Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

4 reviews

jordan_noel's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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 was expecting this book to be about three sisters reuniting while grieving over their newly-deceased mother. I was not expecting so many important societal issues to follow.

This book talks about the patriarchy (specifically in India), MeToo and women's rights movements, female feticide, marriage, spirituality, and how to connect and adapt to different situations in order to preserve the most important relationships.

I loved these characters and grew closer to them as they slowly learned to trust one another and deconstruct the difficulties of their childhoods together. The only real flaw to me was that the characters didn't feel entirely real as they began to transition into a better relationship with each other. It was close, but just not quite there I don't think.

Overall, I thought this book was great and necessary for anyone learning to sacrifice a bit of their pride to repair lost connects with people they love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Abortion, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Police brutality, Rape, Alcoholism, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

There is a section of the book (maybe 1 page detailing the event and 10 pages mentioning it) about police brutality. In this same area, a group of girls recite sexual assault statistics and detail a rape that occurred recently in a major city---it's very news-like. One character has an alcohol dependency, but it's only really mentioned in the first third of the book and she's making efforts to escape it from the time we know her. One character is in a toxic relationship and experiences emotional and physical abuse. There are heavy instances of misogyny and sexual harassment for the characters once they're in India.

Additionally, a big theme of the novel is women being forced to abort female fetuses in traditional Indian families.

Several characters get pregnant and one experiences multiple miscarriages. The book starts with the characters losing their mother to cancer. The daughters grieve their mother throughout the story as they fulfill her final wish for them.

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

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