Reviews

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

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trishadanforth27's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced

3.5

direton1's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

I initially picked this up because I am also intrigued by a dicy mother-daughter relationship and Antara definitely has a terrible relationship with her mother. However, that is pretty much the extent of what I liked about the novel, and there was just so much that I honestly hated.

First of all, the shifts in timeline were choppy and overall, the writing was boring. I am usually all for dual timelines, but this just fell so short. Similarly, I am a big fan of unreliable or unlikable narrators, but Antara was so wildly boring and I never found myself warming up to her.

Overall, this was a huge let down.

prue15's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

ximeee0207's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

sparklesandcupcakes's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

leeeeeds's review

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1.0

I get it. Antara is the way she is because of the traumas she has collected over the years. I was drawn to pick up this book bc of the complicated relationship between Antara and her mother. It took me two years to finish this book. It just wasn’t captivating enough for me. I typically don’t finish books that don’t draw me in but I wanted so badly to give this book a chance. All these awards and accolades surely meant something? Maybe all the chaos would make sense in the last eight pages? (Like that time I read the metamorphosis and it wasn’t until the end that I realized I actually liked it). Antara as a character isn’t likable but I understood why she was the way she was. Her relationship with her mother was tragic and sad that these types of relationships with narcissists are far too common. But ultimately it was the writing style I disliked. A lot of this book felt disjointed - maybe it was the point? It’s just not my favorite style.

luciiiii's review

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4.0

4.5 honestly this book like a work of art. Avni Doshi paints an incredibly heart wrenching depiction of toxic relationships, dealing with childhood trauma, illness and motherhood. This book is unlike any other book that I have read. It is quite heavy there’s a lot to u pack but incredibly moving!!!!