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_askthebookbug's review
3.0
The Angel's Beauty Spots.
~
Huge thanks to @alephbookco for sending this book.
~
When I think back to my favourite Malayalam translated works, Chemmeen always takes the trophy. There's something lyrical about the way the stories are written. I read Outcaste few months ago and experienced the richness of culture and traditions. You can imagine my excitement when this particular book was sent few days earlier. The Angel's Beauty Spots is about three unfortunate women seeking love but find disappointment instead. And as much as I'd wanted to enjoy this book, it left me quite depressed.
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The book begins with Angela's murder in front of her children. Angela's ex-husband, Alex stabs her to death. Back when they were newly married, Alex allows his friend to rape Angela. Their marriage ends soon after and with a child in tow, Angela prostitues herself to lead a moderate life. She then goes ahead to have a child with one of her boss at her current company. This leads to her death eventually when Alex discovers about the second child. Angela's character was one that was born out of pain and helplessness. A woman who craves for intimacy and security from a man but fails to find it. Second story is of Radhika who years later finds her lover but to realise that he's now mentally somewhere else.
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Radhika's story is my least favourite. While she struggles to find glimpses of her old life in him. The third story is of a married woman who desires for a saint. They blossom in their brief intimacy like the world doesn't exist only to part later. Three stories of three different women who find love in places that they cannot claim. These are stories of abuse, lust and betrayal. The kind of tales that focuses on dark love rather than the one that brings out the best in people. There was something very uneasy about each of these stories. There's somethingmething odd and displeasing about the characters that made me want to not write a review about it. I now wonder why this was so acclaimed for I fail to see the beauty of it.
~
Rating - 2.7/5.
~
Huge thanks to @alephbookco for sending this book.
~
When I think back to my favourite Malayalam translated works, Chemmeen always takes the trophy. There's something lyrical about the way the stories are written. I read Outcaste few months ago and experienced the richness of culture and traditions. You can imagine my excitement when this particular book was sent few days earlier. The Angel's Beauty Spots is about three unfortunate women seeking love but find disappointment instead. And as much as I'd wanted to enjoy this book, it left me quite depressed.
~
The book begins with Angela's murder in front of her children. Angela's ex-husband, Alex stabs her to death. Back when they were newly married, Alex allows his friend to rape Angela. Their marriage ends soon after and with a child in tow, Angela prostitues herself to lead a moderate life. She then goes ahead to have a child with one of her boss at her current company. This leads to her death eventually when Alex discovers about the second child. Angela's character was one that was born out of pain and helplessness. A woman who craves for intimacy and security from a man but fails to find it. Second story is of Radhika who years later finds her lover but to realise that he's now mentally somewhere else.
~
Radhika's story is my least favourite. While she struggles to find glimpses of her old life in him. The third story is of a married woman who desires for a saint. They blossom in their brief intimacy like the world doesn't exist only to part later. Three stories of three different women who find love in places that they cannot claim. These are stories of abuse, lust and betrayal. The kind of tales that focuses on dark love rather than the one that brings out the best in people. There was something very uneasy about each of these stories. There's somethingmething odd and displeasing about the characters that made me want to not write a review about it. I now wonder why this was so acclaimed for I fail to see the beauty of it.
~
Rating - 2.7/5.
sudeepta_booksteaandmore's review
4.0
Gut wrenching, painful and yet beautiful is how I would describe this book which is a collection of three novellas by KR Meera.
Like most KR Meera books, the stories of this book will stay with you and haunt you for a long time. Meera crafts these character sketches of women who are fiercely independent, rebel against society norms and yet are vulnerable. In this three novella namely The angel's beauty spots, And forgetting the tree, The deepest blue Meera explores women, their innate desires and how society at large still tries to keep women within a frame of norms.
Love, trying to find love that transcends sexual desires and expression of love is what I found binds these novellas together. Often women are not freely allowed to express their desires, love and passion but in Meera's stories, we find three women who all explore love maybe through infidelity, whose passion to find love that will entwine their soul Sears through them and while they do so they face consequences which are often brutal.
Sexual politics and the extreme policing of women's sexual activity is still prevalent at large in our society and Meera weaves these in her stories brilliantly. The book also explores how even when women are independent often the role of a man still looming large in the background The book is steeped in brutal violence against women, lost love, anger, hopelessness but at the core, there is love and the passion to give and receive love.
Like most KR Meera books, the stories of this book will stay with you and haunt you for a long time. Meera crafts these character sketches of women who are fiercely independent, rebel against society norms and yet are vulnerable. In this three novella namely The angel's beauty spots, And forgetting the tree, The deepest blue Meera explores women, their innate desires and how society at large still tries to keep women within a frame of norms.
Love, trying to find love that transcends sexual desires and expression of love is what I found binds these novellas together. Often women are not freely allowed to express their desires, love and passion but in Meera's stories, we find three women who all explore love maybe through infidelity, whose passion to find love that will entwine their soul Sears through them and while they do so they face consequences which are often brutal.
Sexual politics and the extreme policing of women's sexual activity is still prevalent at large in our society and Meera weaves these in her stories brilliantly. The book also explores how even when women are independent often the role of a man still looming large in the background The book is steeped in brutal violence against women, lost love, anger, hopelessness but at the core, there is love and the passion to give and receive love.
apurvanagpal's review
4.0
4⭐️
The Angel’s Beauty Spots by K.R. Meera (tr. from Malayalam by J. Devika) is a slim collection of 3 novellas exploring women at their most fierce; independent and unapologetic about their desires yet at their vulnerable selves, bound by the society and the men in their lives.
A common thread that runs through the three novellas, apart from being women centric, is how they take us through different challenges and tragedies faced by women, our atypical protagonists who defy norms in their own ways. Each character is crafted beautifully and left a mark on me, their stories at times difficult to read but not weighed down by emotions.
K.R. Meera’s prose is beautiful and powerful, capturing the depth of relations perfectly as the story uncoils and the sets the aftermath of their choices in love or betrayal in motion.
This was my first brush with her writing and I can’t wait to read her full length novels, as this left me wanting for more.
I really liked the translation by J. Devika and felt it highlighted some parts of the stories remarkably.
Short, crisp and precise, The Angel’s Beauty Spots starts with an unsettling wind but leaves like a thunderstorm.
Astounding and highly recommended.
The Angel’s Beauty Spots by K.R. Meera (tr. from Malayalam by J. Devika) is a slim collection of 3 novellas exploring women at their most fierce; independent and unapologetic about their desires yet at their vulnerable selves, bound by the society and the men in their lives.
A common thread that runs through the three novellas, apart from being women centric, is how they take us through different challenges and tragedies faced by women, our atypical protagonists who defy norms in their own ways. Each character is crafted beautifully and left a mark on me, their stories at times difficult to read but not weighed down by emotions.
K.R. Meera’s prose is beautiful and powerful, capturing the depth of relations perfectly as the story uncoils and the sets the aftermath of their choices in love or betrayal in motion.
This was my first brush with her writing and I can’t wait to read her full length novels, as this left me wanting for more.
I really liked the translation by J. Devika and felt it highlighted some parts of the stories remarkably.
Short, crisp and precise, The Angel’s Beauty Spots starts with an unsettling wind but leaves like a thunderstorm.
Astounding and highly recommended.
hkcfied's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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