This novella — the story of a teenage girl who wants to be an international model — is very poorly written. Madima’s style is inappropriate for the content, false in some way, often convoluted.
Here is an example: “As matters unfolded it became clear that the students had been strongly influenced by some people in the community … certain elements who had misdirected the objectives of the disputes … which had nothing to do with academic world. Inter alia, some of the reasons given for the disturbances were that certain people considered that the principal was not qualified.”
Madima’s prose is often redundant; he overuses certain phrases and repeats points across the novel. He tends to tells the reader how his teenage characters debate issues such as education, poverty and relationships. The issues may be salient, but the style is deadening. Show us, don’t tell us!