Reviews

The Sea Elephants by Shastri Akella

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writenisha's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

vikhughes's review

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emotional hopeful tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

vaniagarwal's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

This is a beautifully written novel. It’s clear that the author loves Hindu mythology, street art, etc and treats the subject matter with the care and respect it deserves. I enjoyed the characterizations of the main couple and parents but I wish they had fleshed out the friends a bit more. While nothing in the story literally repeated, it did at times feel like we were beating a dead horse. I think this was more an issue with pacing. The author spent a lot of time at the boarding school and almost no time on his travels. I also wish there was a point in which the whole sea of elephants legend was written (rather than a section of it) for clarity (or a sort of appendix). Despite some pacing issues, I found the writing and story to be deeply compelling. I am excited to read more by this author and to read more novels centered around Hindu mythology.

divya_s_'s review

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emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

sayyahtobookseh's review against another edition

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Might be better in physical over audio. Could not pay attention

priya_haha's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This just wasn't for me. I found it too unrelenting and miserable for too much of the run time. The ending did a good job of bringing things together.