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queeneallie's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It's similar to "The Red Tent", in that it takes a character from a major religious work and expands her story into an engaging biography-novel. Kaikeyi was a character in the Ramayana. I found myself looking up the characters and the story as I was reading, but then I stopped because I just wanted to enjoy the story.
I did think it was a little long, but overall I did very much like it and recommend it for a strong, female lead character and wonderful weaving of magic and historical fiction.
I did think it was a little long, but overall I did very much like it and recommend it for a strong, female lead character and wonderful weaving of magic and historical fiction.
ajamwelch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What a journey. Interested to hear/read the original story just for more context. Loved following a woman fighting for her place in the world during a time that didn’t want to see her be great. Also makes you think about your relationships with other people and how those evolve or break.
epacheco217's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
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
4.0
beckahh_i's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
4.0
I don't know enough about the Ramayana to speak on the accuracy of this retelling, but I did enjoy it. I'm not typically super engaged with retellings, but this was interesting enough to keep my attention. Kaikeyi doesn't seem to be either a hero or villain in this book. From my understanding, she is portrayed as much less of the wicked stepmother in this than the original story, and yet it was still difficult to witness her choices and how that impacted the story. It was easy to root for her in the happy parts of the book, and then to both feel sympathy for the consequences of her actions and see how she definitely contributed to the problems. Again, having known almost nothing of Indian culture or epics, I can't speak to the accuracy of this, but I enjoyed learning more about it!
emmaraeempowered's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Aaaahhhhhh this book is so good!!!!!!!!
This book is truly fantastic! Astonishing! Magnificent! I can't believe this was the authors debut.
Going into this I knew very little in regards to Hindu legends, that hindrance did not at all get in the way of my enjoyment of this book. I loved the story, I loved how we grew up with Kaikeyi and understood her more. I felt so emotional while reading, I even cried at multiple times. I read this frequently on my lunch breaks at work and felt upset each time my break was up because all I wanted to do was read this book.
I loved how much Kaikeyi was motivated to change things within the kingdom for women, how she was not only pissed at her own experiences of being overlooked, talked down to, pushed out, and more - but she was also pissed witnessing those things happen to other women.
I loved how when she had her sons she vowed to make sure they did not grow up to be men who disrespected women.
I loved how her relationship with her husband was written. It was a forced marriage that she hated of course because she did not get to choose (I'd be livid too), as the years went by she stayed feeling very indifferent. Once earning her husbands trust she was able to influence some decisions. She stated multiple times how she did not feel any love or desire toward her husband, but instead viewed him as a dear friend. The way that Kaikeyi is written felt like the author was intentionally writting an asexual character which I think is great as asexuality is often not represented. (I use the word intentionally because it felt that way to me, but I haven't done any further research to see if the author has out right said that.)
Each character stood out in their own personality I rarely mixed up characters, and there are a lot of characters.
I absolute loved the ending. So I won't go into detail. But I loved it. I love when stories end as if an Elder has ended the story and I must wait till later to get another thrilling tale from them.
This book is truly fantastic! Astonishing! Magnificent! I can't believe this was the authors debut.
Going into this I knew very little in regards to Hindu legends, that hindrance did not at all get in the way of my enjoyment of this book. I loved the story, I loved how we grew up with Kaikeyi and understood her more. I felt so emotional while reading, I even cried at multiple times. I read this frequently on my lunch breaks at work and felt upset each time my break was up because all I wanted to do was read this book.
I loved how much Kaikeyi was motivated to change things within the kingdom for women, how she was not only pissed at her own experiences of being overlooked, talked down to, pushed out, and more - but she was also pissed witnessing those things happen to other women.
I loved how when she had her sons she vowed to make sure they did not grow up to be men who disrespected women.
I loved how her relationship with her husband was written. It was a forced marriage that she hated of course because she did not get to choose (I'd be livid too), as the years went by she stayed feeling very indifferent. Once earning her husbands trust she was able to influence some decisions. She stated multiple times how she did not feel any love or desire toward her husband, but instead viewed him as a dear friend. The way that Kaikeyi is written felt like the author was intentionally writting an asexual character which I think is great as asexuality is often not represented. (I use the word intentionally because it felt that way to me, but I haven't done any further research to see if the author has out right said that.)
Each character stood out in their own personality I rarely mixed up characters, and there are a lot of characters.
I absolute loved the ending. So I won't go into detail. But I loved it. I love when stories end as if an Elder has ended the story and I must wait till later to get another thrilling tale from them.
jessrassicpark's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
theloosepage's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
iydpyd's review against another edition
Maybe it was the pacing? Maybe the character development?
1. So delightful to read a south Asian story. In part, this is on me because I certainly can make more of an effort to specifically seek out these stories. And I would like to. But I don’t come across these stories often and it’s always a treat to read stories about people who come from the same part of the world as me.
2. That said, I could not with the pronunciation of certain words in the audio book.
3. I was invested in Kaikeyi at the beginning. When she first discovered her abilities and so on, it felt like we were close with her then. Then the distance grew and grew until it felt like hearing a summary. Like the way it feels to hear Ramayana through those picture books with big font you’re given as a child. It got disconnected.
4. I appreciated what the book was trying to do but I didn’t enjoy the construction of it. And eventually I just got bored.
1. So delightful to read a south Asian story. In part, this is on me because I certainly can make more of an effort to specifically seek out these stories. And I would like to. But I don’t come across these stories often and it’s always a treat to read stories about people who come from the same part of the world as me.
2. That said, I could not with the pronunciation of certain words in the audio book.
3. I was invested in Kaikeyi at the beginning. When she first discovered her abilities and so on, it felt like we were close with her then. Then the distance grew and grew until it felt like hearing a summary. Like the way it feels to hear Ramayana through those picture books with big font you’re given as a child. It got disconnected.
4. I appreciated what the book was trying to do but I didn’t enjoy the construction of it. And eventually I just got bored.
confusible's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
I loved this book! It’s been years since I read the Ramayana but I remembered enough for reading another side of the story of hit home. Patel wrote Kaikeyi as such a strong, well-developed character that I felt like I knew her. I enjoyed following her life from an early age and seeing her development. I loved how she fought against the traditional female role by working within the existing system instead of trying to overhaul it. Patel crafted the story very well and it kept me engaged the whole time. I loved the themes of friendship running throughout the story, with Kaikeyi’s siblings, servants like Manthara and Asha, her husband Dasharath, Ravana, and especially the other radnyi. Reading about her as a mother and step mother as well, in a family with multiple wives raising the children together was very interesting too. The use of magic in this story was so, so good and unlike what I’ve read in other stories. It was a fascinating way to think about relationships. What if you could see if real time how your words and actions affected your bond with another person? This story is certainly done but I’d love to read Patel’s version of another Hindu heroine that we know very little about.
dharma_s's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, so this was interesting. Kaikeyi has always interested me whenever I read the Ramayana. The Ramayana was a story that I have read over and over again, and have heard over and over again. She was portrayed as an almost evil person who only thought about herself. To an extent in this book she only thought about herself, and that was in keeping with the original story. But Patel really took Kaikeyi and fleshed her out; her childhood, fears, friends, foes, etc. I enjoyed that, and that was the reason I wanted to pick up the book. This might just be me, but Kaikeyi was a little too different from the Ramayana Kaikeyi than I expected. Though in the Ramayana she only really plays a big role in banishing Rama, and doesn't really come up after that, she had a certain feel to her that this Kaikeyi didn't have it at all. This Kaikeyi was a completely different person and I couldn't see her in the original Ramayana.
Now the actual writing didn't do it for me. The first part of the book enticed me and I was thoroughly following the story. But in the second half, I was skimming. I really tried not to, but everything kind of unraveled for me there. It was boring honestly. I had high hopes for this book, and to some extent those were met, but there were far too many things that I disliked to fully enjoy it.
Now the actual writing didn't do it for me. The first part of the book enticed me and I was thoroughly following the story. But in the second half, I was skimming. I really tried not to, but everything kind of unraveled for me there. It was boring honestly. I had high hopes for this book, and to some extent those were met, but there were far too many things that I disliked to fully enjoy it.