Reviews

The Palace of Illusions is Paanchali's Mahabharat.. the greatest story from the perspective of Draupadi. We all know the story of Mahabharat but we might have never come across it from a women's perspective especially from the woman who was born from fire, married five husbands (even though she loved only one and has to be wife for each one for a year), the queen of the most magical palace and one of the tragic characters of the story.

I loved the writing style and I even became a fan of Chitra Banerjee with this book due to her style of narration especially in the first person.

The only thing I didn't quite liked and also repetitive is the love angle of Draupadi and Karna especially the longing of Draupadi for Karna and always thinking she might have made a wrong choice in swayamvar. May be it's true or maybe it's not but it's quite repetitive and I think there is no need for that in the book.

Apart from that the thoughts of Draupadi as a normal girl and her independent fierce character, her dilemmas, her stubbornness to do the things her way and even to go against the societal norms.. all are depicted very well

nerdie_kitten's review against another edition

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4.0

A daring novel.. A women's perspective on timeless tale of mahabharata.. Half myth half history and wholy magical

pooja_2909's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

deadpoetssocietyy's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

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

1.0

It's a fanfic of epic. The problem is it imposes a lot of bad things about the main character which she was not. Instead of having the goal of glorifying the character, it demeaned her rather.

kahaaniwali_09's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

One of the most thought-provoking books by the Indian Author Chitra Banerjee.

It's Mahabharata re-written but from Draupadi's perspective.

It got me emotionally shaken and made me absolutely speechless and had me staring at the wall for more than an hour.

A must-read, I guess. The writing is profound.

Your childhood hunger is the one that never leaves you.

Expectations are like hidden rocks in your path—all they do is trip you up.

The heart itself is beyond control. That is its power, and its weakness.

Aren't we all pawns in the hands of time, the greatest player of them all?

Doesn’t the imagination always exaggerate—or diminish—truth?

The power of a man is like a bull’s charge, while the power of a woman moves aslant, like a serpent seeking its prey. Know the particular properties of your power. Unless you use it correctly, it won’t get you what you want.

Expectations are like hidden rocks in your path -- all they do is trip you up.

"Ah, Forgiveness," Dhri said. "It's a virtue that eludes even the great. Isn't our own existence a proof of that?

Were the stories we told each other true? Who knows? At the best of times, a story is a slippery thing.
Perhaps that was why it changed with each telling. Or is that the nature of all stories, the reason for their power?

apsarareads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

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