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vivelarevolution's review against another edition
Kaikeyi is raped by her husband in this book and afterward it's never mentioned again. Out of nowhere, her husband is "kind" and "fair" and a "good friend." I understand that it was a different time period with different expectations but I'm not even just saying it's rape because of the age gap or power imbalance - he literally forces her to have sex after she initially resists. I'm baffled as to why this was written into the book if the author wanted to portray the husband as a good person.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
marioncromb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
fast-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? Yes
4.25
An enjoyable read and an accessible introduction to Hindu mythology/the Ramayana epic - the worldbuilding is in some sense the same mental adjustment/ treated as in any fantasy novel, you don't need to know any background beforehand, though it does add extra depth/foreshadowing to know the basic plot points of the Ramayana.
Initially i was worried about reading one of these 'feminist retellings' - there have been many that arent particularly any good, written more because its a bit of a trend.But i had none of those frustrations with this, it was very readable, and felt it had something substantially extra, but also honoring the orginial myth, to offer.
The mechanics of Kaikeyi's magic in the Binding Plane is well done, it adds an additional 'visual' element to her bonds and manipulations. My favourite bits were where she's using those skills politically, juggling lots of people's needs to gain power and help people. She was also flawed enough in a realistic way that it wasnt annoyingly mary sue or being frustratingly dense just to avoid plotholes.
Always nice to see an aroace MC, and also the strong friendships she had with the other wives as well as her husband. I also liked the way the fantasy elements were introduced slowly - at the beginning you can even get the impression that maybe the 'gods' are just religious mortals over-interpreting random occurences or gaslighting people.
Initially i was worried about reading one of these 'feminist retellings' - there have been many that arent particularly any good, written more because its a bit of a trend.But i had none of those frustrations with this, it was very readable, and felt it had something substantially extra, but also honoring the orginial myth, to offer.
The mechanics of Kaikeyi's magic in the Binding Plane is well done, it adds an additional 'visual' element to her bonds and manipulations. My favourite bits were where she's using those skills politically, juggling lots of people's needs to gain power and help people. She was also flawed enough in a realistic way that it wasnt annoyingly mary sue or being frustratingly dense just to avoid plotholes.
Always nice to see an aroace MC, and also the strong friendships she had with the other wives as well as her husband. I also liked the way the fantasy elements were introduced slowly - at the beginning you can even get the impression that maybe the 'gods' are just religious mortals over-interpreting random occurences or gaslighting people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Violence, Sexism, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Grief, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Fire/Fire injury
some_random_person_hi's review
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
I love when people retell stories in ways that uproot it from the bigoted views from the time it was written. It was kind of slow but even without having previous contact with the Ramayana, the impending sense of doom compelled me to read on and by the last ~80 pages I couldn't put the book down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, War, and Mental illness
Minor: Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Medical content, and Infidelity
del_moon's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, War, and Rape
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