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hazeyjane_2's review
reflective
- 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
3.0
I guess I'm just not a short story person. Started off very strong but failed to hold my attention after the first half. Gul, Gandaberunda, and The Rakshasi's Rose Garden were well done; The Girl Who Haunted Death was an interesting enough idea but the characters/the premise of the retelling just didn't feel compelling enough to me.
Rulebook for Creating a Universe was far and away the standout.
Rulebook for Creating a Universe was far and away the standout.
dhee_reads's review
challenging
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
charvi_not_just_fiction's review
4.0
What a beautiful collection of stories!
I absolutely loved the different takes on Hindu mythologies. I think one of my favorites was the retelling of Savitri 's story. I wouldn't mind reading full fledged books on quite a few of them. Many had the theme of humanity gone wrong and us humans turning on each other nad destroying everything and how we had to be stopped along with feminist themes which is what made this whole book unique and truly appreciable.
Loved it ❤️
I absolutely loved the different takes on Hindu mythologies. I think one of my favorites was the retelling of Savitri 's story. I wouldn't mind reading full fledged books on quite a few of them. Many had the theme of humanity gone wrong and us humans turning on each other nad destroying everything and how we had to be stopped along with feminist themes which is what made this whole book unique and truly appreciable.
Loved it ❤️
charlotekerstenauthor's review
Spoilers follow and mentions of sexual violence.
What I Thought (Story By Story)
Gul by Shreya Ila Anasuya - this one tells a beautiful but sorrowful story of enduring love between two courtesans, one of whom is immortal. I especially appreciated the way the history of British colonialism was interwoven into the story, exploring the impact of British occupation and violence on courtesans' experiences.
Gandaberunda by S.V. Sujantha- a girl who ate her twin in the womb commits serial killings of men with the help of the twin. This one was quite creepy, and I think I would have found it more interesting if it had delved into how they selected the men to murder - the one that they killed in the story was a would-be rapist, but I wasn't sure whether the other men they had killed were also selected for similar reasons. In any case the main motive seemed to be plain and simple robbery as opposed to any kind of misandrist vengeance (I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it might have been interesting).
Rulebook for Creating a Universe by Tashan Mehta
- this is a story of the beings responsible for creating universes, and one girl in particular who does not follow the gendered prescriptions of her society. It's a story of women who choose not to follow the rules that are made for them, their punishment for action and resistance and the beauty of what comes from that resistance. This might be my favorite of the collection; it was beautifully written.
The Demon Hunter's Dilemma by Samhita Arni - a demon hunter learns that she has been manipulated by her mentor and that not all demons are monsters. This is a great premise but I think it suffers for being communicated in a short story format - the main character just falls in love so easily and changes her mind about her mentor so quickly. I would have enjoyed this story much more if her internal process of change had been more fleshed out.
Earth and Evolution Walk into a Bar by Sejal Mehta - Mother Earth fights back against human depredations by giving women and children monstrous powers, and when Evolution tries to stop her she decides to end suffering once and for all. The story features an examination of the relationship between humans violating other humans and the ways that humans violate the earth as well as a reflection on the false logic of humans being "more evolved" than other creatures.
Tridevi Turbulence by Trisha Das --the goddesses discuss the current state of the world, and decide to see how humans do when they can no longer take the river Ginga/Ganges for granted any longer. I appreciated the continuation of the theme of nature's exploitation and how it relates to human violence.
Stone Cold by Kiran Manral - a story of lesbian desire in a dystopian future where touch is forbidden. Unfortunately, I felt like most of this story was occupied with info-dump exposition about the dystopian future without much of anything happening plot or character-wise.
The Gatekeeper's Intern by Ruchika Roy - a woman finds meaning in her work in the afterlife. There are some interesting ideas about the balance between chaos and peace/good and bad but, similarly to the previous story, I felt like most of it was just exposition about how Roy's version of the afterlife functioned and it struggled to keep my interest.
Grandma Garam's Kitty Party by Shweta Taneja - a chudail (a backwards-footed demon that preys on men) fights her family's expectations for her by deciding to "go straight" and no longer prey on humans. This one was absolutely hilarious - for instance, I'm in awe of Taneja's decision to have the chudails encounter a foot fetishist, and all of the chudails were delightfully horrible.
The Carnival a the Edge of the Worlds Shveta Thakrar - a retelling of the romance of Nala and Damayanti (told in the Mahabharata) with enchanted puppets and an interdimensional circus. The sheer inventiveness of that premise alone makes this one stand out.
The Rakshasi's Rose Garden by Sukanya Venkatraghavan - listen, I will never get tired of stories of vengeful women punishing predatory men with their transformative magic. It's simply Charlotte catnip. Compared to characters from history and myth that follow this pattern before her, Ari is a beautifully-written character and this one certainly stood out from the pack.
Bahameen by Amsa Kazi - this one is about time hoppers who lose their memories of living on previous worlds? I THINK? I'm not going to lie to you, I had absolutely no idea what was happening the whole time.
The Girl Who Haunted Death by Nikita Deshpande - this is a retelling of Savitri’s story from the Mahabharata, where the journey to bring her husband back to life changes what she wants in the first place after she comes to know Death firsthand. Savitri is known as the epitome of a faithful, dedicated wife and I really appreciated that this story gave her dimmensionality and complex motivations and emotions.
