Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

15 reviews

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, and Classism

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Ableism, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

the_savannahhumphrey's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Classism, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Abandonment, Grief, and Racism

linesiunderline's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Henna Artist is a transporting kind of read. Joshi brings the setting to life with all kinds of sensory details.  Lakshmi is a complex and engaging character - you want to see her find her way to a fulfilling life. Self-discovery, the strength of family, and female empowerment are central themes here, and it’s easy to get wrapped up in the story telling. Excellent narration on audio.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This is June's choice for the local book club I'm in. I was quite interested in it based on the description, but wow is this book slow paced. Not a lot happens until the climax of the story, and even that is pretty short lived. 

I was alright with this at first though. I found the first third of the book to be fascinating as I learned about henna, the caste system of India, and their everyday lives. I rather liked the main character, Lakshmi, so it was interesting to see how she survived after running away as a teenager. 

However, her 13 year old sister, Radha, changed a lot on how I feel about this book. At first she was a very sympathetic character. She had lost her parents, discovered her long-lost sister, and had nothing to her name. She quickly starts acting like a spoiled brat though, and no matter what Lakshmi sacrifices it isn't good enough for her. I was so annoyed at how this selfish child, who wanted to act like an adult, was causing so many problems that I just couldn't enjoy the book anymore. 

The writing style is very descriptive and vibrant. This was ok for the first half of the book, but by the end I was a bit bored, and found myself skimming over the excessive descriptions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Infertility, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Misogyny, and Grief

Minor: Bullying and Sexual assault

aseel_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3.75 

i really enjoyed the writing and atmosphere, Jaipur was described so vividly!! i liked the array of characters we had. the plot was quite evenly paced, but some things were a bit hard to believe, so it didn't get four stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Medical content