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charlereads's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Bullying
kathleencoughlin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I'm less familiar with the Ramayana than with the origins of other retellings of mythology that I've read, and I decided not to review beforehand so I could discover the story as it unfolded. Regardless, Patel was able to invoke the same sort of sinking dread of dramatic irony as the story draws closer and closer to the ending set out in the source material. What I think was particularly successful about Kaikeyi was the clear parallel between that feeling in the reader and Kaikeyi's warring feelings of hope and futility at altering the narrative that the gods had preordained for her and her children.
Women's perspectives are often left out of the stories of "great men" or are used to propel them towards their destinies. However, as stated in the author's note, the goal of this book was to "give voice not just to its titular character but to the many women who populate the world of the Ramayana and have rich and worthy lives if their own." I think the book overall, but particularly the ending, achieved this goal. The story did not end with Kaikeyi "fulfilling her purpose" in Rama's story and losing most of the life she built. Instead we return back to the market with Manthara. Since her first visit all those years ago and throughout her time as radnyi, Kaikeyi worked hard to build opportunity and dignity for women. It seems really fitting then in the closing of the narrative that we would return back to them so she/we could see her lasting impact on the women of Kosala and ultimately conclude on a fairly positive note. While Kaikeyi seemed to take loss after loss in the latter half of the book, many of the changes she pushed for did win out despite the narrative that had been spun about her and was solidified into legend.
Women's perspectives are often left out of the stories of "great men" or are used to propel them towards their destinies. However, as stated in the author's note, the goal of this book was to "give voice not just to its titular character but to the many women who populate the world of the Ramayana and have rich and worthy lives if their own." I think the book overall, but particularly the ending, achieved this goal. The story did not end with Kaikeyi "fulfilling her purpose" in Rama's story and losing most of the life she built. Instead we return back to the market with Manthara. Since her first visit all those years ago and throughout her time as radnyi, Kaikeyi worked hard to build opportunity and dignity for women. It seems really fitting then in the closing of the narrative that we would return back to them so she/we could see her lasting impact on the women of Kosala and ultimately conclude on a fairly positive note. While Kaikeyi seemed to take loss after loss in the latter half of the book, many of the changes she pushed for did win out despite the narrative that had been spun about her and was solidified into legend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Abandonment, War, and Murder
Minor: Blood, Infertility, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse
akilguru17's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
4.25
Hinduism, insofar as it exists, is a religion that contains multitudes: multiple deities given various priorities and states of existence depending on who you're talking to, and also multiple ways of being - it's not strict, it's not prescriptive. Atheist Hinduism isn't a contradiction, for example. There's not really such thing as Hindu blasphemy; any pushback this book receives from the Modi bhakts of the world will be the continued influence of British Christian colonialism. And so this book, a reading of the Ramayana that casts numerous characters in vastly different lights than the lore, makes perfect sense as a thing that exists.
What strikes me about it are the absolute stones with which Patel operates, taking no prisoners as she critiques and challenges some of Hindu mythology's most beloved characters and in doing so, performing feminist critique of the religion's organized form itself. Casting the titular Kaikeyi, defined in the mythology as a seductress, as asexual is just the start of it: This is certainly not your grandparents' Ramayana.
I also really liked how this book, whole critiquing old forms of Indian governance and patriarchy, makes space for indigenous Indian feminist organizing and collectivizing that leads to legitimate progress. It's also compulsively readable, to borrow a phrase from the back, and the central magical component is interesting and carries its plot-relevance to the end, though I wish a little more had come of it.
On the downside, the title character's self-image consistently has a tinge of "not-like-other-girls" to it - she's at her best when thinking of others and when doing praxis, but her self-narration can be tedious. I also thought the institutional patriarchy was ill-defined, which is to say it felt very Christian at times rather than organic to the setting.
What strikes me about it are the absolute stones with which Patel operates, taking no prisoners as she critiques and challenges some of Hindu mythology's most beloved characters and in doing so, performing feminist critique of the religion's organized form itself. Casting the titular Kaikeyi, defined in the mythology as a seductress, as asexual is just the start of it: This is certainly not your grandparents' Ramayana.
I also really liked how this book, whole critiquing old forms of Indian governance and patriarchy, makes space for indigenous Indian feminist organizing and collectivizing that leads to legitimate progress. It's also compulsively readable, to borrow a phrase from the back, and the central magical component is interesting and carries its plot-relevance to the end, though I wish a little more had come of it.
On the downside, the title character's self-image consistently has a tinge of "not-like-other-girls" to it - she's at her best when thinking of others and when doing praxis, but her self-narration can be tedious. I also thought the institutional patriarchy was ill-defined, which is to say it felt very Christian at times rather than organic to the setting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting
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