When I read the blurb I had the impression that this book was about death and losing people. This did happen, but there were these long tangents about the love life of the main character and what he learned from that. I didn’t feel like these fit and had little interest in them. They also took away the enjoyment of the ‘main’ story line about the passing of someone and the effects of war on people. I do get that these experiences were relevant for personal growth and context and they weren’t badly written, they just slowed down an otherwise quickly paces plot. It made me wonder if I should DNF this book - in hindsight I think I should have.

The death of the person, who Krishan was not that close with - despite seeing her daily for a few years added room for thoughts about his life. The political message added an engaging perspective on a part of history i knew little about.