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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, and War
Minor: Child death and Pregnancy
riverofpages's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.5
The only reason this isn’t a 5 star rating is because there were timed when I felt the plot was slowing. But first her first book, this is excellent
Content Warnings
Minor: War and Violence
agnesg's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and War
queergoth_reads's review
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
5.0
I got this as an eARC from NetGalley but all thoughts are my own.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel is a retelling of the Ramayana focusing on Kaikeyi and her life and actions that lead to her being reviled by her family and country.
I could not put this down. It was absolutely phenomenal. I had it read in two days, only because I needed to sleep at some point. The writing is so compelling, and creates a vivid world I am sad to have left. It is truly a beautiful but heartbreaking retelling and I want everyone to go and read it!
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel is a retelling of the Ramayana focusing on Kaikeyi and her life and actions that lead to her being reviled by her family and country.
I could not put this down. It was absolutely phenomenal. I had it read in two days, only because I needed to sleep at some point. The writing is so compelling, and creates a vivid world I am sad to have left. It is truly a beautiful but heartbreaking retelling and I want everyone to go and read it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: War and Violence
Minor: Abandonment
caitlynt's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Domestic abuse and Violence
emfass's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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 love mythology retellings. This one takes a minor character from the Ramayana and expands upon her story, including one of the coolest forms of magic I've read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Violence, Infertility, Death, and War
onmalsshelf's review against another edition
DNF @ 44%
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for an eGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Note: Prior to reading this, I had close to zero knowledge of the story of Ramayana (also apologies if I did not reference that correctly).
Before finally DNFing this at 44%, I had gone searching in low rating reviews to see if anyone else felt that the writing was both stiff and clunky here. Which I did find several other reviewers agreeing on that. What I also found, was those who are practicing Hindu or Indian bringing detailed issues to light regarding this retelling of the story of Ramayana.
While the writing here is what made me want to put this down, I also could not ignore what own voice readers were bringing up. Please take a look at those reviews.
The writing and tone just did not work for me here as well as the pacing. It moved so slow and somehow moved even slower after Kaikeyi moved to her husband's kingdom. Plus, while I realize that this retelling is from the perspective of Kaikeyi, I would have liked to see development and backstory of the other side characters here for more dimension.
In the end, this felt like a chore to try continue on with, even with the audiobook which I did end up picking up from the library. Glad to mark off a book of the month pick as well.
TL;DR: Don't recommend. This felt like a slog to get through and I'm unsure why it's nominated for Book of the Month's book of the year for 2022. I recommend finding reviews of own voice reviewers.
If anyone could point me towards a better retelling, I would love to take a look at that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for an eGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Note: Prior to reading this, I had close to zero knowledge of the story of Ramayana (also apologies if I did not reference that correctly).
Before finally DNFing this at 44%, I had gone searching in low rating reviews to see if anyone else felt that the writing was both stiff and clunky here. Which I did find several other reviewers agreeing on that. What I also found, was those who are practicing Hindu or Indian bringing detailed issues to light regarding this retelling of the story of Ramayana.
While the writing here is what made me want to put this down, I also could not ignore what own voice readers were bringing up. Please take a look at those reviews.
The writing and tone just did not work for me here as well as the pacing. It moved so slow and somehow moved even slower after Kaikeyi moved to her husband's kingdom. Plus, while I realize that this retelling is from the perspective of Kaikeyi, I would have liked to see development and backstory of the other side characters here for more dimension.
In the end, this felt like a chore to try continue on with, even with the audiobook which I did end up picking up from the library. Glad to mark off a book of the month pick as well.
TL;DR: Don't recommend. This felt like a slog to get through and I'm unsure why it's nominated for Book of the Month's book of the year for 2022. I recommend finding reviews of own voice reviewers.
If anyone could point me towards a better retelling, I would love to take a look at that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, War, Infertility, and Misogyny
litstyleguide's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this mythical retelling. I think there is a lot here that folks would like, but for me (will I ever be able to type or hear “for me” without singing the corn song - probably not) it was the badass FMC, and the focus on equality and improving the lives of others.
Really enjoyed the depiction of relationships in this, the main FMC, and the themes already mentioned. My only complaint about this book was that it just felt unnecessarily long. I really enjoyed it, but was also ready to finish it.
Really enjoyed the depiction of relationships in this, the main FMC, and the themes already mentioned. My only complaint about this book was that it just felt unnecessarily long. I really enjoyed it, but was also ready to finish it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death
Moderate: Gore
kponturo's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: War
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Kaikeyi is a strong-willed protagonist, pushing the boundaries of her life to ease the way for women around her and those she'll never know. In the process of trying to eke out a place for herself as the youngest of three wives to her husband, she changes the way women are seen in her new home. She has access to the binding plane, where she can see and often influence the bonds between people. Through a mix of mundane influence, occasional manipulation, and courage in an early battle, she becomes one of her husband's most trusted advisers. At every turn she's driven to make things better for women, aware of how much their fates depend on the whims of the men in their lives.
She was concerned about getting married and it takes someone pointing out how she's isolated herself before she begins trying to build a life and connections in her new home rather than just mourning the unsupervised freedom she had as a child. Once she gets to know them, Kaikeyi loves her husband and his other two wives. Her identity as a mother is central to the second half of her story, and she loves all her sons (though she only bore one of them). The worldbuilding includes detail about Kaikeyi's clothes and surroundings every so often, such as when she chooses a particular sari for significant moments. I prefer stories which don't rely heavily on detailed descriptions of the characters' surroundings, and this was a good level for me.
Kaikeyi's narration includes periodic comments about how she didn't know certain things would make everything turn out so badly. The turn, when it happens, is so close to the end that I was starting to think her warnings would be for nothing. Most of the story is spent showing how she conducted her life and gained influence with the help of the binding plane, and the way she did her best to recover from some early mistakes when she was first learning how this power worked.
I'm not already familiar with the Indian epic this is reimagining, and I didn't need any familiarity in order for this to be a moving story with memorable characters. I enjoyed reading it, and will probably try to read the Ramayana if I can, since it's piqued my interest.
She was concerned about getting married and it takes someone pointing out how she's isolated herself before she begins trying to build a life and connections in her new home rather than just mourning the unsupervised freedom she had as a child. Once she gets to know them, Kaikeyi loves her husband and his other two wives. Her identity as a mother is central to the second half of her story, and she loves all her sons (though she only bore one of them). The worldbuilding includes detail about Kaikeyi's clothes and surroundings every so often, such as when she chooses a particular sari for significant moments. I prefer stories which don't rely heavily on detailed descriptions of the characters' surroundings, and this was a good level for me.
Kaikeyi's narration includes periodic comments about how she didn't know certain things would make everything turn out so badly. The turn, when it happens, is so close to the end that I was starting to think her warnings would be for nothing. Most of the story is spent showing how she conducted her life and gained influence with the help of the binding plane, and the way she did her best to recover from some early mistakes when she was first learning how this power worked.
I'm not already familiar with the Indian epic this is reimagining, and I didn't need any familiarity in order for this to be a moving story with memorable characters. I enjoyed reading it, and will probably try to read the Ramayana if I can, since it's piqued my interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Death, War, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Physical abuse