Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

62 reviews

kayfab's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

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

4.5

What a fascinating book! Would recommend to fans of The Witch’s Heart, Ariadne, or other books that recenter classics around the women often forgotten or vilified in those original works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, Death, and Misogyny

Minor: Abandonment

moonlitreading_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

“Before this story was Rama’s, it was mine.”

I have no knowledge of the Ramayana prior to reading Kaikeyi so this review is based on the latter. First things firts, I loved the writing!!! There wasn’t really a dull moment for me. I really enjoyed the first parts of the book with Kaikeyi’s childhood. As an eldest daughter with only brothers I found myself sympathizing with Kaikeyi. I adored her relationship with Yudhajit so much, and their bond was really great. The Binding Plane was really interesting, and I love anything magic. I like that it didn’t let Kaikeyi do everything she wants with it. I like that there were limitations with how much she could get away with using it.

The latter parts weren’t as enjoyable to me as the first ones but I didn’t hate them. Sure, the characters (men) pissed me off but beyond that the storyline was still good. I did love the whole Women’s Council thing because women deserve rights as much as men do (f the sages). Kaikeyi’s role as a mother made me sad because all she wanted was for them to be the best people they could be. I understand why her sons acted the way they did, but that doesn’t mean I should like them. Right?

Overall, Kaikeyi was a fantastic read and I had fun with it.

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Content Warnings

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

kw05's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexism

cardanrry's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: War, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Grief and Domestic abuse

snohwhyman's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

readwithria's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Kaikeyi takes the Hindu epic Ramayana and gives us its prologue through the eyes of our titular character. This book is wonderful, and full of characters whose bonds can literally be seen waxing and waning.

I loved so much about this book! The pacing is excellent, especially given how many years this book spans. There are so many wonderful relationships in this book, and seeing how they change over the decades was so interesting. Kaikeyi is such an ambitious woman, and her strength was apparent throughout her journey. I loved the magic, and how it was and wasn’t used. It really was a fantastic book.

Why wasn’t it a five star read? I don’t know. It just didn’t give me the ~vibes~ I guess, but that’s nothing to do with the book and everything to do with me. I loved this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys retellings, fantasy, or historical fiction.

This was a marvelous story of power and connection and fate. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 4.5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence and Death

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent

breadwitchery's review

adventurous reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death of parent, and Death