Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

6 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.

hanz's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Murder, and War

Moderate: Medical content

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.

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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

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Death, Misogyny, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infertility, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Acephobia/Arophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Minor: Xenophobia, Animal death, and Child abuse

destynee's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Life truly did not want me to finish this book, and I finally did! This book is honestly what I expected Circe to be. We are introduced to Kaikeyi and have time to get to know her, but unlike with Circe she truly is an advocate for women. She may have stumbled at some parts but she was very much human and even worked to look for solutions to those problems. As usual, characters made me laugh, smile, and even made me angry. I look for that in books and it was just as prominent here. Vaishnavi Patel did a great job at not only explaining and showing who Kaikeyi was but at giving her justice as well. Her story truly is heard in this novel and it is one that I will keep with me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Sexism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Medical content

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