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mightymegan25's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, War, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
micaelamariem's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- 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
A while ago I received Kaiyeki by Vaishnavi Patel in a book box, and I finally got around to reading it!
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
cassimiranda's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexism
Moderate: Grief and Misogyny
Minor: War, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Death of parent
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, and War
Minor: Child death and Pregnancy
agnesg's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and War
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Grief, Gore, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Kaikeyi is a strong-willed protagonist, pushing the boundaries of her life to ease the way for women around her and those she'll never know. In the process of trying to eke out a place for herself as the youngest of three wives to her husband, she changes the way women are seen in her new home. She has access to the binding plane, where she can see and often influence the bonds between people. Through a mix of mundane influence, occasional manipulation, and courage in an early battle, she becomes one of her husband's most trusted advisers. At every turn she's driven to make things better for women, aware of how much their fates depend on the whims of the men in their lives.
She was concerned about getting married and it takes someone pointing out how she's isolated herself before she begins trying to build a life and connections in her new home rather than just mourning the unsupervised freedom she had as a child. Once she gets to know them, Kaikeyi loves her husband and his other two wives. Her identity as a mother is central to the second half of her story, and she loves all her sons (though she only bore one of them). The worldbuilding includes detail about Kaikeyi's clothes and surroundings every so often, such as when she chooses a particular sari for significant moments. I prefer stories which don't rely heavily on detailed descriptions of the characters' surroundings, and this was a good level for me.
Kaikeyi's narration includes periodic comments about how she didn't know certain things would make everything turn out so badly. The turn, when it happens, is so close to the end that I was starting to think her warnings would be for nothing. Most of the story is spent showing how she conducted her life and gained influence with the help of the binding plane, and the way she did her best to recover from some early mistakes when she was first learning how this power worked.
I'm not already familiar with the Indian epic this is reimagining, and I didn't need any familiarity in order for this to be a moving story with memorable characters. I enjoyed reading it, and will probably try to read the Ramayana if I can, since it's piqued my interest.
She was concerned about getting married and it takes someone pointing out how she's isolated herself before she begins trying to build a life and connections in her new home rather than just mourning the unsupervised freedom she had as a child. Once she gets to know them, Kaikeyi loves her husband and his other two wives. Her identity as a mother is central to the second half of her story, and she loves all her sons (though she only bore one of them). The worldbuilding includes detail about Kaikeyi's clothes and surroundings every so often, such as when she chooses a particular sari for significant moments. I prefer stories which don't rely heavily on detailed descriptions of the characters' surroundings, and this was a good level for me.
Kaikeyi's narration includes periodic comments about how she didn't know certain things would make everything turn out so badly. The turn, when it happens, is so close to the end that I was starting to think her warnings would be for nothing. Most of the story is spent showing how she conducted her life and gained influence with the help of the binding plane, and the way she did her best to recover from some early mistakes when she was first learning how this power worked.
I'm not already familiar with the Indian epic this is reimagining, and I didn't need any familiarity in order for this to be a moving story with memorable characters. I enjoyed reading it, and will probably try to read the Ramayana if I can, since it's piqued my interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Death, War, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Physical abuse
leahrosiee's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? No
5.0
I love a good retelling, so I'm here for the overall boom in feminist classic mythology retellings. The Witch's Heart and The Silence of the Girls are both great, and of course Circe is an all-time favorite of mine. So I was super excited to delve into this feminist retelling of a non-Western epic, the Ramayana.
The titular protagonist, Kaikeyi, is, in essence, Rama's (step)mother. In the original epic, the story focuses on Rama's exile to the forest at Kaikeyi's urging, and his battle with Ravana after he kidnaps Rama's wife, Sita, and his eventual crowning as king. Patel takes this original story as the scaffold, but turns the focus to Kaikeyi, building her characterization and the unfolding of events that explain why she urged Rama's exile. We follow Kaikeyi through her youth, as she realizes that, as a woman, she has nowhere near the power and position of the men in her world, and that despite all her prayers to the gods (as urged by society and tradition), they seem to have forsaken her. And yet, Kaikeyi makes a life with what she can, forging forward with a bit of magic, a bit of manipulation, a bit of secret training with her twin brother, and a whole lot of effort to create a better world for herself and the women of her nation. When the will/plan of the gods for the human world clashes with her own, threatening her family, her status, her relationships, her life's work, she must make an impossible choice between averting war (saving her homeland and her new land) or preserving the public legacy of her years of diplomacy and advocacy (and her familial ties).
