I'm of two minds about this book - actually, maybe of several minds. The writing itself deserves four stars easily, it's a beautiful book and the writing is exquisite. At points it was a bit like Fugitive Pieces, where the writing becomes so poetic that it nearly obscures the story. And then there's the romance. Anne and Serey meet when he is twenty-one and she is sixteen. They have a fairly brief relationship and then he goes back to Cambodia and she doesn't see him again until ten years later. I admit that I might just be too old and cynical for the 'love conquers (nearly) all' trope, for the headstrong woman who will do literally anything for the man she loves. The description of Cambodia, landscape and people, was vivid and affecting. Maybe because Echlin is not from Cambodia she felt like she could only tell the story from the perspective of a foreigner, which is fair. Maybe I just didn't like the character of Anne that much - she doesn't seem to think or care much about her actions affect other people, which is understandable when you're sixteen but somewhat less so when you're twenty-six. I think the story of the Pol Pot regime needs to be told often and extensively. I'm just not sure this lens was the most effective one for me.