are long periods where nothing seems to be going the main character's way- she's miserable, stressed, and spiteful, and the reader starts to feel the same. Multiple times, things briefly seem to go right, but take a horrible turn, as seen with her meeting Shannon's deviant brother Aaron- both the audience and Crosby are trapped in a haze of bad, low-frequency emotions, but when her loved ones lead her out of the conspiracy-theorist doomposting, it genuinely feels that a weight has been lifted. I myself couldn't suppress a big smile seeing her joke around about Pokémon with Bailey, Teagan, and the others, and teared up when she and Shannon reconciled (although part of me feels it didn't need to happen and the story could have concluded just fine with Shannon no longer being in Crosby's life, but it doesn't detract from my enjoyment). Page 124, It's Hard to Focus, is especially a breath of fresh air- throughout the work, the author suggests there is more nuance than Crosby's black-and-white thinking, and seeing our protagonist believe earnestly in humanity despite the flaws she sees is an early sign that Crosby is not as mean or judgmental as she appears (and quite fitting with my personal faith in humanity as well!).
-I'm not used to reading books of poetry like this, but I enjoy the format and how other types of writing (lists and quizzes, and a brief play-like script) are used! Each individual poem feels self-contained and each line final: one more messy emotional experience that Crosby tosses onto the pile, a blur that contributes to the aforementioned feeling of helplessness. The lack of rhyme actually makes everything a bit easier to read, and when things finally do start to rhyme on the same line (page 249, Southern California, where all seems bleak and chaotic but is actually the prelude to Crosby's final character development), the reader feels that something has clicked into place.
-While Crosby's "not like other girls" mentality can grate on the reader at times, there are implications that this is purposefully not supposed to be a likable trait, but a defense mechanism- Crosby fears being abandoned again, and so insists that other people are "normies" who couldn't possibly understand her in order to prevent her from getting close and losing them. She acknowledges several times that these people are kind to her and she isn't being fair, and it feels good when she lets go of her biases and allows them in.
-Crosby's spirituality, and that of those around her, is also treated fairly and with nuance. Though it is a bit uncomfortable seeing her, for example, renounce modern medicine, characters who mock her beliefs like Bailey or Joshua are shown to be in the wrong, and do treat her with kindness in the end. Everything seems to make sense upon reading the author's notes, and understanding that Crosby falling into conspiracy theories is *supposed* to be uncomfortable. Crosby was never in the wrong for brewing mushroom teas or collecting crystals; she was wrong for isolating herself from a world of good people who loved her. Deva and her parents can be important to her, just as her college friends can; Shannon does not need to believe all the same things as her to be her best friend. Ultimately, Feinstein seems to say, there is more that connects humanity than divides us, and with empathy, no depression or rabbit hole is truly inescapable.
Though some readers may find its uniquely young style of writing (or protagonist) a tad pretentious, Meet Me in the Fourth Dimension is a beautiful collection, with its finger on the pulse of modern living and a message of hope. I thoroughly recommend reading it through to the end.