Apocalyptica by Krishna Udayasankar - the goddesses conspire to bring about the apocalypse by awakening Bhumi, Mother Earth. This one also highlights the parallels between human violence and the destruction of the earth - really it's so bizarrely similar to Earth and Evolution Walk into a Bar as they both explore these themes and feature deities bringing about the apocalypse.
What I Thought (Story By Story)
Gul by Shreya Ila Anasuya - this one tells a beautiful but sorrowful story of enduring love between two courtesans, one of whom is immortal. I especially appreciated the way the history of British colonialism was interwoven into the story, exploring the impact of British occupation and violence on courtesans' experiences.
Gandaberunda by S.V. Sujantha- a girl who ate her twin in the womb commits serial killings of men with the help of the twin. This one was quite creepy, and I think I would have found it more interesting if it had delved into how they selected the men to murder - the one that they killed in the story was a would-be rapist, but I wasn't sure whether the other men they had killed were also selected for similar reasons. In any case the main motive seemed to be plain and simple robbery as opposed to any kind of misandrist vengeance (I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it might have been interesting).
Rulebook for Creating a Universe by Tashan Mehta
- this is a story of the beings responsible for creating universes, and one girl in particular who does not follow the gendered prescriptions of her society. It's a story of women who choose not to follow the rules that are made for them, their punishment for action and resistance and the beauty of what comes from that resistance. This might be my favorite of the collection; it was beautifully written.
The Demon Hunter's Dilemma by Samhita Arni - a demon hunter learns that she has been manipulated by her mentor and that not all demons are monsters. This is a great premise but I think it suffers for being communicated in a short story format - the main character just falls in love so easily and changes her mind about her mentor so quickly. I would have enjoyed this story much more if her internal process of change had been more fleshed out.
Earth and Evolution Walk into a Bar by Sejal Mehta - Mother Earth fights back against human depredations by giving women and children monstrous powers, and when Evolution tries to stop her she decides to end suffering once and for all. The story features an examination of the relationship between humans violating other humans and the ways that humans violate the earth as well as a reflection on the false logic of humans being "more evolved" than other creatures.
Tridevi Turbulence by Trisha Das --the goddesses discuss the current state of the world, and decide to see how humans do when they can no longer take the river Ginga/Ganges for granted any longer. I appreciated the continuation of the theme of nature's exploitation and how it relates to human violence.
Stone Cold by Kiran Manral - a story of lesbian desire in a dystopian future where touch is forbidden. Unfortunately, I felt like most of this story was occupied with info-dump exposition about the dystopian future without much of anything happening plot or character-wise.
The Gatekeeper's Intern by Ruchika Roy - a woman finds meaning in her work in the afterlife. There are some interesting ideas about the balance between chaos and peace/good and bad but, similarly to the previous story, I felt like most of it was just exposition about how Roy's version of the afterlife functioned and it struggled to keep my interest.
Grandma Garam's Kitty Party by Shweta Taneja - a chudail (a backwards-footed demon that preys on men) fights her family's expectations for her by deciding to "go straight" and no longer prey on humans. This one was absolutely hilarious - for instance, I'm in awe of Taneja's decision to have the chudails encounter a foot fetishist, and all of the chudails were delightfully horrible.
The Carnival a the Edge of the Worlds Shveta Thakrar - a retelling of the romance of Nala and Damayanti (told in the Mahabharata) with enchanted puppets and an interdimensional circus. The sheer inventiveness of that premise alone makes this one stand out.
The Rakshasi's Rose Garden by Sukanya Venkatraghavan - listen, I will never get tired of stories of vengeful women punishing predatory men with their transformative magic. It's simply Charlotte catnip. Compared to characters from history and myth that follow this pattern before her, Ari is a beautifully-written character and this one certainly stood out from the pack.
Bahameen by Amsa Kazi - this one is about time hoppers who lose their memories of living on previous worlds? I THINK? I'm not going to lie to you, I had absolutely no idea what was happening the whole time.
The Girl Who Haunted Death by Nikita Deshpande - this is a retelling of Savitri’s story from the Mahabharata, where the journey to bring her husband back to life changes what she wants in the first place after she comes to know Death firsthand. Savitri is known as the epitome of a faithful, dedicated wife and I really appreciated that this story gave her dimmensionality and complex motivations and emotions.
Apocalyptica by Krishna Udayasankar - the goddesses conspire to bring about the apocalypse by awakening Bhumi, Mother Earth. This one also highlights the parallels between human violence and the destruction of the earth - really it's so bizarrely similar to Earth and Evolution Walk into a Bar as they both explore these themes and feature deities bringing about the apocalypse.
misssusan's review
4.0
i don't recall what prompted me to pick up this book but i'm glad i did! this collection of fantastical stories by indian women authors introduced me to a wide range of authors i'd never heard of before -- of the set i've read shveta thakrar's ya debut and that's it. while there were a few stories i was meh on for the most part this is a very strong (and angry!) collection. i'll definitely be looking for more work from some of the authors
4 stars
4 stars
lilopalu's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
4.5
This is a beautiful collection of short stories about (mythical) Indian women. I enjoyed all the stories very much and was astonished how consistent the quality and the tone of the stories was. I really savoured these stories and will probably come back to them. I highly recommend this anthology.
moonchildjuli's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Grief, and Sexual violence
laxmip's review
2.0
What a wonderful first step. And I thorougjly enjoyed the lotus weaving teenage girl's tale.
storiestolivein's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5