Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

41 reviews

ricefun's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I truly loved this novel, particularly listening in audiobook format. I loved the creativity and the writing in this story. I watch and read a lot of British English materials, and this one offered a glimpse into a completely different British community. Some of the "stories" that are shared are pretty racy, so probably not for young readers, or those of a puritan bent. 

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paigereitz's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. It was such an interesting exploration of culture and religion and multi-generational families navigating those challenges. From my vantage point, it tackled culture and varying levels of conservatism within Sikhism remarkably well, allowing the women to be people - not caricatures of their culture. And listening to the audiobook was lovely. 

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xoxo_biz's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book is delightful with a twist. 

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ashleytalksbooks's review against another edition

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challenging funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Oh my God. I am in love with this book. It made me laugh. It made me cry. The erotic stories were very hot at times. It handled feminism, culture, desire, and the every day lives of women beautifully. 

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laughingrevolution's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted reflective 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


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sarabook's review against another edition

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informative reflective 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? No

4.0


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sashalei's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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amyvl93's review

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emotional funny informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was chosen as my local book club pick, and I quite enjoyed this look at the lives of women within the tight-knit, and conservative Sikh community in West London.

We follow Nikki, a young woman who has fled the expectations of her family by dropping out of university and getting a job in a pub whilst she tries to figure out what her passion is - much to the despair of her recently widowed Mum and tradition-loving sister. Her path ends up crossing with Kulwinder, a woman who has also recently experienced a loss of her own and who is looking to stay in favour with the gurdwara's community by putting on classes for the women of the community. Nikki takes the role of teaching the class, only to find her expectations and those of the women in the class are quite different.

Jaswal is great at drawing the central two protagonists; Nikki sometimes make decisions that are definitely less than smart but her heart seem to be in the right place, and Kulwinder's grief feels very well captured. Some of the other women that are within Nikki's writing group are less well drawn, although the overall theme of the novel - the negative impact of a culture that restricts female sexuality and lives comes through clearly through their stories.

The novel was at its best when it was focusing on the lives of the women in the writing class, and got slightly less coherent as the novel becomes a murder mystery (and attempted murder mystery) in the final few pages. I also felt that the excerpts of the stories that the women tell could have been a little shorter.

I did enjoy this novel, and would be keen to read more of Jaswal's work in the future.

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miss_fish's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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kcrockford's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

Started off slow but it picked up. Loved the ending!

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