This book was much darker than I expected, and honestly darker than I thought it needed to be (luckily most of the abuse is off screen). There were things that I wish had been explored more - Hassan's feelings about anything, for example. The main character is definitely a difficult one. I bounced between sympathizing and just being pissed off at him. However, the book sucked me in. I thought it was well written and engaging, and I had a strong emotional reaction to it. In the end, those emotions overwhelmed my complaints.