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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
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
“After all our trouble, is that it, then? Did it all mean nothing but itself?”
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
Welp this first book of summer break was a flop - that's all I will say.
Thanks to the author/publisher for the goodreads giveaway!
What a strange and intriguing combination of history and sci-fi. I get as though I was reading about a dystopian universe that was all too real if only a certain fruit-named company had made a few different business moves. The author does a fantastic job of combining the actual world with this fictional story to make it realistic while still being completely outside the realm of possibility (at least with todays technology). This story was interesting but also so strange I had a hard time deciding if I loved it or hated it.
What a strange and intriguing combination of history and sci-fi. I get as though I was reading about a dystopian universe that was all too real if only a certain fruit-named company had made a few different business moves. The author does a fantastic job of combining the actual world with this fictional story to make it realistic while still being completely outside the realm of possibility (at least with todays technology). This story was interesting but also so strange I had a hard time deciding if I loved it or hated it.
I didn't like the characters' voices or the prose style. I rarely dnf but just found this novel unpleasant and uninteresting. And I have been attracted to and often enjoyed literature by Indian authors; this was tedious.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
challenging
medium-paced
Well, this was somewhat of a slog for me. I found that I wasn’t very invested in the story and its characters, though, it’s not to say that they weren’t interesting.
The sections that focused on King Rao’s childhood and adolescence were the most engaging to me, especially how the caste system and being a Dalit impacted him. Relatedly, it would have been nice if Vara expanded on the complex family dynamics and how it shaped the way King perceived the world.
I thought there were fascinating aspects to this book that weren’t quite realized, but they were there and had me think about the world we’re in today. She considers people’s heavy reliance on technology and its problems connected to capitalism, the alarming issue of climate change, among others. They may be set in a fictional world, but it’s one that seems to project a disturbing and very possible future in the real world.
I had two issues with the book, which might be why I didn’t enjoy it as much. One was that I felt that many of the characters weren’t as developed as they could have been, despite making multiple appearances. They often read as an afterthought or seemed a bit detached from the story. The other issue (and the main one) was organization. It took far longer than I’d have liked to understand how the story was being told. It all felt cobbled together in a way that took away from the themes that Vara wants to bring to the reader’s attention.
I think this is going to be one of those hit-or-miss books, depending on how you like your stories told. Whatever the case, some interesting points were brought up in the book that (barely) held my attention.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Suicide
Minor: Ableism
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-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
such an unusual and ambitious book that ultimately promises much more than what it actually holds. i spent a lot of the book being unsure where it was going and unsure of why i should care about its characters. where the novel is held up by research, i wish it had been held up instead by humaneness and heart. the near-sterility with which most of the events are narrated -- with very little clear purpose or direction, and a lot of jumping between timelines -- made the more rhapsodic passages musing on the beauty and value of our world and our human condition come off as insincere, when they should have cemented the emotional core of the book.