Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

47 reviews

linhsreadinghour's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

I can’t believe this book was on my shelf for over a year. I wish I read this sooner. I was halfway through it and had already recommended it to people. This was utterly amazing. I am in awe of everything - the writing, the characters arc, the magic system, the whole feminist retelling of Kaikeyi, the portrayal of women, motherhood, sisterhood, and the sprinkle of Hindu tales, set in vibrant ancient India?! I highlighted so many feminist quotes. If you like feminist Greek retelling, don’t sleep on this. INCREDIBLE. I felt incredibly bittersweet reading this but the ending made me feel so much better. The last 100 pages of this book was gripping, it’s currently 1am. I was so hooked, it was plot twist after plot twist, I felt like I couldn’t catch a break with Kaikeyi. I was so invested and connected to Kaikeyi as we followed her life. PLEASE JUST READ THIS.

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Content Warnings

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

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.

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.

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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

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

bitter_critter's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

This was my first experience reading an Indian fiction and I can confidently say it did not disappoint. I genuinely loved that a twelve year-old child's inner thoughts sounded like that of a twelve year-old. Same for a young adult and mature adult. It really shows the natural growth of people, maintaining a sense of emotional realism and smooth, age-based transitions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Violence

glowhoya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

wish i could eat this book. impossible to put down, lush, full of wonderfully complex characters. palace intrigue + gods + magic, everything you could ever want. powerful story about connections between people and the weight of our decisions.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, and War

Minor: Death of parent and 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

julierambaeck's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I LOVE WOMEN!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Death of parent, Death, Sexism, Murder, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, and Child death

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

amaranth_wytch's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Sexism, War, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Pregnancy and Child abuse