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sabotheking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Torture, Abandonment, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Infidelity, and Medical content
Minor: Incest
ellemwan's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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!
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Child abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming and War
Minor: Incest
____emily____'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Moderate: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Bullying
Minor: Body horror
cthornhill's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
eepemma's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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.
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
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
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
tieganljohnston's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Dementia, Eating disorder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
ntvenessa's review against another edition
- 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
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