Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

8 reviews

thetearex's review

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Mental illness, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Infertility, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Violence

bugaboobear's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved the interactions between the women and the way the relationships were portrayed. No one was perfect, they were all flawed and interesting. The story was interesting, but less so than the setting and characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Classism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Violence, Addiction, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Cancer, and Religious bigotry

tashtasher's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Death, Rape, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcohol, Infertility, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Classism, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Infertility, and Infidelity

Minor: Cancer, Excrement, Vomit, Miscarriage, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

yuyuv's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infertility, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer

keiwald's review

funny inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

Wonderful build. The final scene was absolutely beautifully built so all the pieces fell together and everyone was there to take part

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infertility, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Alcoholism, Death, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Torture, and Excrement

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, and Cancer

Topics include caste and sex related discrimination in India.

lemonsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Murder, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit, Violence, Death, Cancer, Death of parent, Suicide, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Torture, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Animal death, Classism, Religious bigotry, Infertility, Gun violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Bullying, and Blood

scrubsandbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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

2.5

I have listed almost all the content warnings I can think of it, and yeah, that full list can be pretty damn intense, and at first I thought I was going to have to take this book in small increments because a lot of these triggers may be really hard to deal. BUT, the book is wrought with dark humor, and it was sufficiently hilarious enough that I was able to keep going while not watering down or minimizing the serious topics discussed.

The main character, Geeta, is a social pariah in her village because her abusive husband left her five years prior to the start of the novel and they all think that she murdered him. She never confirms or denies this because it means people leave her alone while at the same time, buys from her jewelry business because they don't want to piss off the woman because heaven forbid she come after them! It all starts spiraling out of her control when one of the women of the village comes to her and asks her for help in killing her abusive husband. The Bandit Queen of the title references  the Real Life Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi and she is talked about repeatedly in the book for the sake of making parallels to the MC. I strongly suggest looking up her life story, it is so interesting.

As you can see, the story has a lot to do with misogyny, domestic abuse, the patriarchy that plagues a lot of areas of India. There's a lot of classism spoken on in the book as well. Parini Shroff is able to make a reader both laugh and wince at what the MC and her found family (yes, this one has a found family trope!) go through.

Okay, I know I'm praising the book but why the lower rating? Because there's some ableism and fatphobia/fat-shaming that happens that is mostly just super glossed over or played for laughs. The MC uses it to insult her best friend turned enemy turned ally again and although afterward, she apologizes for her behavior, the fat-phobic jokes/insult still keep coming well into the end of the book. I feel like the author could have done a way better job addressing those issues because even if the book focuses heavily on sexism and domestic abuse/SA, I don't think ableism or body-shaming should EVER be used as comic relief. Because of this, honestly, I cannot recommend the book, but if you decide to read it, you will learn about another culture, but keep in mind all the trigger warnings as well as topics that Shroff could have done better. I would suggest keep an Internet search bar open as well because while I'm from India and understood all the foreign words and customs, readers might not because not everything is explained fully in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Islamophobia, Drug use, Fatphobia, Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Police brutality, and Suicide

drraytay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Body shaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Gun violence, Alcohol, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer