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julesanne's review against another edition
4.0
Sad, tragic, disturbing, tender, beautifully written. Emotionally difficult to read, since the novel deals with missing children.
amberhayward's review against another edition
4.0
Very good! Very sad! Made me google a lot of Indian food!
I’m disappointed when books wrap up too neatly but also when they don’t. There no pleasing me. Four stars!
I’m disappointed when books wrap up too neatly but also when they don’t. There no pleasing me. Four stars!
nina_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
This is the author’s debut novel which she wrote after being a journalist in India reporting on child poverty. The sheer number of children that disappear in India every day is shocking and the author’s note at the end describes how this book came about.
The story is about nine year Jai and his friends Pari and Faiz who live in a slum in India. After some children go missing and the police are indifferent and don’t investigate, Jai and his friends decide to start looking for the children themselves. Jai is obsessed with the show Police Patrol so he uses the crime solving skills he has picked up to help them find answers.
The story is told from Jai’s perspective in his voice. Having a child narrator can be a tricky technique but in this case it works. It was important to see the world through Jai’s eyes, his naivety and hope alongside his fears carries the story along. This gave the story a sense of whimsy, like it was a bit of fun and the situation wasn’t very serious until the final chapters where it suddenly becomes very dark and quite shocking in a way I was not expecting.
The author portrayed the overwhelming poverty amongst the densely populated slum vividly – the noise, the colours, the smells were brought to life brilliantly. Over the course of the book the injustices and hardship faced by poor families was highlighted as was police corruption and religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims.
I loved how the writing was a mixture of English and Indian phrases. It was easy to pick up what the words meant through the sentence structure but still I googled many phrases including “djinn”. I loved this spiritual element – the children’s belief in djinn’s or spirits that can be helpful (or not) was a lovely accompaniment to the main plot.
I really enjoyed this book although there was a little bit of repetitiveness throughout the middle which slowed down the flow. In my opinion it was one of the more unique and interesting books on the #womensprizelonglist20.
The story is about nine year Jai and his friends Pari and Faiz who live in a slum in India. After some children go missing and the police are indifferent and don’t investigate, Jai and his friends decide to start looking for the children themselves. Jai is obsessed with the show Police Patrol so he uses the crime solving skills he has picked up to help them find answers.
The story is told from Jai’s perspective in his voice. Having a child narrator can be a tricky technique but in this case it works. It was important to see the world through Jai’s eyes, his naivety and hope alongside his fears carries the story along. This gave the story a sense of whimsy, like it was a bit of fun and the situation wasn’t very serious until the final chapters where it suddenly becomes very dark and quite shocking in a way I was not expecting.
The author portrayed the overwhelming poverty amongst the densely populated slum vividly – the noise, the colours, the smells were brought to life brilliantly. Over the course of the book the injustices and hardship faced by poor families was highlighted as was police corruption and religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims.
I loved how the writing was a mixture of English and Indian phrases. It was easy to pick up what the words meant through the sentence structure but still I googled many phrases including “djinn”. I loved this spiritual element – the children’s belief in djinn’s or spirits that can be helpful (or not) was a lovely accompaniment to the main plot.
I really enjoyed this book although there was a little bit of repetitiveness throughout the middle which slowed down the flow. In my opinion it was one of the more unique and interesting books on the #womensprizelonglist20.
lavoiture's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
Starts off as lighthearted caper, ends up...not.
What I loved was the fully-rounded characters. Though this was set in an Indian slum, it was about more than the slum. Fiction gives us insights and empathy into worlds we wouldn't see otherwise, and allows us to live their lives. Yes, I felt sad about the poverty; yes, I felt anger at the police's incompetence, etc, but this story was more than that.
Starts off as lighthearted caper, ends up...not.
What I loved was the fully-rounded characters. Though this was set in an Indian slum, it was about more than the slum. Fiction gives us insights and empathy into worlds we wouldn't see otherwise, and allows us to live their lives. Yes, I felt sad about the poverty; yes, I felt anger at the police's incompetence, etc, but this story was more than that.
peishantb's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story about social economical disparity and bigotry told by a precocious 9 year old boy who lives in the slums situated in the shadow of a India metropolitan city with his parents and an older sister. It is a harsh, heartless world full of sorrow and struggles seen through the eyes of a child who is inquisitive, spirited, and resilient. With Jai, we walk through the filth, breath in the smog, taste the dust between our teeth, feel the hunger in our stomach, and see the unjust play out. Also with Jai, we see the spirit and resourcefulness and determination of not just himself, but his friend, Hermione-like Pari. They are full of grit and take it all in stride. With every segment, we peered deeper into the world and the lives of people. It is a harsh story, but told and lived through with heart.
austinburns's review against another edition
4.0
as a mystery it's not great, but ultimately it's not about the mystery at all. i really liked the 9 year old perspective, it was really well done
seshat59's review against another edition
4.0
4-4.5 stars
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is fantastically written book. It took a little while for me to buy in, but once I did, I was hooked.
Told mostly from nine year old Jai’s point of view, this is anything but a children’s novel. (In this way, it kind of reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird.) Instead, using children as narrators, the Reader can read between the lines with better clarity and fully understand events and their horrific magnitude, even through Jai’s shield of innocence.
Children begin disappearing from Jai’s neighborhood. He lives in a slum in an unnamed Indian city in the shadow of many high rises, which are home to well off Indians of a different caste. Jai, who has watched a great deal of crime solving television, fancies himself the natural person to investigate the disappearance of his classmate. Enlisting his friends, Pari (who is determined to study her way out of the basti) and Faiz (who is Muslim and has to work to supplement his family’s income), the trio begin “detectiving” and trying to make sense of events and locate the missing children as well as their human or possibly djinn captors. What was initially one disappearance multiplies and apparently is made to represent what is often true events throughout India.
