Although this book has received some critical acclaim I'm not always encouraged by books that have been shortlisted for prizes such as the Booker. However, as a first novel, this is a well-crafted work which shows the author's ability to write in ways that illustrate the many different characters in the developing narrative. If you like a novel that shows the impact and threat from looming change in a different cultural setting then you're unlikely to be disappointed.
Other reviewers have drawn attention to perceived weaknesses in the central character, Snow. I didn't feel that this interfered with my enjoyment; after all, such strangeness in how characters are drawn can be an effective device.