Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

38 reviews

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved so much about this Ramayana expansion and partial retelling. The highs and lows are dramatic and I love this book for it. I also love that the title character’s mind is where we exclusively reside in for this retelling given she’s usually depicted as a wicked stepmother type in many Ramayana variations. Seeing her extended family, early days of her marriage, her bonds with her fellow wives and the community of her adopted home Ayodhya. Seeing her build bonds and falter in others. Seeing her reconnect with others across time. I liked the recontextualizinv of Ravana too. The depiction of Rama is done for a specific reason and I kind of loved that surprising shift. I’m sure it ruffled some but I think fine, it’s merely one retelling so if you dislike it, disregard it. The family bonds really define the narrative here and it’s so good to read through. The characterizations of Kaikeyi’s fellow wives could have been expanded but then I guess it would take away from being solely Kaikeyi’s point of view. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Bullying, Classism, Grief, Racism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, and War

The question of free will/manipulation is central to the abilities used by the title character and an few other individuals. The title character is asexual so depending on how you see it, the few sex scenes in the plot could be understood in a few ways. There is definite misogyny throughout the book, even from males that are mostly supportive of progressing rights for women. There’s a specific point in showing it that way. Going against the patriarchy and redefining society happens in time.

wlreed312's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: War

Minor: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

margaret_k30's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Emotional abuse and Domestic abuse

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.75

A truly special fantasy epic. I am not familiar with the source mythology so I can't comment on the faithfulness of the retelling but I absolutely adored this as it's own story. I love the exploration of motherhood and womanhood in this story and what it means to do things for the greater good even if you cannot do everything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, and War

Minor: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Blood

samburkhouse's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, Death, and War

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

poisoned_icecream's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Domestic abuse

not_asha01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

madzie's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Epic. Emotional. Poignant. Patel weaves an irresistible story with characters so compelling you will want to follow them everywhere. She retells a classic story with enough innovative twists to blow your mind and make you reconsider the story in a new light. Though rest assured, you don't need to know about the Ramayana to enjoy this novel. Helped along by her vivid, voice-filled, yet easy-to-read writing, Patel approaches relevant topics of what it is really like to be a woman in society and how women have been reclaiming their stories for generations. However, thankfully Patel never stoops to tropes of making women the villains of each others' stories, instead highlighting the power of their relationships and friendships. Her approach to ideas of power and how humans have handled it reaches deep and offers new insights. On top of it all, Patel perfectly entwines queer themes in a way we desperately need them, highlighting ace and aro realities and how fulfilling our lives and how epic stories can be without romance. Circe used to be my favorite retelling, but I have to say this book has blown it out of first place (with love). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Death of parent and War

tahsintries's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: War

Minor: Domestic abuse

zareenj's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Misogyny

Minor: Domestic abuse