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A saga spanning 2 generations, spanning from the Indonesian massacre in 1965 to life in exile in Paris back to the revolts in Indonesia in 1998. Lots to to learn about the atrocities and the government lies committed, and I would have liked even more details, dug a bit deeper into the horror (that short mention of the stingray at the torture facility?!). But the book feels more a novel for the people in the know, considering the sleeve text of the English translation has to explain some of the historical/political context to the reader. It also states that this is one of the first novels to openly explore the crimes committed by the Indonesian Suharto government. So, all the kudos for that.

Between the political plot points, the novel has a few love stories, that were too surface-level for my taste, with their focus on physical beauty and love-at-first sight. The writing style in general was pretty simplistic and also had this irritating habit of repeating facts, as if they had happened a long time ago and not just on the previous page. It was hard to tell if that was a stylistic choice that somehow got lost in translation, or an oversight.

I did enjoy it though, mainly for learning more about a culture, historical event that I previously was ignorant of.