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alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: War, Grief, Blood, Child death, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Infertility, and Death
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: War, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Death, Misogyny, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infertility, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Acephobia/Arophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Medical content
Minor: Xenophobia, Animal death, and Child abuse
kw05's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, and War
Minor: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism
bookdragonk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Infertility, Religious bigotry, War, Misogyny, and Death
flyintothestorm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Death
Moderate: War, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Infertility and Domestic abuse
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Grief, Gaslighting, Classism, War, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Infertility
micaelamariem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Vaishnavi Patel is a Chicago-based law student who enjoys writing about the intersectionality of feminism and Indian mythology. Her novel debut, Kaikeyi, explores the villain of the Ramayana myth. In the original myth, Kaikeyi is known as a jealous queen who exiles Rama so that her son may sit the throne. However, Kaikeyi is an epic that explores her coming-of-age, her faith, her purpose, and her reasons behind the exile.
I found this book to be very interesting. I know little of Hindu mythology and had never heard of the Ramayana before. Naturally, as I read, I did some googling to see what had happened in the original. What I did find were other reviews of this book saying how far from the original it swerved and how in some aspects, the portrayal of Rama can be damaging to the portrayal of the Hindu faith. So, with this in mind, I'm going to review this more like an original story instead of a retelling.
I loved the feminist themes in this book and how it showed that progression is slow. Kaikeyi at one point felt like she had made no changes for women, but throughout her life she aided smaller, subtle ones that helped shape a better society. And as a feminist and a woman, I love books with these themes.
I also thought the portrayal of Kaikeyi's asexuality was done well--only shown in a few subtle sentences and not something that defined her as much as her love for other people.
I loved seeing the work of the Binding Plane and found it very interesting, especially in my Google searches to find that such a concept does exist in the Hindu religion.
I did find some parts slow-going, though perhaps this is because it is an epic and spanned over a lifetime. I also didn't like how Ravana was introduced a few times, and then never really seen again until he went full-asura. I wish there was more of him or he was there not at all. I'm not sure it added much to the narrative anyway.
Overall, I did enjoy the book, with the caveat that I know this is fiction and does not define Hindu beliefs, as I know that was an issue brought up by many. As an original work, though, I would rate it four stars, and I'd love to explore Indian mythology further.
Graphic: Sexism, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, War, Physical abuse, and Violence
emfass's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Violence, Infertility, Death, and War
onmalsshelf's review against another edition
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for an eGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Note: Prior to reading this, I had close to zero knowledge of the story of Ramayana (also apologies if I did not reference that correctly).
Before finally DNFing this at 44%, I had gone searching in low rating reviews to see if anyone else felt that the writing was both stiff and clunky here. Which I did find several other reviewers agreeing on that. What I also found, was those who are practicing Hindu or Indian bringing detailed issues to light regarding this retelling of the story of Ramayana.
While the writing here is what made me want to put this down, I also could not ignore what own voice readers were bringing up. Please take a look at those reviews.
The writing and tone just did not work for me here as well as the pacing. It moved so slow and somehow moved even slower after Kaikeyi moved to her husband's kingdom. Plus, while I realize that this retelling is from the perspective of Kaikeyi, I would have liked to see development and backstory of the other side characters here for more dimension.
In the end, this felt like a chore to try continue on with, even with the audiobook which I did end up picking up from the library. Glad to mark off a book of the month pick as well.
TL;DR: Don't recommend. This felt like a slog to get through and I'm unsure why it's nominated for Book of the Month's book of the year for 2022. I recommend finding reviews of own voice reviewers.
If anyone could point me towards a better retelling, I would love to take a look at that.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, War, Infertility, and Misogyny
leahrosiee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, Sexism, Grief, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death of parent, and Infertility
Minor: War, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy