Reviews with content warning for War - Kaikeyi

Life truly did not want me to finish this book, and I finally did! This book is honestly what I expected Circe to be. We are introduced to Kaikeyi and have time to get to know her, but unlike with Circe she truly is an advocate for women. She may have stumbled at some parts but she was very much human and even worked to look for solutions to those problems. As usual, characters made me laugh, smile, and even made me angry. I look for that in books and it was just as prominent here. Vaishnavi Patel did a great job at not only explaining and showing who Kaikeyi was but at giving her justice as well. Her story truly is heard in this novel and it is one that I will keep with me.

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snohwhyman's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

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kefeshe's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

This was a very lovely retelling of a story of Indian mythology from a woman's perspective. It may benefit to know the story before, but the foreword by the author is quite useful. It's a touching story of decisions and consequences and the impact women can and have had on the world

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fallandfox's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Quando o Livro começa acompanhamos Kaikeya, a única filha do reino de Kaikeya e uma jovem que cresceu escutando historias sobre os deuses e seus poderes. Ela observa o tratamento frio de seu pai contra ela e um dia ele expulsa sua mãe deixando as responsabilidades além do vazio de não poder nem se despedir ou saber a razão de tal ato. Em meio ao vazio ela descobre um poder por meio de suas leituras que a permite manipular sua ligação emocional com os outros. Com a sua busca por independência e deixar de ser somente uma moeda de troca de casamento entre nações Kaikeyi se torna uma guerreira, diplomata e a rainha mais favorecida.
Decidi pegar esse livro quando vi ele na lista de nominação do ano de 2022 fiquei muito curiosa sobre ele e consegui finalmente alugar o audiobook para a leitura dele.
Quando eu terminei ele eu só consegui para e pesar que leitura maravilhosa eu tinha feito e como eu daria de tudo para poder ler mais um pouco sobre ela e as outra esposas.

A escrita da autora é muito boa e a forma como ela descreveu o mundo e magia foi incrível, com uma escrita fácil de ler tornou tudo melhor.
A comida na historia me deixou com água na boca e eu me senti parte da mesa provando das delicias nesses momentos.

Eu quero que quando alguém ler essa resenha e se perguntar porque eu não descrevi mais sobre os personagens é porque eu quero entrem nessa historia como eu sabendo bem pouco pois fica mais magico assim. As descobertas que você faz junto com ela e as pessoas que ela vai conhecer e fazerem parte da vida dela e do reino.
Eu quero muito que ele venha para o Brasil pois ia ser uma leitura que muita gente ia amar e eu tenho certeza.

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dannilmp's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A mythology re-telling that will inspire people to want to read more about the Ramayana while also offering a different perspective on why Kaikeyi took the actions she did rather than her just being labelled the evil-stepmother. Despite not knowing much about the Ramayana before reading Kaikeyi, there is now an inspiration for me to go and learn more and then most certainly come back here for a re-read (hopefully in audiobook form next time) to see how I feel about the novel then.

One thing I thought was done really well in this novel was the use of the time skips throughout. None of them felt especially forced, or jarring and I was never confused as to whether there had been a time skip or the length as it was clearly stated in the novel. To see what Kaikeyi achieves, especially as a woman in her time was inspiring and motivating. While I never realised that asexuality featured in this story

(I just believe that due to it being an arranged marriage, Kaikeyi never developed true romantic feelings)

looking back it is a little more obvious, I really enjoyed rethinking about this aspect of Kaikeyi and found it is good and really well written into her character.

On the other hand, it is some of the men that I couldn't stand and am ashamed to say this is why the book won't be a five star for me (at least on first reading) and while I understand that culturally and historically the actions and beliefs of these men would have been written accurately, I still couldn't get over how annoyed and angry it made me feel. But credit given for such writing being able to cause me to emote like it did

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