Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

26 reviews

ellemwan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

savvylit's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Burnt Sugar's opening sentence sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the novel: "I would be lying if I said my mother's misery has never given me pleasure." What follows that powerful confession is a brutal, raw take on a deeply toxic mother-daughter relationship. From that first sentence until the last, I found myself repeatedly cringing over Antara's seemingly endless suffering and alienation.

The character-driven nature of this story brings the ramifications of intergenerational trauma and neglect into stark relief. Tara is an irredeemably awful mother. Her intense narcissism rears its ugly head over and over again, forcing Antara to always feel as though she is an extension of her mother instead of her own autonomous person. Thus, when her mother loses her memory Antara loses not only her mother but herself. Doshi beautifully describes their intertwined lives in this book, keeping a very dark story continuously compelling.

If you are a fan of dark character-driven novels and poetic writing, add Burnt Sugar to your list!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Child abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming and War

Minor: Incest

cthornhill's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

There’s some gorgeous writing in this book and a really interesting story. It just fell a little flat for me. I think for people with an echo of the relationship that is described throughout the book - the story would be very powerful. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

eepemma's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Emotional abuse

jessbasuthakur's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.0

This book broke my brain. 
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.   

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

creepypiespice's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Racism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abortion, Child death, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts

kelreadsbooks's review against another edition

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault and Adult/minor relationship

book_perk's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• 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

 What did I just read? I am confused, and disgusted with the inter-familial relationships and longing. There were a few interesting lines and I did enjoy aspects of how the narrator's mental health and mother's disease played off each other. Overall though, the book just fell really flat for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

indigojump's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Dementia, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

itsamemarion's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

Avni Doshi did a brilliant job at writing this book and detailing the difficult and exhausting relationships between a family, with a strong focus on toxic relationships between a mother and a daughter. The main character walks the reader through her lifetime, from when she was little to present day, detailing her experiences with her loved ones and those surrounding her. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, War, and Dementia

Moderate: Pregnancy and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Child abuse