Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

21 reviews

trippalli's review

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adventurous reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

An interesting and perplexing adventurous drama with lots of drugs and an oddly magical addiction to drinking lemonade me with melted refined gold, not any gold but the gold of fine jewelry full of memories, hopes and power from previous owners and the original goldsmoth's skills and intentions?

Also lots of soap opera drama on love relationships, so many I lost track.. Overall the characters are seeking to make something of themselves and find love.

It seems to have a mostly happy ending although I admit I didn't follow all the drama through it's twists and turns and I lost some of the plot points along the way.. I might've also gotten distracted a bit.. But it was good in a miriad of ways. Especially strong character development...
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amphytrite's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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debbitomsk's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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madihammond's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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elykeepthefaith's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Every single piece of this book was well thought out and masterfully executed. When you start the book it feels like you several different stories are being told and then Sathian discreetly weaves all these different plot points together to create this emotional and raw telling of the immigrant story. The story dissects so many facets of the American Dream and what that means to the South Asian community. One of the things that really sets this book apart is the use of magical realism. If you are going into this book expecting a full blown fantasy, the magic element will not satisfy. The “alchemy” aspect of the book is a thread in the larger plot of the book. I loved it from begin to end!
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mandkips's review

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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eli_is_trying's review

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

3.0

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kazli's review

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adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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buntatamilis's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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annreadsabook's review

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an interesting and overall enjoyable novel—it looks at the experiences of Indian Americans and the many ways that immigrant experiences are filled with striving, dreaming, and dealing with the expectations of one’s family. And here’s the twist: the main character, Neil (Neeraj) has stumbled upon his classmate and her mother cooking up a concoction that gives whoever drinks it the success they desire. 

I think this book is sometimes marketed as being a “fun” read and I’m not sure I agree with that…the magical realism element itself is fun, I suppose, but most of the substance is quite serious and weighty. In general, I found this a creative tale that interweaves magical realism with real lived experiences. I will say that Neil was not a particularly likable character (I feel that was a goal of Sathian’s, though) and there was one early plot point that kind of confused me and felt incredible even when I suspended my disbelief…Ultimately, a solid read but I’m not sure that this “wowed” me in the way I was hoping.

If you’re interested in magical realism, this might be for you! Please do check out the content warnings for this as there is some heavy content.
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