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imoran's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Toxic friendship, and Murder
Minor: Suicide and Panic attacks/disorders
lolajh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
A BEAUTIFUL lesbian slow burn romance (first kiss isn’t until after page 400) between a princess and her maidservant, set in India and depicting the varieties of Indian cultures, histories, stories, and morals from different regions. And plant magic! The main characters’ corruption into morally grey characters was perfectly illustrated, creating a lot of tension and pining and unsaid thoughts between them that gave me butterflies a couple times. Their chemistry and love and developing trust for each other leads to the pair discovering and learning to love all parts of each other. They are perfect. Loved seeing some women experiencing rage and revenge and strength, especially Malini, the princess, who proved to not be the “pathetic” person women in royalty is often portrayed to be like and rather someone wanting to overthrow her brother, the emperor, for the good of her empire and people. Both Priya and Malini are such unique and independent people on their own outside of their relationship, which makes their story so special and enjoyable to read. Priya has to learn to control and manipulate her powers well enough in order to fight, (would love to see some training scenes with her and Bhumika in the next book to see her develop her fighting style) and Malini has to stand up for herself after being a doormat walked on for a lot of her life. That forest scene where they’re surrounded and Priya circles Malini trying to protect her? SO GOOD. And then Malini proving her own power by manipulating the attackers, overcome by rage and wanting to avenge her empire from the rebels so much that she puts both of them in danger and no longer being under Priya’s protection really showed her character that I ended up truly loving. And then every single kiss scene between them is perfect - the imagery and descriptions of what each of them are thinking and doing gave me butterflies! Like the waterfall scene was perfect, as well as the scene in the tent at the end, and when they’re in the woods kissing in front of everyone and not caring about who sees. Even before they confess their feelings when Priya is still her maidservant, her being company to Malini as she gets sicker and holds her hand and washes her and tells her stories FUCK. And when they are together, boy are they just perfect: the face touches, breathing each other’s name, forehead touches, just everything is so pure and wonderful. And despite Priya’s overwhelming strength that could overpower Malini easily, she NEVER hurts her, even when Malini is hurting Priya. She cannot bring herself to ever harm her. This book BREAKS ME. And that ending????? Priya becoming a thrice-born elder of Ahiranya and Malini the Prijat empress? These women are powerful as FUCK. Especially Malini just becoming empress when her brother refuses, god I love her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Body horror, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Blood, Gore, and Torture
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Classism, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Sexual content, Homophobia, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts
unwise_samwise's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
It was hard for me to read as I am afraid of fire but it was definitely a great book and I'm glad I read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Death
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Pregnancy, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny
Minor: War, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Murder
starccato's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Torture, Child abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, War, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
kkulhannie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, Colonisation, and Blood
Moderate: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Addiction, and Vomit
qtdinh's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book really hits every single sweet spot for me when it comes to fantasy (especially as a character driven reader who loves complicated, morally grey, angry women) except for the worldbuilding.
The only reason why I could not give it the full 5 stars is because I cannot ignore the way the author used Indian culture (one that has been specifically filtered through a Brahmin lense) as a crutch when it comes to building the world for the book, borrowing from Hindu texts when it conveniently adds dimensions and layers of meaning to certain thematic threads that the story is shading to pad out the world but without doing legwork of adding the complicated cultural context that underpins those concepts in Indian society. While I myself am not an own voice reviewer, the issue was pointed out to me in a dialogue I had with friend of mine who is (and with whom I was buddy-reading the book), and once I noticed it, I can no longer ignore it.
My main issue with the worldbuilding boils down to this: the concept of virtue, purity and pollution is one that is inherently tied to and shaped by caste hierarchy (https://www.sociologyguide.com/social-stratification/Purity-and-Pollution.php). One cannot touch upon these concepts in and Indian setting without ignoring the caste implications, and it’s woven into the very fabric of Indian culture and society — including how literature (especially Hindu symbology) are weaponized by Brahmins to maintain this caste hierarchy. Caste is all encompassing: “a very deeply rooted generational like accumulation of culture and capital, in terms of what u eat, where u live, what job u work on (it's like the same job for a caste), how much money u have, people being trapped in bonded labour generationally, etc. the closest comparison to it is that it's like... apartheid?“, to quote my friend, and every cultural values in India is refracted through and unquestionably charged by this context.
Yet the book transplants this culturally loaded concept of purity and pollution onto the gender & sexuality as well as geographic (as in city-state) axes without engaging much if at all with the in-world stand-in for caste hierarchy (“high-born, low-born”). This is most evidenced in the way the book explores this idea of purity & pollution through the treatment of Mallani and other royal/highborn women, and it is not just exclusive to Parijati either, as we see similar constraints being placed on Bhumika and her weaponization of innocence, yet the same constraints are not placed on Priya and those assumed to be low-born. Here the book basically incorporates one of the primary cultural narratives derived through caste hierarchy and the complex ways it intersects with “the policing of sexuality women of upper caste” (https://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9187:why-are-the-debates-on-menstrual-taboo-one-sided&catid=119:feature&Itemid=132), yet no move was made in the world of the book to extend its thematic critique one step further and actually examines with a critical eye the caste hierarchy that imbued the book’s notions of purity and pollution with its cultural meaning. It also ignores the way upper caste women also discriminate against marginalized lower caste women. You cannot talk about feminism, the marginalization of women, and homophobia in an Indian cultural setting without touching on the way the caste system has shaped all these issues.
