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cc_shelflove's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Oh, Ajay. Sweet, complacent Ajay. What have you done?
Can we just talk about the fact that I finished this beast in 36 hours? Who am I? Kapoor’s writing makes it so easy for the reader to picture everything in his or her head so vividly. I was flying through pages because I felt like I was literally watching everything unfold before my eyes. You can imagine my excitement, then, when I heard this was already selected by FX to be a television series. There will also be two more books in the saga… sign me up! In short, Age of Vice is like Sons of Anarchy without the motorcycles (but maybe there are just a few motorcycles sprinkled in…).
I started getting serious Anakin vibes about a quarter of the way through the novel. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you know what I mean. The reader faces a man who will go to any means to get his revenge. Actually, several of these men. These people are pretty fucked up.
If I had to pick one thing that made this book stand out to me, it would be the multiple points of view. Instead of alternating chapters between characters as is typical of this writing style, Kapoor writes the same events through different eyes. Very interesting!
Another book I likely never would have read if not for Book of the Month. A juicy delight.
Can we just talk about the fact that I finished this beast in 36 hours? Who am I? Kapoor’s writing makes it so easy for the reader to picture everything in his or her head so vividly. I was flying through pages because I felt like I was literally watching everything unfold before my eyes. You can imagine my excitement, then, when I heard this was already selected by FX to be a television series. There will also be two more books in the saga… sign me up! In short, Age of Vice is like Sons of Anarchy without the motorcycles (but maybe there are just a few motorcycles sprinkled in…).
I started getting serious Anakin vibes about a quarter of the way through the novel. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you know what I mean. The reader faces a man who will go to any means to get his revenge. Actually, several of these men. These people are pretty fucked up.
If I had to pick one thing that made this book stand out to me, it would be the multiple points of view. Instead of alternating chapters between characters as is typical of this writing style, Kapoor writes the same events through different eyes. Very interesting!
Another book I likely never would have read if not for Book of the Month. A juicy delight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Abortion
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicide
annreadsabook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Money, corruption, deceit, intrigue, family drama—Deepti Kapoor’s upcoming novel set in contemporary India has it all. AGE OF VICE is a real page turner, and don’t be fooled by its length (almost 600 pages)!
We’re introduced to Ajay, a young man uprooted from his rural childhood village to serve in the homes of the wealthy; Sunny, a young heir in a constant struggle with his powerful father; and Neda, a journalist attempting to break into the story of an infamous and violent family. Leading up to and after a deadly accident, these three characters’ lives are entangled across time, socioeconomic status, and space. This novel is a riveting drama that I think literary fiction and crime thriller fans alike can enjoy.
This book is not a light read by any means, and it is full of antiheroes and villains, but there’s something to be said about the deep complexity with which Kapoor crafts each of the main characters. There is evil, there is corruption, but there is also pain and longing.
Anyway, I think this is one book you’ll absolutely want to have on your radar when it comes out January 2023, especially if you’re looking for a The Godfather-esque read.
Thanks so much to Riverhead Books for the gifted copy!
We’re introduced to Ajay, a young man uprooted from his rural childhood village to serve in the homes of the wealthy; Sunny, a young heir in a constant struggle with his powerful father; and Neda, a journalist attempting to break into the story of an infamous and violent family. Leading up to and after a deadly accident, these three characters’ lives are entangled across time, socioeconomic status, and space. This novel is a riveting drama that I think literary fiction and crime thriller fans alike can enjoy.
This book is not a light read by any means, and it is full of antiheroes and villains, but there’s something to be said about the deep complexity with which Kapoor crafts each of the main characters. There is evil, there is corruption, but there is also pain and longing.
Anyway, I think this is one book you’ll absolutely want to have on your radar when it comes out January 2023, especially if you’re looking for a The Godfather-esque read.
Thanks so much to Riverhead Books for the gifted copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Abortion
deedireads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Age of Vice is a super-readable literary crime novel set in India. While I didn’t love it as much as some others (crime isn’t my genre), I definitely read it quickly and enjoyed it.
For you if: You like gangster movies like The Sopranos or The Godfather (but this time, make the story written by a woman!).
FULL REVIEW:
First, big thanks to Riverhead for sending me an advanced copy of this book — it comes out in January, and the amount of early hype that’s being built around it tells you just how successful they think it’s going to be. I’m inclined to agree with them — Age of Vice is a super-bingeable, decadent, brutal read.
This book is set mostly in Delhi, India in the early 2000s. The story revolves around the Wadias, a powerful gangster family who run pretty much everything. We have three main characters: Ajay, who ends up working for them; Sunny, son of the patriarch; and Neda, a journalist who gets herself very personally involved. There’s a deadly car crash at the beginning, and we flash back and forth to not only learn what happened but also see how it shaped what will come next for these characters.
A couple things to know about this book: First, it’s book one of a planned trilogy, which I didn't know until later, but was very glad to hear after I finished it. Second, this kind of crime novel set in India and written a woman is a rare thing, and the kind of attention this book is getting is an excellent, boundary-pushing thing. We love to see it, and it’s well-deserved.
While I don’t think I fell quite as head over heels for this one as much as some other early reviewers — simply because this kind of antihero crime fiction is not my genre; I don’t really like things like The Sopranos or The Godfather — I did really like it, and I did read it very quickly. To me, the three main characters make the book especially notable; they are beautifully, exceptionally morally gray. Some of them are better people than others, and their degree of goodness changes wonderfully over the course of the novel, but Kapoor has made sure that we always at least nugget of sympathy for all three of them.
I’m eager for more readers to get their hands on this book and to see what they think, and I’m definitely looking forward to book two!
TL;DR REVIEW:
Age of Vice is a super-readable literary crime novel set in India. While I didn’t love it as much as some others (crime isn’t my genre), I definitely read it quickly and enjoyed it.
For you if: You like gangster movies like The Sopranos or The Godfather (but this time, make the story written by a woman!).
FULL REVIEW:
First, big thanks to Riverhead for sending me an advanced copy of this book — it comes out in January, and the amount of early hype that’s being built around it tells you just how successful they think it’s going to be. I’m inclined to agree with them — Age of Vice is a super-bingeable, decadent, brutal read.
This book is set mostly in Delhi, India in the early 2000s. The story revolves around the Wadias, a powerful gangster family who run pretty much everything. We have three main characters: Ajay, who ends up working for them; Sunny, son of the patriarch; and Neda, a journalist who gets herself very personally involved. There’s a deadly car crash at the beginning, and we flash back and forth to not only learn what happened but also see how it shaped what will come next for these characters.
A couple things to know about this book: First, it’s book one of a planned trilogy, which I didn't know until later, but was very glad to hear after I finished it. Second, this kind of crime novel set in India and written a woman is a rare thing, and the kind of attention this book is getting is an excellent, boundary-pushing thing. We love to see it, and it’s well-deserved.
While I don’t think I fell quite as head over heels for this one as much as some other early reviewers — simply because this kind of antihero crime fiction is not my genre; I don’t really like things like The Sopranos or The Godfather — I did really like it, and I did read it very quickly. To me, the three main characters make the book especially notable; they are beautifully, exceptionally morally gray. Some of them are better people than others, and their degree of goodness changes wonderfully over the course of the novel, but Kapoor has made sure that we always at least nugget of sympathy for all three of them.
I’m eager for more readers to get their hands on this book and to see what they think, and I’m definitely looking forward to book two!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion
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