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clairebau's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. Vara has a talent for characterization through description of other characters through the eyes of the narrator; in a description of a few sentences (or fewer. usually fewer) one gets an immediate, visceral sense of a new character and also how their description defines the narrating character. This is not just appreciated but also necessary in a story that includes so many unique players, and it was done so well. The family-epic-style storytelling reminded me a bit of Eugenides's Middlesex; aptly a Pulitzer-winning novel while Rao was sadly only nominated.
Some have criticized the ending for feeling too rushed, or that the threads connecting each storyline were not strong enough to leave the reader satisfied. I disagree; I found the connections between each story to be rewarding and surprising. I do wish the end of Athena's story was fleshed out as much as the beginning was. Vara mentioned in her acknowledgements that this novel was a twelve year long project; perhaps she was simply sick of writing it, and for that I cannot blame her.
My favorite part of this novel is that it explores every aspect of the political. A theme I did not expect to come through so strongly and repetitively was that of the man's entitlement to the woman: her body, her children, her intellect. These parts were harrowing and deeply emotional, and as cathartic as one would expect.
Great stuff. I can see myself rereading in the future.
Some have criticized the ending for feeling too rushed, or that the threads connecting each storyline were not strong enough to leave the reader satisfied. I disagree; I found the connections between each story to be rewarding and surprising. I do wish the end of Athena's story was fleshed out as much as the beginning was. Vara mentioned in her acknowledgements that this novel was a twelve year long project; perhaps she was simply sick of writing it, and for that I cannot blame her.
My favorite part of this novel is that it explores every aspect of the political. A theme I did not expect to come through so strongly and repetitively was that of the man's entitlement to the woman: her body, her children, her intellect. These parts were harrowing and deeply emotional, and as cathartic as one would expect.
Great stuff. I can see myself rereading in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Racism, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicide, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Vomit, Infidelity, Police brutality, Sexual content, Violence, Classism, Blood, Body horror, and Sexual assault
mia_difelice's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A sprawling multigenerational story center on King Rao, the favorite child in a huge clan of Dalit coconut farmers, he goes on to invent the Coconut (an analog to the iMac) and changes the world into a corporatist shareholder government. The novel switches between his family history and the story of his daughter, Athena, all told from her point of view.
Events unfolds slowly and carefully and the jumps in POV and time help unwind it. We jump from the world of Rao’s mother, her sister, her husband, and his brother; the politics and family scandals and history of how the Dalit Raos came to own a coconut farm; Rao’s young adult years studying in America; Rao’s rise to fame and the creation of a dystopian shareholder government run on algorithms and a currency of social capital.
But all that is nested in the story of Athena, whose world unravels when she is framed for her father’s death.
Twists and turns, reveals, history, social commentary that can be heavy but not unbearably so, at least for me, a heavy dose of satire, tight, beautiful prose. The book wasn’t an unadulterated dub for me, but I loved it, warts and all.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual content
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