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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-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
emotional
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:
Complicated
Good for the nervous system, grounded, lightly covers her own relationship with therapy and the romance is realistic.
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the story Nayantara Roy tells from the start, but it took me a while to get through the first half. There are a lot of characters, but there is a family tree in the front of the book that referred to a lot in the first half.
If you love family drama and complex characters, you will love the magnificent ruins!
If you love family drama and complex characters, you will love the magnificent ruins!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
I liked most of the book but felt the last 50 pages didn’t really work. It was almost like she didn’t know how to end it and threw together the . Hari’s death which wasn’t ever really solved.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence
Terrible! Boring boring boring "young corporate gal in New York city with 'dark' past" nonsense. Maybe it gets better in later chapters but I'm simply not willing to stick around to find out.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I saw this book during my normal casual meanders in book shops and I was interested in the idea of inheritance, of identity forming across a continent from a family and of complex family dynamics.
There were a load of things I really enjoyed about this story. It was rich, with a set of vivid characters who were complex and flawed. The main character was sometimes written about through other eyes, and it was interesting to read about how she was seen by her lover, her mother, the maid. It was a show of talent that Roy was able to cast characters through the eyes of so many different people's judgements.
Heightened emotion was rampant, not just from the grieving family but also from the wider characters, including Lila's lover who follows her across the world based on his own 'love'. There was a lot of underhand behaviour throughout, with hypocrisy a common theme whenever anyone interacted or engaged with one another. It's a family dynamic I am in no way familiar with, and so I found it eye opening! The idea of a large, complex family living so closely together feels so removed from a small scattered one I've experienced.
I also enjoyed how the story was peppered with history lessons and little windows into India's history and India's politics, and how the current situation can be traced back through the colonial past. I would love to know more about this.
The reason I've not rated it higher is because I feel there was a lot of fat that could have been trimmed. I felt like some strands of the story didn't need dwelling on, and I often got a little disconnected from reading because it lost me. I think it would have been more powerful if it had managed to hone in more on the relationships Roy wanted to highlight rather than stretching everything so taut. Perhaps the professional life that Lila was juggling could have received slightly less attention?
There were a load of things I really enjoyed about this story. It was rich, with a set of vivid characters who were complex and flawed. The main character was sometimes written about through other eyes, and it was interesting to read about how she was seen by her lover, her mother, the maid. It was a show of talent that Roy was able to cast characters through the eyes of so many different people's judgements.
Heightened emotion was rampant, not just from the grieving family but also from the wider characters, including Lila's lover who follows her across the world based on his own 'love'. There was a lot of underhand behaviour throughout, with hypocrisy a common theme whenever anyone interacted or engaged with one another. It's a family dynamic I am in no way familiar with, and so I found it eye opening! The idea of a large, complex family living so closely together feels so removed from a small scattered one I've experienced.
I also enjoyed how the story was peppered with history lessons and little windows into India's history and India's politics, and how the current situation can be traced back through the colonial past. I would love to know more about this.
The reason I've not rated it higher is because I feel there was a lot of fat that could have been trimmed. I felt like some strands of the story didn't need dwelling on, and I often got a little disconnected from reading because it lost me. I think it would have been more powerful if it had managed to hone in more on the relationships Roy wanted to highlight rather than stretching everything so taut. Perhaps the professional life that Lila was juggling could have received slightly less attention?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
slow-paced