In sum, the word of the book presents a view of India (or at least Indian cultural and societal fabric through a fantastical lense) wherein one of the most all encompassing power-structure goes completely unchallenged and questioned. It reads (in my friend’s words, not mine) “like a diaspora author’s romanticization of the homeland and cherry picking of cultural aspects they can dress up and aestheticize as fantasy for the consumption of western eyes, but one that turns a blind eyes the ugly, complex reality of what life in India means when you are not Brahmin and Northern”. Especially when you use the Mahabharata (which is a dominant religious text for the upper caste) as inspiration for your worldbuilding, it is also therefore your responsibility to be keenly aware of the way you might be perpetuating a version of Indian culture that erases the sheer breadth of diversity in the subcontinent. In particular, it erases marginalized women whose identity and politics intersects in complex ways with the Brahmin vision of the world that laid the foundation for the cultural and societal fabric of the book.
While incorporating elements of your own culture into your writing is the right of the own voice author, fully-developed world building aren’t uncritical transplantation of a culture just with a different hat on; in borrowing the societal structure and putting it into a fantasy world to make something new of it, you would HAVE to by nature of the exercise of developing worldbuilding to re-examine who have power and how that power dynamic wormed its way into the cultural fabric that held your fantasy society together. Anything else is an erasure. It’s making the minority culture palatable to a western audience, at the expense of the in-groups who live this reality in the homeland
The only reason why I could not give it the full 5 stars is because I cannot ignore the way the author used Indian culture (one that has been specifically filtered through a Brahmin lense) as a crutch when it comes to building the world for the book, borrowing from Hindu texts when it conveniently adds dimensions and layers of meaning to certain thematic threads that the story is shading to pad out the world but without doing legwork of adding the complicated cultural context that underpins those concepts in Indian society. While I myself am not an own voice reviewer, the issue was pointed out to me in a dialogue I had with friend of mine who is (and with whom I was buddy-reading the book), and once I noticed it, I can no longer ignore it.
My main issue with the worldbuilding boils down to this: the concept of virtue, purity and pollution is one that is inherently tied to and shaped by caste hierarchy (https://www.sociologyguide.com/social-stratification/Purity-and-Pollution.php). One cannot touch upon these concepts in and Indian setting without ignoring the caste implications, and it’s woven into the very fabric of Indian culture and society — including how literature (especially Hindu symbology) are weaponized by Brahmins to maintain this caste hierarchy. Caste is all encompassing: “a very deeply rooted generational like accumulation of culture and capital, in terms of what u eat, where u live, what job u work on (it's like the same job for a caste), how much money u have, people being trapped in bonded labour generationally, etc. the closest comparison to it is that it's like... apartheid?“, to quote my friend, and every cultural values in India is refracted through and unquestionably charged by this context.
Yet the book transplants this culturally loaded concept of purity and pollution onto the gender & sexuality as well as geographic (as in city-state) axes without engaging much if at all with the in-world stand-in for caste hierarchy (“high-born, low-born”). This is most evidenced in the way the book explores this idea of purity & pollution through the treatment of Mallani and other royal/highborn women, and it is not just exclusive to Parijati either, as we see similar constraints being placed on Bhumika and her weaponization of innocence, yet the same constraints are not placed on Priya and those assumed to be low-born. Here the book basically incorporates one of the primary cultural narratives derived through caste hierarchy and the complex ways it intersects with “the policing of sexuality women of upper caste” (https://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9187:why-are-the-debates-on-menstrual-taboo-one-sided&catid=119:feature&Itemid=132), yet no move was made in the world of the book to extend its thematic critique one step further and actually examines with a critical eye the caste hierarchy that imbued the book’s notions of purity and pollution with its cultural meaning. It also ignores the way upper caste women also discriminate against marginalized lower caste women. You cannot talk about feminism, the marginalization of women, and homophobia in an Indian cultural setting without touching on the way the caste system has shaped all these issues.
In sum, the word of the book presents a view of India (or at least Indian cultural and societal fabric through a fantastical lense) wherein one of the most all encompassing power-structure goes completely unchallenged and questioned. It reads (in my friend’s words, not mine) “like a diaspora author’s romanticization of the homeland and cherry picking of cultural aspects they can dress up and aestheticize as fantasy for the consumption of western eyes, but one that turns a blind eyes the ugly, complex reality of what life in India means when you are not Brahmin and Northern”. Especially when you use the Mahabharata (which is a dominant religious text for the upper caste) as inspiration for your worldbuilding, it is also therefore your responsibility to be keenly aware of the way you might be perpetuating a version of Indian culture that erases the sheer breadth of diversity in the subcontinent. In particular, it erases marginalized women whose identity and politics intersects in complex ways with the Brahmin vision of the world that laid the foundation for the cultural and societal fabric of the book.
While incorporating elements of your own culture into your writing is the right of the own voice author, fully-developed world building aren’t uncritical transplantation of a culture just with a different hat on; in borrowing the societal structure and putting it into a fantasy world to make something new of it, you would HAVE to by nature of the exercise of developing worldbuilding to re-examine who have power and how that power dynamic wormed its way into the cultural fabric that held your fantasy society together. Anything else is an erasure. It’s making the minority culture palatable to a western audience, at the expense of the in-groups who live this reality in the homeland
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
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