How Beautiful We Were is a tragedy, but one that demands the reader not to feel sympathy, but to reflect on our role in the poisoning and exploitation of villages like Kosawa. Mbue pits hope and reality against each other repeatedly throughout the novel, gifting Kosawa with tiny victories the characters and reader both must learn are more akin to sedatives and insults than progress. I felt the writing throughout most of the book was illustrative and sharply observant, though there were times where it lacked detail and lagged as the novel progressed. Mbue defied my expectations with the book's ending, initially making me feel disappointed and almost angry. Yet after reflecting further, her unflinching depiction of the humanity, homelands and culture that colonialism and capitalism has stripped from our world of is more striking through use of an unsettling finale in the modern day. I would recommend this story to others, but please be warned that it pulls no punches with its descriptions of environmental degradation and the horrors that unfold in its wake.