Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

22 reviews

rhiannon814r's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, War, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Infertility, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Death

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Updated Review (May 2024):

I still absolutely love this one, which is equal parts tragic and inspiring, and totally action-packed. The audio version is also extremely well-done and I enjoyed the narration!

Original Review (July 2022):

Rating: 5/5 stars

A feminist retelling inspired by the Ramayana, <I>Kaikeyi</I> tells the story of Radnyi (Queen) Kaikeyi of Kosala and her journey through magic, motherhood, and the destruction (and salvation) of her family and kingdom.

“It was a child, freer than her mother had been.”

I adored this book! I love a feminist retelling, but it’s no secret that many of them have a tendency to be slow and a bit boring in sections. Not so here—<I>Kaikeyi</I> is action-packed and engaging from the very beginning, and Kaikeyi herself is a delight of a character who I was rooting for the whole way through. So much happens in this book that it isn’t easy to summarize (or even review), but I laughed, cried, and was thoroughly enthralled by the story and all the side characters (especially Kaushalya and Lakshmana, my faves).

I will also add that even though I went into this with pretty minimal knowledge of the Ramayana/any source myths, I never felt confused about the world or the events taking place. In fact, while I’m sure those who grew up with these myths will also enjoy the book, I think I was even more enchanted because everything was new to me—so if you’re intimidated by this book for those reasons, don’t be!

Bottom line: if you enjoy mythology and retellings, you absolutely have to read this one.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: feminist retellings; Hindu epics; fantasy meets mythology.

CW: War/violence/injury/death; death of parent; abandonment; discussions of infertility; discussions of child death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.25

I loved so much about this Ramayana expansion and partial retelling. The highs and lows are dramatic and I love this book for it. I also love that the title character’s mind is where we exclusively reside in for this retelling given she’s usually depicted as a wicked stepmother type in many Ramayana variations. Seeing her extended family, early days of her marriage, her bonds with her fellow wives and the community of her adopted home Ayodhya. Seeing her build bonds and falter in others. Seeing her reconnect with others across time. I liked the recontextualizinv of Ravana too. The depiction of Rama is done for a specific reason and I kind of loved that surprising shift. I’m sure it ruffled some but I think fine, it’s merely one retelling so if you dislike it, disregard it. The family bonds really define the narrative here and it’s so good to read through. The characterizations of Kaikeyi’s fellow wives could have been expanded but then I guess it would take away from being solely Kaikeyi’s point of view. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Bullying, Classism, Grief, Racism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, and War

The question of free will/manipulation is central to the abilities used by the title character and an few other individuals. The title character is asexual so depending on how you see it, the few sex scenes in the plot could be understood in a few ways. There is definite misogyny throughout the book, even from males that are mostly supportive of progressing rights for women. There’s a specific point in showing it that way. Going against the patriarchy and redefining society happens in time.

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, Death, Child abuse, War, Misogyny, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Child death

Minor: Blood, Infertility, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.75

A truly special fantasy epic. I am not familiar with the source mythology so I can't comment on the faithfulness of the retelling but I absolutely adored this as it's own story. I love the exploration of motherhood and womanhood in this story and what it means to do things for the greater good even if you cannot do everything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, and War

Minor: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Blood

not_asha01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.5

i really loved this. the characters were so well rounded and i loved the development they had. the plot was so interesting and i really enjoyed reading it!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Blood, Child death, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Infertility, and Death

jenna_smuszkiewicz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I have never heard of the Ramayana, the myth this story originally comes from, or of Kaikeyi herself. I really enjoyed this story. I appreciated how much Patel seemed to add to this story in her voice. I liked the addition of magic, the happy times of

Kaikeyi raising her family

, and the flaws and growth of the characters. 

The ending did bring down my rating. I couldn't get over the things Kaikeyi didn't

didn't do in terms of acting with Rama. I wish the author had said earlier she couldn't manipulate their bonds with Rama (but she could with Lakshmana somehow?) or we had seen a conversation between Rama and Lakshmana. It just made the ending frustrating for me. I'm glad it ended on a happier note though.

So, if you are looking for a mythic retelling of a Hindu myth, this one is good. The ending wasn't as strong for me, though it did recover a bit by the finale.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, War, and Blood

serena_hien's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Blood, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content