Well, I loved this retelling. Kaikeyi became such a fleshed out and fully developed character in Patel's hands. I loved reading about her youth, both the difficult parts of finding her own ways without a mother or the gods to guide and help her, and the sweet and fun parts, like her relationships with her brothers, especially her twin. This is one of the only books I have read that goes into the art of charioteering (the Nevernight trilogy is the only other one I can think of), and I was fascinated reading about it. Plus, I am a sucker for a lady in battle, historically (I was weirdly obsessed with Joan of Arc as a kid, and loved Tamora Pierce's Alanna series), so the entire "Kaikeyi winning over Dasharath and Ayodhya through her horse/weapons prowess" really hit the spot for me. As Kaikeyi got older, I really enjoyed reading about her mind-opening about how she could help the women of her nation. There was some great insight into how being raised in one way (within a powerful family/court life) can limit one in the ways a person thinks about potential for change or how to make it happen, but with a little looking outside oneself, there are many creative and roundabout ways to affect change. As for her role as a mother, it was well-written, but not as much the highlight for me personally. I was much more into the ways she found to influence and act as a diplomat and use her small magic to create connections. And finally, I was so here for the ace spectrum coding on Kaikeyi’s character; it was smooth and natural and just....felt so right.
The writing itself was perfect for the genre, that sort of the folklore-y narrative voice that feels like classic fairy-tale story-telling. It's narrated by Kaikeyi herself, sort of looking back on everything after it all played out, so there is some fairly heavy-handed foreshadowing, with (short) reflections on what decisions could have been different or moments might have been altered to change the way things happened (just as a heads up, in case you, like myself, are not the biggest fan of that stylistic device). There were a couple other common plot devices that were recognizable, but well used, like the dangers of open-ended promises/boons as repayment/gift/in recognition. Also, and you can see it coming from a mile away but can't look away from it, the inevitable finale due to Kaikeyi keeping secrets (because she is a woman and grew up with little power/support/trust) leading to making decisions for the best possible outcome...but the lack of confiding in others about her knowledge plays a major part in her downfall of status/trust with those closest to her (because they didn’t understand her reasoning for having to make the decisions in the first place and felt taken advantage of and strong armed). That was a long description, but I was trying to convey the vibe while staying vague. The point is, it's a pattern I've definitely read before, but the confluence of situations/events built to Kaikeyi's tragedy in a wonderful way. Finally, I want to mention that the magic/gods aspects were in great balance to the rest of the novel (plot and character development - which were well-balanced and paced in their own right - and feminist themes); present, but never overpowering.
This was a cinematic, adventurous and spectacular retelling. The female gaze and centering was spot on and, as it always is, so refreshing. I always go into these retellings hoping for a happier story, even though I know that the women in these classics are tragic characters, the ones that suffered. So though these retellings are their perspectives, they are not happier for it, just given their own voice to tell it. Regardless, the forceful (though subtle within the plot itself, as necessary) feminism of historical, "powerful" women, was reminscient of Signe Pike's Langoureth (The Lost Queen and The Forgotten Kingdom) in all the best ways (I personally love that vibe/style). All in all, I just really enjoyed this reading experience and definitely recommend this book.
“I could not stop thinking about Ahalya, doomed to remain a stone statue in a forest, slowly eroding while her husband continued to wander the world. If a woman crafted by the gods themselves could be consigned to this fate, what hope was there for a woman born of a woman?”
“I had long thought of Ahalya as the foremost example of how a man might devastate a woman, but as I saw more of the world, I was realizing there were many ways to ruin a person's life. Most women were not cursed by their husbands, but they suffered all the same.”
“In helping another woman, I had in fact helped myself.” (love love love)
“I did not wish to bring a daughter into this world of men, into a world that would silence her thoughts before she could even speak them. I wondered how many women had felt this same fear, deep in their bones. [...] I had to build a world where [...] her opinion could be valued…”
“If the gods had already ordained my evil deeds, then I had nothing to lose by defying them now. So, I would defy them.”
“It is not weak to avoid war [...] It is the strongest thing you could do, to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”
“'Then why do I feel wicked?' / 'Because those who are good question themselves. Because those who are good always wonder if there was a better way, a way that could have helped more and hurt less. That feeling is why you are good.'”
“Before this story was Rama’s, it was mine.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Classism, Infertility, Blood, Misogyny, Violence, and War
Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Domestic abuse
regen20's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, War, and Abandonment
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy