Not sure if I would have liked this book more if I were more in the mood for it (if so, maybe I shouldn't have made myself read it and just read something else). The depiction of the war felt true, in that it was being waged almost entirely against peaceful civilians. The depiction of female circumcision was incredibly effective, in that afterwards I had dreams about my dick being cut off. I also liked the magic & the depictions of various societies. I didn't always really get the friendships & relationships; I felt like I wasn't really being shown the friendships, & that the character interactions that were most vividly rendered were the ones where friends were enraged at each other for some of the stupidest shit. Perhaps that was intentional, to show the effects of the pressure they were under? I may have missed something there.