I have to admit I didn't really like this one! This review, this review, and this review (check out the one- and two-star filters; apparently a lot of people share my salt) cover most of why - I don't take issue with the characters or the plot, necessarily, but rather the way in which they were written. The presumption here seems to be that Africans used to be pure, simple, and "unspoiled" before they were "corrupted" by Western society ("People stood straight, worked hard, and were grateful for the smallest kindness. They asked for nothing") , and now they're cynical, bitter, and greedy, expecting Western handouts and willing to do whatever they need to to get them. The narrative's treatment of Zizi really showcases this: she's a teenage girl who is both a servant and a fetish object for Hock, and the reader is repeatedly hit over the head with how she's a symbol of the "pure and unspoiled" Africa that Hock lusts after, but she ends up being "corrupted" just like everything else in the end when she

Spoiler

loses her prized virginity due to a violent rape, which is committed in order to send a message to Hock

. There are plenty of books out there that do a good job of tackling the relationship between Africans and visiting Westerners: ones that recognize that both overarching groups are made up of whole, complex individuals with differing wants, needs, and intentions, and that more directly deal with colonialism and its aftereffects. This isn't one of those books.