Reviews

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

cellassis's review against another edition

5.0

Une excellente surprise !

Personnages ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ : Ils sont la force de ce livre. J'ai trouvé toutes les personnages très humains et très bien construits, dans des tons de gris. L'autrice réussit à éviter le manichéisme et donne à chacun une personnalité bien définie.


Ambiance/univers ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: C'est la première fois que je lis un livre se déroulant en Inde, et j'ai beaucoup apprécié cette découverte. On rentre vite dans la vie du village, dans cette petite routine que Geetah a créé autour d'elle. Ce petit groupe d'hommes, de femmes et d'enfants m'a conquise.

Intrigue ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Également un très gros point fort. Parini Shroff a très bien construit son roman, disposant si et là des informations pour les réutiliser plus tard, nous induire dans la mauvaise direction ou donner corps à l'intrigue. L'architecture du roman était très agréable.

Style ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Humour et drame sont admirablement mélangés dans ce roman. Des thèmes extrêmement graves sont abordés, mais sur un ton qui évite de tomber dans le pathétique et nous permet finalement de mieux dénoncer les problèmes propre à la société indienne ou, de façon plus générale, à toutes les sociétés humaines. 

J'espère que ce livre sera traduit en français pour que je puisse le partager avec mes proches !

amyborch's review against another edition

funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Spoiler a group of women plan the demises of their abusive and patriarchal husbands.  

therealcubcake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

wonder_madeleine's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

lattelibrarian's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.75

This. BOOK.

I chose this after waiting for SO LONG to read it for my book club and it was a total hit with myself and with others. Shroff uses humor--both light and dark--to discuss rather serious subjects such as caste, marital abuse, motherhood, friendships, and more. 

Geeta is such a fantastic character. She's wonderfully flawed and all too serious, thinking herself a martyr which causes her to be alone and cast as a sort of town witch. But when Fatima comes to her for help murdering her husband, thinking Geeta's offed her own, Geeta relents and unfurls a plot like no other: Fatima is not as helpless as she seems and begins blackmailing Geeta, who also ends up helping more women in her loan group kill their husbands. Along the way, she rekindles a friendship with someone she fell out with upon getting married to her no-good husband. 

It's laugh out loud funny, tense, and filled with twists and turns, dogs, and unforeseen romance and friendships. If you need a summer book, or winter book, or any-season book, this is the one.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Classism, Alcoholism, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming

sarahspingler's review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

4.0

bellamongin's review against another edition

funny lighthearted sad medium-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

4.0

daylilies13's review against another edition

dark funny informative tense medium-paced

4.25

I enjoyed the setting, a rural village in India, interesting to see how people live there, and the friendship dynamics among the women. Very funny, dark humor.

m4thy's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

4.0

This book is so funny and lighthearted but still manages to cut deep with its critiques of Indian society’s sexism and racist caste system. The crime element is so compelling and the female friendships had me shedding tears of laughter and sadness. Such a good read, definitely recommend.

emilyb_chicago's review against another edition

2.0

If I had understood this was a book about a socially oblivious curmudgeon, then I would likely not have picked it up. Ultimately, I struggled to find any redeeming qualities at all in this cast of manipulators. The main character is whiny and oblivious to her many, often repeated social mistakes. Her day-to-day interactions with people was so textbook curmudgeon that I’m shocked that didn’t get mentioned in any summaries I read.

I didn’t buy the redemption to found family and actively disliked wading through the clunky socialization by the main character to get to the murder that was the focus of the blurb. The writing itself was well done, but I just could not get past the story.

My favorite parts were the clear and elegant descriptions of the micro-loans and cast system dynamics.

Pick this up if you don’t mind an unlikeable curmudgeon story with cozy vibe that is also swinging at some heavy political topics.