I read this in a day as it's quite small and reads quickly, but I absolutely had to take breaks just to process everything. It's beautifully written and it doesn't try and make anything look prettier than it is, and that also means it's very very heavy and quite graphic at times. I'm glad I read it though. I had to go write this review because I can't stop thinking about it. 

The protagonist, Masechaba, is a young South African girl, who has to deal with horribly heavy periods from the moment she starts having them (and I think they don't stop in between either?), and they only get more bearable after many different treatments. She really wants a hysterectomy though, and decides to become a doctor, so one of her colleagues could do it for her. As she becomes a doctor, the reality of working at a hospital that doesn't receive enough funding sinks in, and she becomes overworked and depressed as she grapples with grief, guilt, and numbness, as well as the effects of Apartheid and colonialism. Meanwhile, her best friend and flatmate Nyasha, a doctor from Zimbabwe, has to deal with increasingly violent xenophobia. 

Some quotes I highlighted as I was reading:

"Thank you for being so concerned that I'm unaware of the worst thing that's ever happened in my life. Thank you, you're all so terribly kind. But can I choose to forget for just a moment? Would that be okay with you? Just like I choose to forget that the world is evil and our government corrupt and the West forever plotting our demise?"

"I asked her if she ever wished certainly patients would die. 
She looked at me funny and said no." 

The ending is what made me lower the rating a little bit, as I'm not sure how I feel about it in terms of message, but I also think that may be the wrong approach here, as it did feel sort of "good/satisfying" on a personal level, for the character. So, just to leave room for both, 4.25 stars (bless you, Storygraph, for making that an option). 

To conclude, though, please do check the content warnings (though there are spoilers in there, of course).