Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu

10 reviews

tetedump's review

dark sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Racism

allergy reaction

elyssarenae's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

Once the metaphorical curtain was lifted, the story felt a bit rushed and out of place compared to the first half-or-so or the book. I understand that is also how Kalki likely felt and was experiencing his life, but it was enough to take me out of the story in some instances, and it ended very abruptly. 

Otherwise, an intriguing premise and good writing! I give the first three sections a 4/5⭐️ and the last section a 1.5/5⭐️ for a 3.5/5⭐️ overall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Cancer, Suicide, and Animal death

Minor: Self harm

viji's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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: Mental illness, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Grief, Child abuse, Self harm, and Death

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Minor: Murder and Cancer

taviarz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I wish we could’ve seen more of his life after he was free

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Cancer, Self harm, Suicide, and Transphobia

dourdino's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Suicide and Self harm

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

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

mybestfriendisabook's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

3.0

~ARC edition~
There was a lot going on, including heavy themes, but didn’t feel fully fleshed out. Not enough context and background. The last part in NYC was especially chaotic and moved really fast with alot of major events that could’ve been less rushed. I question how it didn’t seem like anyone was fazed by blue skin?? A god?? The whole posing as a god as a business wasn’t fully fleshed out to be  believable as convincing.

Was disappointed that the MC isn’t even Indian

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, and Violence

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