I'm a 17-year old high school senior, and I read this book about a year ago at my mom's suggestion. I would have to say that I LOVED it! I found that the characters were well developed and all had extreme importance in the plot. It had everything from love to death, to historical connotations. I was discussing in my Intro. To Lit. class the other day, and I kept trying to remember what the book was that I'd read about the Rwandan Genocides, and I could not think of the title! If you ever have the chance to read this book, please do! I've found that, apart from just being a fantastic book, it comes in handy for historical events, and also for a good comparison book in a discussion! Enjoy!