Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

225 reviews

sarahl0726's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Bullying, Murder, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty

runlaurarun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, Islamophobia, Classism, Sexual content, and Alcoholism

volunteerpyromancer's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-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

4.5

A little serious, a little mean girls, a little comedy of errors, a little revenge.

Compelling women and frenemies create an enthralling reading experience.

The only drawback to this book was there were times when it could be heavy handed.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, and Pedophilia

teresalee's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Picked this up on a whim because it was prominently displayed on my library's large-text shelf and I was not familiar with the author.  It turned out to be a dark, comedic look at sexism, misogyny, and caste in India, that I couldn't wait to get back to.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Cursing, and Sexism

jotee76's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful 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

4.25

I liked that issues relating to the caste system were highlighted as well as honour based violence and treatment of women in India.  However,  I get a sense that the author was writing this with view to being made into a film, with elements of the narrative becoming farcical, bordering on slapstick,  which was a bit distracting.  Overall, I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Death, Rape, Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, and Racial slurs

maddelpop's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Violence, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Bullying, and Colonisation

dale_in_va's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative 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? Yes

5.0

Not for the weak minded... this book is disturbing, but in a good way.  A really entertaining book about a really complicated set of issues.   This is a dark comedy is a way to make you smile through "darkness and absurdity of life" (author's quote).  I find the words of the author's note sums it up "“Fiction is when research meets compassion.  I believe that this is why facts don’t change people’s minds, but stories do”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Murder, Violence, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Rape, and Blood

Minor: Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Kidnapping

This book is a "fantasy" about female empowerment in a patriarchal society. Readers need to have the sophistication to understand that the absurdity presented here is a way to grant people agency in a society that doesn't value them. It can leave the reader with an existential discomfort with the issues that it raises.

mrsmeowmix's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The subjects explored in the book were shocking but understandably that is the reality that many women may face in that society.  I felt like it was really thrown in my face gratuitously and wish there was more of a warm up to it. There was one part I truly chuckled at but found the shifts between serious discussions of said topics and the banter between the women jarring. 

At times I found the many of the characters unlikeable and found the events leading up to the ending to be overly theatrical and incredulous. But it did tie up nicely. I wish there were more explanation of Karem and ASP Sinha. I suppose they were my favorite characters as the least manipulative people in the story. 

Overall, it seemed like the author tried to explore a lot of themes and was in a rush to wrap up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, and Sexual assault

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark funny tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Infertility, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Murder, Domestic abuse, Classism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

siria's review against another edition

2.75

Five years ago, Geeta's no-good husband disappeared, and most other people in their rural Indian village think she killed him. She didn't. But her reputation gets around, and some other women with terrible husbands start seeking her help with offing them, and shenanigans ensue.

There are things to like about Parini Shroff's The Bandit Queens—mostly the moments of somewhat dark humour, and the complicated and prickly female friendships—but this was a debut novel that needed not just one but probably at least two more drafts before it was published. The tone is wildly uneven and the dialogue often stilted.

I get there are always compromises to be made when you're writing a book in English but the characters are really "speaking" in another language (in this case, Gujarati). Not every concept will translate, capturing particular cadences might be difficult, and so on. But here Shroff repeatedly indulges in one of my pet hates, where a word that does have an equivalent in English is left in the "original" language for... coyness? Humour? Colour? I don't know. But I do know that every time a character goes to "make su-su" in this book (and it's a lot), I was gritting my teeth and saying "just say 'pee'!" Shroff's linguistic register is also all over the map—characters sprinkle their dialogue with as many "likes" as an American millennial and much of the prose is fairly informal, but occasionally we're told that a character has a "falcate back" or that one of the women has made an "aperçu". At one point, one woman refers to another as "zaftig." Encountering Yiddish slang in a rural west Indian context does break suspension of disbelief a little.

And that ties into the other major issue that I had with The Bandit Queens, which is that there was a lot about the framing and subtlety of approach (or lack thereof) which made it clear that Shroff is an American of Indian heritage rather than being born and raised in India. I had the sense that for an Indian to read this would probably be what it's like for me most of the time when I read a book by an Irish-American set in Ireland. 

I think Shroff has potential as a writer and I wouldn't swear off her future work, but this was a bit of a disappointment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Alcoholism, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, and Misogyny

Moderate: Fatphobia and Islamophobia