Scan barcode
dormilona's review against another edition
4.0
Hilarious, but in a good way. I actually didn't finish this one, for some reason I don't want to know how it ends.
thukpa's review against another edition
2.0
Hard time liking this book. The girl was too vulnerable- disturbing. But I am glad to see into a section of Indian life which most would probably prefer remains a domain of the depraved western world.
srivathsini_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
cynfinit's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting coming of age novel. Not fantastic, but worth reading.
m1989's review against another edition
1.0
i HATE the story
so I read the story to the end (because I can't leave a story midway) hoping it's gonna get better but it didn't get better it was just pedophile ship after pedophile ship, grooming, taking advantage of minor, statutory rape, pervert classmate, classmate's pervert dad.....
also the main character and her classmate's ship had it's cute moment but it's already ruin with a dorderline rape scene so there is nothing interesting about this book I don't get it how can someone make a book about a teen lesbian in 90s delhi this boring
so I read the story to the end (because I can't leave a story midway) hoping it's gonna get better but it didn't get better it was just pedophile ship after pedophile ship, grooming, taking advantage of minor, statutory rape, pervert classmate, classmate's pervert dad.....
also the main character and her classmate's ship had it's cute moment but it's already ruin with a dorderline rape scene so there is nothing interesting about this book I don't get it how can someone make a book about a teen lesbian in 90s delhi this boring
alaiyo0685's review against another edition
2.0
This book was trashier than I wanted it to be, and the main character seriously needs a lesson in consent. To add insult to injury, she decides to apply to Harvard in the end.
annamuthalaly's review against another edition
3.0
In short, a truly revelatory look at lesbian desire within 1980s India, with “queer desire” also being used as a proxy for any kind of desire for that which could not be accessed in India at the time — ie, casteless thinking, broad job prospects, etc.
I want to be clear that I don’t think revelatory is synonymous with good — it is true that this book covers ground that, despite having a generally strong grasp on the queer canon, I have never seen before. The desires spelled out within our sixteen year old protagonist are rarely depicted — these are desires of possession, violence, sexual ownership that I haven’t seen portrayed. Beyond the queer aspects, there are aspects of Indian history that are truly interesting — the mandal commission, the experience of growing up within the brain drain that permeated India for decades.
That being said, while the feelings explored in this book are genuine and new, I walked away with little. This book took me a whole month to finish, I think because once the book covers its main points — again, a true desire for other woman rarely portrayed in literature — it doesn’t have much to achieve. There is no real coming of age — truly, imagine if the bell jar was narrated by Humbert Humbert, and didn’t end with a changed mindset. This book, to me, is a collection of the occasionally unpleasant feelings of a self proclaimed predator who does not end the novel changed in any significant way from how she started.
I want to be very clear that the unpleasant feelings are not simply just of queer desire, but of queer violence and ownership — this is a character who at one point rapes one of her friends, and at no point really regrets that choice. It’s complicated, because the point of the novel is to explore the breed of Indian teenagers who grew up knowing their desires — to escape the caste system, escape Indian sameness of thought and desire — were fundamentally incongruent with their location. Therefore, It can feel foolish to expect our protagonist to change, because the novel’s primary argument is that it is india who needs to change, rather than her. That being said, the novel is threaded with the arrogance and one note nature of such a thought process. This isn’t a buildungsroman — it’s a character study that overstays its welcome. Which is a real shame, because the character is genuinely a necessary addition to a canon that all too often ignores the experiences of non western queer people.
All in all, there are genuinely very interesting things to say about how Indian culture in the 80s would mold ideations of queerness. I’m glad this book exists, and that I read it. That being said, it would all work better as a novella, and if the reader doesn’t come into the process expecting the kind of broad human analysis that many queer novels have.
I want to be clear that I don’t think revelatory is synonymous with good — it is true that this book covers ground that, despite having a generally strong grasp on the queer canon, I have never seen before. The desires spelled out within our sixteen year old protagonist are rarely depicted — these are desires of possession, violence, sexual ownership that I haven’t seen portrayed. Beyond the queer aspects, there are aspects of Indian history that are truly interesting — the mandal commission, the experience of growing up within the brain drain that permeated India for decades.
That being said, while the feelings explored in this book are genuine and new, I walked away with little. This book took me a whole month to finish, I think because once the book covers its main points — again, a true desire for other woman rarely portrayed in literature — it doesn’t have much to achieve. There is no real coming of age — truly, imagine if the bell jar was narrated by Humbert Humbert, and didn’t end with a changed mindset. This book, to me, is a collection of the occasionally unpleasant feelings of a self proclaimed predator who does not end the novel changed in any significant way from how she started.
I want to be very clear that the unpleasant feelings are not simply just of queer desire, but of queer violence and ownership — this is a character who at one point rapes one of her friends, and at no point really regrets that choice. It’s complicated, because the point of the novel is to explore the breed of Indian teenagers who grew up knowing their desires — to escape the caste system, escape Indian sameness of thought and desire — were fundamentally incongruent with their location. Therefore, It can feel foolish to expect our protagonist to change, because the novel’s primary argument is that it is india who needs to change, rather than her. That being said, the novel is threaded with the arrogance and one note nature of such a thought process. This isn’t a buildungsroman — it’s a character study that overstays its welcome. Which is a real shame, because the character is genuinely a necessary addition to a canon that all too often ignores the experiences of non western queer people.
All in all, there are genuinely very interesting things to say about how Indian culture in the 80s would mold ideations of queerness. I’m glad this book exists, and that I read it. That being said, it would all work better as a novella, and if the reader doesn’t come into the process expecting the kind of broad human analysis that many queer novels have.
seneca6891's review against another edition
2.0
A chronicle of teenage wishful thinking that veered into the territory of soft-core pornography. Even though the writing was quite ponderous, the book lacked any real substance. I couldn't take this novel or its writer seriously.
marie_gg's review against another edition
3.0
Daring, sensual coming-of-age story of a teenage lesbian "Humbert Humbert" in Delhi--not a very sympathetic character but an intriguing, unusual novel b/c of the daring plot.
bunnie225's review against another edition
1.0
As an Indian who has grown up in a city much like Delhi, I think this book is highly unrealistic. I won't even begin to list out the deep disappointments with character and plot development. I can just point out that my dislike of this book stems from absolute non-conformity with real life and the author has taken way too many liberties with descriptions of Indian city life and family and school. Don't market this as an Indian story - it isn't.