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melshoo's review
- 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
3.75
This was a quick read. I agree with other reviewers that there was a tone shift in the last third of the book. I wish there had been more to the ending to clean up the family fallout but I guess real life doesn’t work that way. I didn’t find the key moments at the end of the book to be very cathartic.
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
zed_dog's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide
nu_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Despite the book claiming to span across many times, it is mostly linear safe for a couple of flashbacks and flash forwards in the earlier books. To me the book was more about Kalki and him trying to reconcile with the traumatizing family/father. He was lied to from a very young age, and being told that he had to bear the burden of his parents sacrifices. In a way this coincides with a lot of themes in South Asian culture where we have this fake reverence towards beings that are godlike, but not actually caring about them as individuals. Allowing our ability to put them on a pedestal of reference and divinity to essentially not let us treat them in a respectful and humane manner.
But his horrible person of a father was of course only thinking about himself and of the fortune that he could make. The main themes of this book like religion/seduction of belief is basically told through the trauma that Kalki goes through at the hands of a narcissistic parent who will do anything for power, including but not limited to, marketing a blue baby as a god too desperate worshipers and forcing his family to play along because he prefers to manipulate people into furthering his own agenda and his own plan (one that is very flimsy upon close inspection).
It's a disturbingly beautiful book, with the writing style so simple yet loud and incisive. It's essentially Kalki retelling his story, looking back at his time at the ashram with nostalgia and bringing us into the crux of his naivity during his childhood. It really forces you to think about how badly people want to believe in something (not necessarily just religion), and even after the "illusion" falls how there will still be people choosing to believe in the lie because it brings them comfort and is better than confronting their entire worldview falling apart.
It's a heavy book, especially in the child/domestic abuse area, so I encourage anyone who's not in the best place mentally to tread lightly. But if you're able to read the book I wholeheartedly reccomend it!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
Minor: Cultural appropriation and Kidnapping
sknappy1's review against another edition
- 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
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
racheloddment's review
- 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
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
caseythereader's review against another edition
- 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
- 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.
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
spinesinaline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was very, very good and I loved how the story just so slightly shifted and revealed where we were headed as we got further in. Even the subtle aspects of the book, like what each section title ultimately represents, are so important to the story and our ultimate understanding of it and I loved these little nods that we discover throughout! So many of my thoughts are related to the latter half of the book so I’ll refrain from sharing too much to avoid spoilers but if anyone’s read it and wants to chat, let me know!
I was definitely not prepared for the twist, though of course we have hints of ‘what the heck is going on’, but the power of this writing comes not only from the author’s surprise in this twist but the implications of what these new discoveries will mean for Kalki’s sense of the world. Ultimately the book moves from a curious and fantastical story of a child god, to exploring more worldly concepts with Kalki as our eyes and ears.
The book is told almost primarily chronologically but there are a few moments within chapters where we’re suddenly in the present day with Kalki as he reflects back on his story. While I do like having this additional context of his current knowledge and hints of where he ends up, the present day moments were so infrequently mixed in, and usually within a flashback chapter, that it felt an odd change of the flow of the story.
The ending is where I have more issues, which of course I’ll keep vague to avoid spoilers. I was prepared to leave the book with many unanswered questions, which felt very realistic in how people’s lives progress, but the ending then hints that there are even more hideous secrets being kept. Except that after all these hints, we just get more of the same so the scene felt rather pointless, and then the book ended very abruptly.
This is still a book I’ll be thinking about long after I’ve put it down but I wish it could’ve embraced being open-ended more. I also really appreciated that the author ends with a land acknowledgment and includes many recommendations on Indigenous authors to check out.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Car accident, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Vomit
kylieqrada's review
- 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
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
jessieweaver's review
- 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
3.25
It took awhile for me to get into this story of Kalki, age 10 when we enter the novel, whom we see grow into young adulthood. But once I was sucked in, I was turning (digital!) pages quickly, eager to hear the rest of his story.
Kalki knows a few things. 1. His skin is blue. 2. He is the tenth incarnation of the god Vishnu. At age 10, he is set up to perform three miracles, proving his godhood. And yet, everything doesn't seem right, especially when his family situation changes and new faces enter the ashram where he lives.
A coming-of-age novel with a fascinating set-up, I liked growing alongside Kalki as he discovers what's really going on with his family. I'm rating it about a 3-star because I felt like it took awhile to get into the story and I found the ending to feel a little bit rushed and not entirely satisfying.
(Trigger warnings abound, but these are all tread on lightly. I am a major highly sensitive person - HSP - and I didn't think anything was gratuitous or too much for me.)
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Car accident, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Vomit