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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Torture, War
Cinnamon Gardens is a Nursing Home in the suburb of Westgrove, Sydney. It has residents of many ethnic backgrounds and is run by an immigrant family from Sri Lanka. The story was, at times, uncomfortable reading. Although fictional, it does bring to light how casual racism, majority defensiveness, and entitlement could escalate with devastating consequences. Through flashbacks, we also learn about the history of the Tamil characters with flashbacks to the Sri Lankan Civil War. I did not know much about this, but it sounds horrific.
In Shankari Chandran’s novel, the scars of Sri Lanka’s civil war echo through the lives of Tamil immigrants in Australia. By capturing the Tamil struggle for survival and identity, Chandran ensures that their history—and their right to exist—won’t be forgotten, making their provenance in the Western world clearer for future generations.
To read an excerpt of my review on Instagram, visit https://www.instagram.com/p/DAY1wyZyW3y/?igsh=anc4MWJ1bWwybG9u
Or to get the full review in BGB’s newsletter, visit https://browngirlbookshelf.substack.com
To read an excerpt of my review on Instagram, visit https://www.instagram.com/p/DAY1wyZyW3y/?igsh=anc4MWJ1bWwybG9u
Or to get the full review in BGB’s newsletter, visit https://browngirlbookshelf.substack.com
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I have a very small list as a self proclaimed book worm, of the bets books I have ever read. These books are ones I will buy for my unborn kids, talk about until people find me annoying, books that I truly consider sacred.
This book popped up on my Goodreads feed, and after reading the premise it seemed up my alley in books I would like. I read the sample on my kindle and it felt a bit slow so I left it for the physical copy. The cover is stunning - one of the most beautiful illustrations and I love the small Easter Eggs clues she left in the cover. But the cover is a ruse - although the story starts of charming; this is done on purpose to rouse the reader in to set the stage for a very devastating book. I believe this was similar to "Little Fires Everywhere," except I hated that book and loved this. Similar concept with better storytelling (the AUS version).
When I rate books I look for 3 factors; the plot, the characters and the writing style. Chandran nailed every aspect of those three factors. It is hard for authors to be able to make me laugh and cry in one sentence and she has this uncanny ability to do that effortlessly.
As a child of Thamil refugees there was also the heartbreaking personal connection to this novel. I would advise exercise high degrees of triggering warnings. There were times I had to stop due to PTSD from stories that were so eerily similar to what my parents endured. Out of all the things to revolve the genocide around, Chandran centered this story around the burning of the Jaffna Public Library. As a lover of linguistics, history and my yearning for more knowledge about my ancestors, the burning of that library is a huge trigger for me. A deadly and brutal strategy of genocide is to erase culture and history and what better way than the burning of one of Asia's oldest library? I always day dream of a time in space where I can one day transcend through time and visit the library before it's destruction to read about my people and their legacies and dreams. Out of all the things the genocide took from my people, the library is one that sends me into a deep despair. You can count bodies in a war but stories and books should account for humans multiplied. When you destroy a scared library, you are killing thousands people at once. of As a lover of books, Chandran's use of the Jaffna Public Library as the central homage in this book pulled at ever fiber and molecule in my body.
Highly, Highly recommend this book - she might just be my new favourite author. I will be ordering her two other books!
This book popped up on my Goodreads feed, and after reading the premise it seemed up my alley in books I would like. I read the sample on my kindle and it felt a bit slow so I left it for the physical copy. The cover is stunning - one of the most beautiful illustrations and I love the small Easter Eggs clues she left in the cover. But the cover is a ruse - although the story starts of charming; this is done on purpose to rouse the reader in to set the stage for a very devastating book. I believe this was similar to "Little Fires Everywhere," except I hated that book and loved this. Similar concept with better storytelling (the AUS version).
When I rate books I look for 3 factors; the plot, the characters and the writing style. Chandran nailed every aspect of those three factors. It is hard for authors to be able to make me laugh and cry in one sentence and she has this uncanny ability to do that effortlessly.
As a child of Thamil refugees there was also the heartbreaking personal connection to this novel. I would advise exercise high degrees of triggering warnings. There were times I had to stop due to PTSD from stories that were so eerily similar to what my parents endured. Out of all the things to revolve the genocide around, Chandran centered this story around the burning of the Jaffna Public Library. As a lover of linguistics, history and my yearning for more knowledge about my ancestors, the burning of that library is a huge trigger for me. A deadly and brutal strategy of genocide is to erase culture and history and what better way than the burning of one of Asia's oldest library? I always day dream of a time in space where I can one day transcend through time and visit the library before it's destruction to read about my people and their legacies and dreams. Out of all the things the genocide took from my people, the library is one that sends me into a deep despair. You can count bodies in a war but stories and books should account for humans multiplied. When you destroy a scared library, you are killing thousands people at once. of As a lover of books, Chandran's use of the Jaffna Public Library as the central homage in this book pulled at ever fiber and molecule in my body.
Highly, Highly recommend this book - she might just be my new favourite author. I will be ordering her two other books!
A tale with wonderful characters and a clever weave of history. The present day realities of politics and aging merge with the ever-present impacts of colonialism. Instructive and insightful. There is sadness, violence and grief but humour and humanity shine.
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Started this as an audiobook, finished the last 2/3 reading the written book.
The cover is an ABSOLUTE mislead. It is not the cozy, wholesome read it looks like it will be.
The cover is an ABSOLUTE mislead. It is not the cozy, wholesome read it looks like it will be.
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes