Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Bandit Queens

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

86 reviews

mondovertigo's review

Go to review page

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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

siria's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.75

Five years ago, Geeta's no-good husband disappeared, and most other people in their rural Indian village think she killed him. She didn't. But her reputation gets around, and some other women with terrible husbands start seeking her help with offing them, and shenanigans ensue.

There are things to like about Parini Shroff's The Bandit Queens—mostly the moments of somewhat dark humour, and the complicated and prickly female friendships—but this was a debut novel that needed not just one but probably at least two more drafts before it was published. The tone is wildly uneven and the dialogue often stilted.

I get there are always compromises to be made when you're writing a book in English but the characters are really "speaking" in another language (in this case, Gujarati). Not every concept will translate, capturing particular cadences might be difficult, and so on. But here Shroff repeatedly indulges in one of my pet hates, where a word that does have an equivalent in English is left in the "original" language for... coyness? Humour? Colour? I don't know. But I do know that every time a character goes to "make su-su" in this book (and it's a lot), I was gritting my teeth and saying "just say 'pee'!" Shroff's linguistic register is also all over the map—characters sprinkle their dialogue with as many "likes" as an American millennial and much of the prose is fairly informal, but occasionally we're told that a character has a "falcate back" or that one of the women has made an "aperçu". At one point, one woman refers to another as "zaftig." Encountering Yiddish slang in a rural west Indian context does break suspension of disbelief a little.

And that ties into the other major issue that I had with The Bandit Queens, which is that there was a lot about the framing and subtlety of approach (or lack thereof) which made it clear that Shroff is an American of Indian heritage rather than being born and raised in India. I had the sense that for an Indian to read this would probably be what it's like for me most of the time when I read a book by an Irish-American set in Ireland.

I think Shroff has potential as a writer and I wouldn't swear off her future work, but this was a bit of a disappointment.

Content Warnings

thetearex's review

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

queerandtalkative's review

Go to review page

dark funny tense 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

3.0

Content Warnings

nedermg's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

cecilialau_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

4.75

Okay, wow. I’ve just finished this. Read the last 110-ish pages without much of a break - it was just a propulsive, almost addictive read! Really glad I kept at it as I started off thinking it might have been the “wrong time” for me to read this, but I thankfully kept at it and it really didn’t take long for me to be so engrossed in this.
Amazing and fascinating characters, folklore beautifully interwoven, social commentary through caste and gender and religious discourse. I really enjoyed this.
If you have thought about picking up this book, you will be glad you did.
It is just fab and for many reasons; there is the thriller-y vibes, the dark humour, the dark themes included as well, the friendships, miscommunication, mystery, character development, the spotlight on isolation and loneliness as well. Yeah, so much is included and done very well imo.

I looooved Kareem and his son. And Saloni’s son. And Saloni. The joy they brought to Geeta’s life and this story was the most adorable thing that made this book have a special place in my memory for a very long while, I suspect. I’m so happy that Farah ended up a bonobo, iykyk. And Bandit was the cutest addition ever!! Made such a massive difference.

Content Warnings