While the underlying essence of this true story was meaningful given the complex challenges into which it delves, its poor editing unfortunately made it a tedious struggle to finish reading.

Unfortunately, as hard as I tried, and I did 'pick it up' a few times, I couldn't get past the first few pages of this book. The writing seemed quite bad and all over the place. The grammar, the spelling (and yes I know it's an ARC and a few typos, misspelled words are fine, but this felt like no one had actually read the book before me and had done some simple edits/corrections. I never feel good giving 1 star to someone's work - who am I to judge really, but since I couldn't get past the first 20 pages of this book, I feel like I have to be honest and give it only 1 star.

This book has so much potential to become a great literary work highlighting the current societal issues faced in Africa that few people want to acknowledge. From government corruption to the corruption of men and in some cases women, especially by Christianity. Bamurangirwa reveals the most intimate piece of her life by way of pseudonyms in hopes of breaking the chain that exists and making young Africans, both still on Mother and those abroad, conscious of not falling into the same traps of their predecessors. This tell of betrayal and redemption leaves the reader with a sense of hope. One of the highlights of the novel is the cultural aspects that Bamurangirwa includes as well as the small feminist win in the end of the novel. Also, in the very end of the book, there is a section that has facts and figures on the current state of Africa. I will admit that there needs to be some cleaning up on the publishers side, however even with those obvious faults the novel is still a very valuable read.

No matter how much I dislike a book, I always try to find something redeeming to say about it. Unfortunately, this book is extremely flawed. Here are some of the flaws:

- The WTF cover: this book is about many things, but it is NOT about gorillas.
- Hundreds of typos
- It begins with some confusing anecdotes about someone named Nsubuga
- The book takes a radical turn and the books becomes a rant
- Sept 11 conspiracy theories (including promoting the myth that Jews weren't in the Twin Towers)

This book doesn't know what it wants to be.

I might be unfair.
Therefore, I highly recommend that you read the sample of the book (on Amazon) before buying it or taking my word.
It might captivate you.
It did nothing for me.