Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Bandit Queens

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

113 reviews

legs_n_chins's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I fluctuated a lot while reading in the first half, oscillating between deep appreciation for the commentary being made, and exhaustion with what I found to be a bit over the top situations. But I realized at some point that I just wasn’t taking it with the right mindset — having read a thriller most recently and some other more straightforward books before that — and once I let myself just enjoy the sort of soapy nature of the humor it was just a fantastic ride to the end. The author, I think, balanced the humor very well with the heavy subject matter, and it offered the right amount of levity in the right places in my opinion. The tone was consistent throughout and the author even made that seem easy. It dragged a bit in some places for me, taking it down a peg or two, and I know some of the characters were written to be rather dislikable but for me that just made them hard to read sometimes.

I thought the subject matter was handled very well. The author addresses intersectionality, female oppression, rape culture, and domestic violence and its associated trauma with definite care. Over the past several years I’ve grown extremely critical of media that uses the abuse of women as some sort of plot device to push the narrative along, but then just sort of forgotten a little later when it stopped being useful to the plot. I never felt like that was happening in this book. Any instance of abuse that was discussed or depicted did not just get set aside or ignored completely once the next action was set in motion. It lingered and it was present throughout the rest of the story and it mattered to the character development. It lended a lot of the necessary seriousness to these situations despite the humor that the author included throughout the book. And it was difficult to read in some places, yet not exploitative or voyeuristic.

I was very impressed with how the author wrote from the main character’s point of view, too. Geeta wasn’t the most pleasant protagonist, yet I was rooting for her the whole time. Even in moments when she was really unlikable, the sort of exasperation and irritation I felt didn’t last long. She had very obvious flaws, but I liked seeing which ones she worked out and which just sort of were part of her personality that she had to work around rather than just grow past. It was also very cool how Geeta was unreliable in certain aspects concerning her perception of self and her relationships, but the author made it clear she was reliable regarding the actual plot related events occurring throughout the story. It’s just really good characterization in my opinion.

And on a somewhat more background note, I really appreciated learning more about Indian culture through this book. Some of the Hindi beliefs and the depiction of the caste structure and general portrayal of day to day life in a village like this one, it was all woven in organically without feeling like an infodump that took me out of the narrative. I’m not always great with the classroom sort of learning, all strict informational teaching, but this not only educated me in a lot of things I didn’t know, it did it in a way that I’m more likely to actually remember some of it because it’s been presented in a more real world context. I just find that quite cool.

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thetearex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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banana_hutch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was such a thrill-ride. Once the action started, it did NOT stop. At no point was I ready for the thing that happened next. This book does such a wonderful job portraying the lives of these women and the rules they're bound by, mixing humor with devastation and cruelty. I loved this one!

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queerandtalkative's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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nedermg's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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cecilialau_'s review against another edition

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4.75

Okay, wow. I’ve just finished this. Read the last 110-ish pages without much of a break - it was just a propulsive, almost addictive read! Really glad I kept at it as I started off thinking it might have been the “wrong time” for me to read this, but I thankfully kept at it and it really didn’t take long for me to be so engrossed in this.
Amazing and fascinating characters, folklore beautifully interwoven, social commentary through caste and gender and religious discourse. I really enjoyed this.
If you have thought about picking up this book, you will be glad you did.
It is just fab and for many reasons; there is the thriller-y vibes, the dark humour, the dark themes included as well, the friendships, miscommunication, mystery, character development, the spotlight on isolation and loneliness as well. Yeah, so much is included and done very well imo.

I looooved Kareem and his son. And Saloni’s son. And Saloni. The joy they brought to Geeta’s life and this story was the most adorable thing that made this book have a special place in my memory for a very long while, I suspect. I’m so happy that Farah ended up a bonobo, iykyk. And Bandit was the cutest addition ever!! Made such a massive difference.

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