Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

19 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.

lucystolethesky's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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: Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, Death, Child abuse, War, Misogyny, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Child death

Minor: Blood, Infertility, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

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

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

alexisgarcia's review

emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

i really loved this. the characters were so well rounded and i loved the development they had. the plot was so interesting and i really enjoyed reading it!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Blood, Child death, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Infertility, and Death

jenna_smuszkiewicz's review

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

I have never heard of the Ramayana, the myth this story originally comes from, or of Kaikeyi herself. I really enjoyed this story. I appreciated how much Patel seemed to add to this story in her voice. I liked the addition of magic, the happy times of

Kaikeyi raising her family

, and the flaws and growth of the characters. 

The ending did bring down my rating. I couldn't get over the things Kaikeyi didn't

didn't do in terms of acting with Rama. I wish the author had said earlier she couldn't manipulate their bonds with Rama (but she could with Lakshmana somehow?) or we had seen a conversation between Rama and Lakshmana. It just made the ending frustrating for me. I'm glad it ended on a happier note though.

So, if you are looking for a mythic retelling of a Hindu myth, this one is good. The ending wasn't as strong for me, though it did recover a bit by the finale.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, War, and Blood

serena_hien's review

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Blood, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content

stacyaj's review

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

Moderate: War and Blood

kaitlinlovesbooks's review

adventurous emotional tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Grief, Medical content, and Death

Minor: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

torturedreadersdept's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, and War

Minor: Child death and Pregnancy