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jesshindes's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-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
3.5
I was bought this last year (by my mum, obv) and it turned out to be a good companion piece to Nightbitch. It's another book about motherhood, this time from the perspective of a child whose mother hasn't given her the kind of care or security she needed. Now that mother is old and needs care herself, and the narrator is forced to reckon with the fact that a lot of her feelings are never going to be resolved. It's quite an unhappy little book but I liked it for its complicated picture of motherhood and womanhood (it might sit well against The Lost Daughter, too) and for its detailed depiction of its world and characters. It's one of those books that are saturated in sensory detail, which can be beautiful but is often flat out gross (reminding me of an article that I saw circulating on twitter recently about Disgusting Women in recent novels). Idk if Antara is a disgusting woman but Doshi definitely isn't afraid to be pretty blunt when describing, for example, her narrator's teenage self. That stylistic choice makes sense with the content: it's a novel that doesn't pretty things up. Burnt Sugar: not so sweet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Dementia
Moderate: Self harm and Pregnancy
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