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frankieclc's review
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Dementia
Moderate: Drug use and Sexual content
Minor: Incest
sabotheking's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Incest
aaminak's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Medical content
Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Misogyny, Blood, and Pregnancy
jessbasuthakur's review
- 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
3.0
Despite being quite tough to read, there is a lot that I appreciated about this book. The complicated mother/daughter relationship, mental health issues (depression, PPD vs psychosis, PTSD, physical manifestations of trauma, etc), the depiction of an India that is not seen often in books (through the eyes of the rich) while also keeping depictions through poor and middle class eyes, and the biggest thing to me: the effect trauma has on memories. For being such a short book, I think Doshi addressed all these topics quite well and with very strong language.
Nonetheless, this book just wasn't pleasant. I found the depictions of bodily fluids and excreta to be too numerous and didn't provide much to the plot. I also took away a whole star because of a scene in which Antara speaks on having sex with her dad, which was disgusting and added NOTHING to the plot. I appreciate when authors explore the deep, dark, and vile thoughts of humans, but Doshi had too many and I felt like it diluted the effect. Reza's character is introduced in the second half of the book and because he is a pivotal bridge between Tara and Antara, you would expect his part to be deeply discussed, however it was not, and it felt like a missed opportunity. The scene where Antara confronts Tara about his role in her life was anti-climactic considering his role. This book is also VERY dark with not enough light. I think some lightness is necessary in such dark stories to keep it readable, and this book just didn't have enough, and I was glad it was as short as it was because I would've stopped reading if it was much longer.
I was going to DNF this book about half way through and am glad I didn't, as the second half of the book was strong and provided a lot of explanation into the antics of Antara, but I think there was a lot of unnecessary descriptions and darkness that could have been done away with.
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
book_perk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, and Pregnancy
tieganljohnston's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Colonisation
penelopereads's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The storytelling is good though and you name it - the author went there. The writing also stopped me in my tracks a few times.
Still, I don’t really know what to think. Is it really bad or really good? Someone please tell me where I should land.
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, and Dementia