I wanted to like this. The non-linearity of the narrative was good and effective at drawing one into the story of Zafar. The history of South Asia was interesting, and the tie-ins to the financial crisis and Afghanistan War were well-done. It was a bummer that every female character was flat and peripheral, and then the last chapters.

Spoiler alert but Zafar rapes Emily. This is revealed in like one page (and hinted at by juxtaposing some love poem with the UK's legal definition of rape) where Zafar can't even own up to what he did, and then the last chapter is some sappy bullshit about male friendship. Fuck this book.