For the premise of this book I expected something a bit more disturbing. While there were certainly some gruesome scenes my overall impression was that it was more of a drama. It's sort of like the literary equivalent to Grey's Anatomy meets World War II crimes against humanity to put it frankly, although that description is perhaps a little overly harsh. It is beautiful and sad in its own way, even horrific at times, and is undoubtedly not just an average piece of writing.