Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

8 reviews

queeniecraft's review

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Child death, Sexual harassment, Murder, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Violence, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Rape, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Racism, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Drug use, Cursing, Suicide, Islamophobia, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, Classism, and Toxic relationship

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

alexisgarcia's review

adventurous dark funny tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

this book was just downright fun. despite the heavy topics (check content warnings!!!), this book is full of interesting characters and humor. i very rarely find a book that is just a really good time so this was such a good find! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, and Violence

dan047's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Rape

uz_kostlivec's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

I'm so happy to come across this book and to have read it. I've never read anything quite like it, especially in this cultural setting. I really enjoyed learning more about the Indian and Hindu culture. I loved the plot and appreciated all the topics and themes. Female power, the power of (female) friendship... Beautiful. I can't wait to read up more on the real life Phoolan Devi, especially her autobiography. Please take time to read the author's note.

As a committed dog lover who passionately advocates for #adoptdontshop I adored the whole Bandit subplot. What a wonderful surprise that I didn't expect. 

The reason why I don't give it more stars is that the humour oftentimes didn't work for me actually, I found it even cringey and forces sometimes. Also, while I liked the plot a lot, I didn't like the way several of the important passages in the story developed - they were either too fast, too slow or not as well though through. Also, to me it seemes like the author's writing style wasn't consistently good - there were parts where I was actually even annoyed by it and found it hard to pay attention, but then, at the same time, there were many beautifully witten quotable parts that made up for it for me.

Sita was addmitedly a top-notch lady: levelheaded, bright, kind and loyal. But in idealizing her suffering, people justified Ram's punitiveness. An apology, for fuck's sake, would have gone a long way. But from the get-go, they trained boys not to apologize and women not to expect it of them, to instead mutate pain into an art form.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

• 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

4.75

Goodness, I love this book. At times grueling to read when it showcased female trauma in all its myriad forms, but always worth the journey. Beautifully told, fucking hilarious, and impossible to put down. I fucking love this book and know I’m going to revisit it over the years for its universal truths.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Murder, Addiction, Abandonment, Bullying, Classism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cursing, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Ableism, Infertility, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Body shaming

Minor: Excrement, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Drug use

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

imogenrose97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Murder, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Classism, Child abuse, and Bullying