This is a good book, an Indonesian epic. 

There are a lot of content warnings for this book. And at times the amount of rape is at times so overwhelming and tiresome that the only thing you can do is just take a physical break from the book. 

However, this is also a central point of the book, as well as providing the reader with a feeling of neusea at times. This is the story of how Indonesia was raped, time and time again. 

Through the good use of Indonesian folklore as well as Indonesian history the story takes us through the most formative decades in contemporary Indonesian history. And it shows brutally, through the rape, incest and violence towards a family across generations how Indonesia, for all it's beauty, has time and time again been fucked over by other colonizing and conquering nations and states. But also how it has fought back, at times in really cunning ways.

A neccessary counterpoint to this is the use of dark humour and fairytales. Every chapter in itself could be read as a seperate modern fairytale, but is also an epic story of a family across generations.  The author is a brilliant storyteller.

If you can stomach it, it is highly recommended.  But be prepared for what lies ahead. Beauty is a wound.