Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu

7 reviews

charming_killerqueen's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Drug use and Vomit

racheloddment's review

challenging emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Death, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

Moderate: Transphobia, Vomit, Homophobia, Cancer, Drug use, Blood, Sexual content, and Misogyny

jayisreading's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

What drew me to this book was the premise, which is that the protagonist, Kalki, was raised in a way that he was believed to be a god due to his blue skin. Over time, though, various events lead to him questioning the validity of his god status. Perhaps not surprisingly, this also results in significant consequences, which Sintu divides into four sections.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. There were a lot of interesting ideas and themes, especially this conflict of truths and lies, as well as desires and obligations, as well as touching on issues of the caste system, tourism, queerness, among others. It didn’t feel as cohesive as it could have been, though, and I think what affected this was the pacing of the book. I found the first section dreadfully boring, but things started picking up in the second and third sections, diving deep into an interesting, almost psychoanalytic exploration of deception and manipulation in Kalki’s life. I was hopeful for the fourth and last section, as a result, only to be disappointed by the way things were hastily wrapped up. It felt as though too much was happening and, as a result, the book was barely holding it together by the end. I honestly finished the book with more questions than anything.

There was a lot of potential in this novel and I really enjoyed the ideas and writing, but the execution made it difficult for me to actually enjoy this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Child abuse, and Transphobia

Minor: Cancer, Self harm, and Kidnapping

ahliahreads's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cancer, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Vomit

keatynbergsten's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, and Suicide

miki_fourinterests's review

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Infertility, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cancer, and Animal death

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