I enjoyed this one because of the way it portrayed the main character. She was clearly an abused partner, and it appeared that had driven her to depression, but the way it was portrayed was subtle, at least to me. The paintings were an act of defiance against a controlling, abusive partner that looked to control every aspect of her life, even when away on "business trips". The effects of Clarissa and Maureen's relationship has clearly affected how she reacts with others, this is seen when she goes to Vijay and very nearly stops believing what she saw, even though she has physical evidence. It is borne out when she allows him to have the moth without question as to what he was going to do with it. He could have taken it and become famous, but luckily for Clarissa, he was just happy to hide the evidence of the monsters. Hitting rock bottom, as many abused partners do, she made a desperate act of defiance, and took control of her life, and thought to take control of the relationship too, by becoming famous for discovering the bugs. Even that backfired, though, in the long run, and she was eventually dismissed as being a crackpot for her theories.
There were some unbelievable parts of the science for me, but it didn't bother me because this story wasn't so much about the science as it was about the people.
And the giant, murderous bugs.