Reviews

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

jaylene's review against another edition

5.0

Similar to Madeline Miller's Song of Achillies, you need zero knowledge of Hindu mythology to fall in love with Kaikeyi's story! But I will admit, once the second chapter sucked me in, I looked into Kaikeyi's story and found it fascinating how Vaishnavi Patel twisted a well-known villain into a story of a young woman who is complex, intelligent, and strong - mentally and physically! The boon or "divine blessing" Kaikeyi is granted while attempting to bring her banished mother back to her, is so unique in explaining how strong her bonds are with those around her. This power is written as though the author wanted to introduce a new character and she succeeded! Kaikeyi's journey, growth, personal relationships, and magic system are written so well, it's simply incredible. Even the parallels between her as a pre-teen to her as a wife, ugh *chef's kiss.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook for the arc, I already preordered a physical copy!

bl0ndekitten's review against another edition

inspiring 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

4.0

salema's review against another edition

Beautiful writing. But it was slowly paced and dragged to me. 

inkedmusingshi's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

erinbritt's review against another edition

Dnf at 40%. Just wasn’t into the plot enough to bother to keep reading.

chiquita203's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense 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

capt_torrance7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense 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? No

5.0

Wow!!! A video on TikTok said if you liked Circe, to read this book. 10000 times YES. It’s so good, so satisfying, exciting, amazing to read this book about women. It was so fun. 

The opening pages of the book had a cast of characters, and that made me nervous to read. Don’t let it sway you! It’s worth it. 

sasaleelee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad slow-paced

3.0

frostlywild17'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

4.25

oddact's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.25

I wasn’t familiar with the Ramayana until reading this. Really interesting - flew through it!