Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

4 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

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

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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

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

bookmaddie's review

challenging dark emotional 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

2.5

I must admit that I finished this book primarily because it was short. While the writing style and premise intrigued me at the beginning, as the story wound on the main character just got more and more annoying to me. I feel like the author was trying to embody the ~distant artist~ vibe, which can work in some iterations, but here I found it so odd. She is an artist and clearly thinks abt her practice and emotions in some sense, yet the narrative was so flat—there is no emotional depth here. The main character refuses to address any trauma that she has faced, and while that kind of leads into the bizarre ending, I don't think it was worthwhile. It just made the story feel very shallow.

Besides that, I found the narrative structure to just be a bit lacking and jumpy—quickly going from flashback to present and back again. It was hard for me to form a coherent picture of her present day. I also thought this would be more about her mother's memory loss but instead it devolves into a picture of the main character's trauma—yet doesn't bother to really examine that much in context with her mother's memory loss.

The ending really turned the book on its head, though. I think on one hand, it added a real level of interest when contemplating the story as a whole. But even so, I still feel like it didn't add much to the story to make me like it more. While I understand what Doshi was trying to do with this book, I just feel like it fell flat for me. There was something missing—I think I just wanted more depth and acknowledgement of trauma and memory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abortion