Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

20 reviews

dominic_t's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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

I loved Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, and I loved this one as well. 

This is a story about a complicated family. It brings to mind the Leo Tolstoy quote from Anna Karenina: "All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The Shergills are a uniquely unhappy family. The three sisters are only left with each other after their mother dies, and their underlying conflicts immediately start bubbling to the surface after they head to India to fulfill their mother's last wish. They are all keeping secrets from each other because they don't trust the others to understand. They have a lot of baggage from a difficult childhood, and they judge each other's adult choices.

The pacing of this was excellent. There are hints about the secrets that the sisters are hiding, and the buildup pays off. The revelations are spaced out well to keep the reader engaged. 

This is a really great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Cancer, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion and Animal cruelty

calireisreading's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion, Sexual harassment, Cancer, and Death of parent

mandkips's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Abortion

Moderate: Grief and Infertility

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Domestic abuse

gheron's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Suicide

Moderate: Abortion, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, and Bullying

Minor: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Grief

katebates_library's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Infertility, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

bibliophilicemily's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cancer

caedy's review

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

apassporttoliterature's review

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

claudia_bow's review

adventurous emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, and Terminal illness

abbie_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

I picked up The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters and was immediately hooked! I devoured 200 pages of it on Sunday and finished it last night, it’s a really addictive read with a good mix of character development and page-turning plot.

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It follows three British-born Punjabi sisters who are undertaking a journey to India at their mother’s last request. Anyone who loves books centred around sibling relationships, especially sisterhood, is bound to enjoy this one! All three sisters are very different and all are burdened with secrets and troubles they’re trying to keep hidden from one another.

.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was how Jaswal explored the disconnect between the sisters’ Punjabi heritage and the country they grew up in. At one point, Rajni, oldest by around a decade, talks about how she spent her teenage years trying to quash her culture and fit in with white western ideals while still being subjected to racist remarks from her peers. But by the time her sisters were that age, on the other hand, being of a different ethnicity was considered ‘trendy’.

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I’m not sure it’s one I’ll remember forever, but it pulled me out of my binge-watch hangover and for that I am grateful!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Terminal illness