*** 3 stars
This was an interesting book. I wasn't really sure where it was going and it seemed quite slow at times. By contrast it all wrapped up in the end quite quickly and I'm not sure entirely convincingly. Without spoiling the book too much, our main character, who has truly served mainly as a narrator is suddenly a catalyst for a major event. That shift was a little jarring but not really unfair, I guess. What I had a problem with was the quick resolution without a perspective on how that event changed him.
I think this sort of thing has been done before and perhaps better. I think it's similar to Atonement in that regard. Youthful mistake leads to tragedy, that sort of thing. I think the book would have been a whole lot stronger if we had some evidence from the narrator that he'd been impacted by this event. A more skillful writer would have left hints along the way and made the reader see how the narrator was effected. As it was, he was a pretty bloodless and generic character for much of the book.
I think there were way too many characters, too. Something like eleven cousins and all the aunties were a lot to keep track of. There were opportunities for interactions and interesting dynamics that didn't really happen.
But I didn't hate the book by any means and was mainly interested in watching it unfold. It just failed to live up to a potential.
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