Anappari’s tone is just excellent; she’s taken her experience interviewing Indian slum children combined with the horrific reality of children trafficking in India and created a complex novel. The characters throughout the basti are colorful and multi-dimensional. Jai’s innocence and bravado is on point. Anaparri tackles deep issues of injustice: child trafficking, caste, racial divisions and prejudices, sexism, police corruption, etc. The novel deserves its many accolades, and I highly recommend it, even if the title and introduction make you think the trains will feature far more prominently in the narrative than they did.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is fantastically written book. It took a little while for me to buy in, but once I did, I was hooked.
Told mostly from nine year old Jai’s point of view, this is anything but a children’s novel. (In this way, it kind of reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird.) Instead, using children as narrators, the Reader can read between the lines with better clarity and fully understand events and their horrific magnitude, even through Jai’s shield of innocence.
Children begin disappearing from Jai’s neighborhood. He lives in a slum in an unnamed Indian city in the shadow of many high rises, which are home to well off Indians of a different caste. Jai, who has watched a great deal of crime solving television, fancies himself the natural person to investigate the disappearance of his classmate. Enlisting his friends, Pari (who is determined to study her way out of the basti) and Faiz (who is Muslim and has to work to supplement his family’s income), the trio begin “detectiving” and trying to make sense of events and locate the missing children as well as their human or possibly djinn captors. What was initially one disappearance multiplies and apparently is made to represent what is often true events throughout India.
Anappari’s tone is just excellent; she’s taken her experience interviewing Indian slum children combined with the horrific reality of children trafficking in India and created a complex novel. The characters throughout the basti are colorful and multi-dimensional. Jai’s innocence and bravado is on point. Anaparri tackles deep issues of injustice: child trafficking, caste, racial divisions and prejudices, sexism, police corruption, etc. The novel deserves its many accolades, and I highly recommend it, even if the title and introduction make you think the trains will feature far more prominently in the narrative than they did.
bookofcinz's review against another edition
3.0
As many as 180 children are said to go missing in India every day. Do you read that? 180 children are said to go missing in India EVERY DAY.
What an important but thoroughly engaging and entertaining read. This is what atmospheric feels like. Deepa Anappara knows how to weave a story that is well written, has a character voice that feels like he is speaking directly to you. I loved how she was able to write about an important, harsh reality while not making it trauma porn.
Well done!
What an important but thoroughly engaging and entertaining read. This is what atmospheric feels like. Deepa Anappara knows how to weave a story that is well written, has a character voice that feels like he is speaking directly to you. I loved how she was able to write about an important, harsh reality while not making it trauma porn.
Well done!
bookherd's review against another edition
4.0
I got my copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Thanks to the publisher!
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is told from the point of view of slum children. 10 year old Jai is the main protagonist, and his friends Pari and Faiz, and his sister Runu all play major parts in the story. There are gangs of children who scavenge through garbage for an adult who gives them food, and there are families like Jai's who are living precariously on low wages in the slums, but have so far managed to keep themselves together. Nearby are the "hi-fi" apartment buildings where the well-off live, and where many of the slum residents work in domestic service.
In this story, children from the slum where Jai lives have started to go missing. Jai, who is a fan of TV detective shows, thinks that the police are not investigating as vigorously as they should, and decides that he and his friends can talk to the people the police aren't interviewing and ask the questions the police aren't asking. Over the course of the story, we become acquainted with the people Jai knows, the place where he lives and the conditions there. As more children go missing, the community becomes agitated, and Jai's confidence that he can find out what is happening wanes. Interspersed through the book are the stories that people from the community tell themselves to bring comfort, usually featuring the spirits of the dead who are watching out for the living in their times of need.
The author's postscript on this novel explains that in her years as a journalist in India she encountered many families whose children had gone missing, and that the issue stayed with her even when she moved away from her home country. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is 100% a novel, though, not a piece of reporting. Jai is a wonderful narrator, with enough understanding of his situation that his perspective is enlightening, but with very definite limitations. His emotional progression through the story is touching. The inclusion of the "saint" stories and the djinns accentuate how vulnerable these people are, but also add otherworldly beauty to an otherwise grim landscape.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is told from the point of view of slum children. 10 year old Jai is the main protagonist, and his friends Pari and Faiz, and his sister Runu all play major parts in the story. There are gangs of children who scavenge through garbage for an adult who gives them food, and there are families like Jai's who are living precariously on low wages in the slums, but have so far managed to keep themselves together. Nearby are the "hi-fi" apartment buildings where the well-off live, and where many of the slum residents work in domestic service.
In this story, children from the slum where Jai lives have started to go missing. Jai, who is a fan of TV detective shows, thinks that the police are not investigating as vigorously as they should, and decides that he and his friends can talk to the people the police aren't interviewing and ask the questions the police aren't asking. Over the course of the story, we become acquainted with the people Jai knows, the place where he lives and the conditions there. As more children go missing, the community becomes agitated, and Jai's confidence that he can find out what is happening wanes. Interspersed through the book are the stories that people from the community tell themselves to bring comfort, usually featuring the spirits of the dead who are watching out for the living in their times of need.
The author's postscript on this novel explains that in her years as a journalist in India she encountered many families whose children had gone missing, and that the issue stayed with her even when she moved away from her home country. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is 100% a novel, though, not a piece of reporting. Jai is a wonderful narrator, with enough understanding of his situation that his perspective is enlightening, but with very definite limitations. His emotional progression through the story is touching. The inclusion of the "saint" stories and the djinns accentuate how vulnerable these people are, but also add otherworldly beauty to an otherwise grim landscape.
cristelle_snyman's review against another edition
4.0
7/10 Audiobook narrated by: Indira Varma, Himesh Patel, Antonio Aakeel