but is disappointing. I feel like this book might have been rushed to the publisher before it was really reviewed. There is not much character development and thus it is difficult to feel for the main character and then be invested in the book. I did not even bother finishing the last fifteen pages I had left b/c I did not care for Arjie very much. Being as the book presents itself to be about a homosexual boy growing up in a society that sees him as bringing shame to his family name the book hardly deals with this issue. I feel that the majority of the book was dedicated to the political situation in Sri Lanka at the time and less focused on Arjie's conflict of sexuality. This was the author's first novel and unfortunately that comes across.