Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

6 reviews

liesbethvv's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm having a hard time rating this book. On the one hand, it took me quite some time to get into it, had a relatively slow start for me. There were no loveable characters to get attached to, but this made the reading experience more interesting and nuanced. I'm not convinced that the changed title (from 'Girl in White Cotton') was a good choice contentwise, although I agree it is more enticing. I don't really love

open endings, but it felt quite good in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Violence

annagerman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It took me a while to get into it, but I ended up loving this book. The toxic relationship of the main character with her mother, and as a result with herself and everyone else around her, is tragic yet somehow relatable. The writing feels labored at times (the references to science and medicine felt mostly unnecessary and out of place), but there are moments of stark and brutal honesty, particularly in the last third of the book.

The last chapter was rattling, and I absolutely loved it, though I'm sorry the book ended where it did - I would have loved to see more of the MC as a mother. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Dementia

Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide, Rape, Vomit, Excrement, Sexual violence, and Child death

5aru's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A strong, raw exploration of motherhood and trauma through Antara's troubled eyes. Even though the book is very specifically focused on her individual struggle with her past and her complex, toxic relationship with her mother, there is much about her experience that is universal. The description of those feelings - of insufficiency, of stagnation, of bottled anger and unmet needs, of desperation and entrapment - is really what makes this novel, and drives it directly to the heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia and Pregnancy

Moderate: Vomit, Excrement, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Body shaming

sarahna's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3 stars.

I see why this was long-listed for the women's prize of fiction. It's a deeply unsettling story that's written in a shockingly direct way and towards the end it even felt like a horror novel. Was Tara suffering from dementia or did she do so to torment and control her daughter Antara even more? The ending felt somewhat unsatisfying by not revealing an answer and the mention of some bodily fluid on every other page was unsettling. 
Still, this story can be analyzed and discussed pretty easily since everyone's a morally grey character and while I did feel with Antara for most of the story even she was unlikable at times. Mixed feelings but overall a read that makes you reflect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming

musewithxara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

penelopereads's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Can’t make up my mind about this book. It’s uh... transgressive. I was filled with a sense of dread reading it. It’s grimy.
The storytelling is good though and you name it - the author went there. The writing also stopped me in my tracks a few times.
Still, I don’t really know what to think. Is it really bad or really good? Someone please tell me where I should land.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fatphobia, Excrement, Pedophilia, Vomit, Incest, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Racism, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault