I think this book is really thought provoking and raises some really good questions about culture, race & fetishization, and the gender issue. 
As a woman tbh it was kind of hard to read just like the language and the men’s discourse around women just made me sad but that’s pretty much the point of the book. 
Definitely no realistic women in this and no women acting independently of men, but i understand that that’s a literary tool for the message.