Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

111 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Classism

thetearex's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Mental illness, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Infertility, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Violence

melchncookies's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The amount of hell yeah I felt during this book is wild. I didn’t expect to love it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Murder, Rape, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

spookyaz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Alcoholism

hollowhallow13's review against another edition

challenging dark funny fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Murder, Sexual assault, and Racism

Moderate: Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Police brutality

notanniewarren's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

I was wondering what makes a five star read for me. I've read some good books this year but not given our any 5-stars yet, even though I've read some things I can't really fault and massively enjoyed. I was thinking, what really is a 5-star book for me, then? Maybe I'll never rate a book 5/5. I've also been reading a lot of audiobooks and I was wondering if that's having an impact on how much I enjoy books, that maybe I'll never LOVE a fiction audiobook.

THEN THIS BOOK CAME ALONG.

TEN OUT OF TEN FIVE STARS NO NOTES. SOMEONE MAKE THIS GORGEOUS, HILARIOUS, HEARTBREAKING, BEAUTIFUL BOOK INTO A FILM RIGHT NOW!!!!!

This just blew me away. It's GENUINELY funny, not the kind of smile-to-yourself amusing that I usually mean when I call a book funny. It's so warm and tender, especially on female friendship, whilst also touching on some really big, difficult, dark issues like racism, caste, domestic abuse and rape. I felt like I learned a lot about India (or at least, a certain part of India) and had a rollicking good time while I was at it. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Blood, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty

dielizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

I laughed, cried, and screamed, sometimes all at once. Completely amazing. Vivid characters and brilliant representation of flawed and complex friendships. Emphasis on the myriad challenges women face the world over. It also gave me a small, relatable window into a place and a culture completely unfamiliar to me. The best book I've read recently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Infertility and Animal cruelty

While the content includes many difficult topics, the author manages them with grace, empathy, and even wry, dark humor.

laedyred's review against another edition

dark funny inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

Hilarious to the point of it feeling almost like a sitcom in some scenes, completely in a good way. The truly horrible things the men in this book do is hard to read sometimes, but the book does a good job at making the realities known while still being an enjoyable, entertaining read. My criticism is that the messages of feminism, equality, female friendship, etc are most often explicitly stated, and they began to cheapen from the blatant repetition. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault

ginger_snap316's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, and Physical abuse

thismangoreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Sexism, Cursing, and Rape