Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu

3 reviews

sknappy1's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Transphobia, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

Thanks to Libro FM for the free copy of this book.

 - BLUE SKINNED GODS takes its time unraveling it's story, but my goodness, is it worth it. This book is beautiful, enraging, heartbreaking, joyful, and so much more.
- Even when I thought I knew exactly where Kalki's story was going, there's a major plot twist I did not see coming.
- The audiobook, narrated by Varun Sathi, is an immersive experience. I felt like I was right there in Kalki's head, trying to work everything out with him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Cursing, Gore, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Self harm, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content

kylieqrada's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

3.0

A solid 3 star read. This book was fascinating. We follow Kalki, a boy born with blue skin who is believed to be, and is raised as, the 10th and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. I learned so much about Hindu beliefs and culture through this book, and found that the author was able to convey the faith in a very multi-faceted way. The characters were so diverse and not treated in a tokenistic manner whatsoever, but rather woven into the story organically. I would be interested in Own Voices reviewers' take on the treatment of transgender characters in the story, although from my limited perspective, I thought the discussion of their history in India was handled fairly well. I enjoyed the narrative style that the story was told in, with Kalki looking back from the future and telling the story to the reader. With all of the intense abuse that takes place throughout the beginning of the story, this perspective gives some sense of hope that Kalki will make it through. While I did enjoy the latter portion of the story, seeing Kalki interact with his cousin and new friends in America, I didn't particularly like the way things wrapped up, and actually found myself imagining alternate endings. Overall, I think that while this book is very strong for the first 2/3 or so, the ending leaves something to be desired, and could have gone in a number of more satisfying directions. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia