Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

25 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.

tinysierra's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Kaikeyi is a beautiful story. It took me a moment to really get into the book, but once I did, I felt Kaikeyi’s frustration, joy, heartache. Vaishnavi Patel did a beautiful job crafting the story through Kaikeyi’s eyes. She was such a great main character. 

Kaikeyi is aroace, which was incredibly well done. The words “aromantic” and “asexual” are not used on page, but the text is clear.
Aromantic quote:

“They thought me shy when it came to such matters, for I would sit back quietly, but in fact I had nothing to add. No such feelings for Dasharath, or any person, had ever surfaced in me. I was comfortable with my husband, loved him as a dear friend, but the pull of romance meant nothing to me. I could be happy for those in love, but I could not understand.” pg 198

Asexual quote:

”For when I thought about the acts Manthara described, or when I studied the illustrations in some of the more well-hidden recesses of the library, I felt only indifference. I had heard serving girls talk in whispers and giggles about men they found charming, or how it felt to steal a covert kiss with their betrothed. I thought of Dasharath and searched for the same desire within myself, but nothing ever emerged.” pg 98

I loved the sense of sisterhood between the wives. I loved that the children were cared for equally by all of them. It was so achingly beautiful. 

I personally liked that although there was pregnancy, it wasn’t talked about deeply.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infertility, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

margaret_k30's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Emotional abuse and Domestic abuse

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

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

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

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

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

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