First of all, I'm so proud of Mbue's growth as a writer in this novel. I thought her debut was just okay but I had hope and she delivered in this one. 
Though this book is set in a fictional village, the issues and things that happen make me think it might have been inspired by the Ogoni people of Rivers State in Nigeria vs Shell. So, it felt like a story I knew but with a fresh take.
The writing is lovely, easy to follow but it's also poetic. It's a well-paced novel, I especially love that the plot is unravelled through the multiple POVs, transitions are so smooth. The character development was good but the reason I'm giving this a 4 is because of how bleak the situation is. It's so close to real life, I know art imitates life but I prefer happier endings in these situations.