Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

10 reviews

sunnymushroom's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Classism, and Abortion

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Slavery

annagerman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

It took me a while to get into it, but I ended up loving this book. The toxic relationship of the main character with her mother, and as a result with herself and everyone else around her, is tragic yet somehow relatable. The writing feels labored at times (the references to science and medicine felt mostly unnecessary and out of place), but there are moments of stark and brutal honesty, particularly in the last third of the book.

The last chapter was rattling, and I absolutely loved it, though I'm sorry the book ended where it did - I would have loved to see more of the MC as a mother. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Dementia

Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide, Rape, Vomit, Excrement, Sexual violence, and Child death

nouanni's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Rape

helaynal's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Dementia

ntvenessa's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

3.25

A caustic and provocative telling of a toxic mother-daughter relationship and how they navigate an Alzheimer's diagnosis. Set in Pune.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Rape

carlybellesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Pedophilia

deedireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Burnt Sugar is not going to be for everyone, but I found it to be a beautifully, carefully written novel about memory and childhood trauma with an A+ ending.

For you if: You like books about complex mother-daughter relationships, and/or want to add more South Asian authors to your list.

FULL REVIEW:

“I suffered at her hands as a child, and any pain she subsequently endured appeared to me to be a kind of redemption — a rebalancing of the universe, where the rational order of cause and effect aligned. But now, I can't even the tally between us. The reason is simple — my mother is forgetting and there is nothing I can do about it. There is no way to make her remember the things she has done in the past, no way to baste her in guilt.”

Burnt Sugar, originally published under the title Girl in White Cotton and now listed for both the Booker and Women’s Prize, is one of those novels that will leave you thinking about it for a long time, whether you loved it or not. It took me a little bit to fall into its rhythm, but once I did, I was very much drawn in — and the ending really brought everything together in an impressive, explosive way.

The book is about a woman named Antara, whose mother, Tara, is currently experiencing early signs of memory loss, possibly dementia or Alzheimer’s. Tara was (to put it lightly) not a great mother to Antara growing up, and today Antara must pick apart that trauma as her mother seems to forget it. But memory is personal to each of us, and Antara is not the most reliable of narrators. We flash back between past and present, and by the time we get to the end, who are we to say what is real?

From a craft perspective, this novel is exquisite. Avni Doshi’s sentences are *chefs kiss* and the way she builds and weaves themes and character — the way they crash into each other at the end — is incredibly impressive. It feels quite literary. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who’ve said, like me, it took them some time to fall into the story’s groove. (This is definitely not one to be forced if you aren’t feeling in the mood.) Some ultimately enjoyed it more than others. But everyone agreed that the ending was excellent, and all said that they’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Child abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Dementia

heini's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

I listened to this as an audiobook during my walks and probably had too much distractions going on to fully appreciate this book.

It was hard to get through as it deals with heavy topics, such as dementia and mother-daughter relationship, and it's also very gritty-realistic. 
A lot of talk of bladders and pissing and perspiration and odor and plucking hairs. 
It could've worked better a tad shorter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual content

A rape scene with adult male and small child.

musewithxara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

empresstree's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse