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_inge's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
This pulled me in from the first page. Murugan writes beautifully; the animals are both very human yet still behave like animals would. Because of its political themes I get why this got compared to Animal Farm, but it’s so much more; there’s Indian folklore (which I’m still trying to figure out the meaning of), Poonachi isn’t a caricature or allegory but is used to make a wider point about empathy and the caste system, and there is a general political commentary about the influence of ‘the regiment’. It was all so balanced and executed incredibly well.
I would stress that some of the themes discussed here are often very dark and very descriptive, it’s not a ‘light’ political commentary but discusses things like (sexual) abuse, starvation and includes detailed descriptions of goats being slaughtered. I initially picked this up because of the cute goat on the front and this definitely wasn’t that. I’d say it was better for it, but just keep that in mind if you intend on reading this.
I would stress that some of the themes discussed here are often very dark and very descriptive, it’s not a ‘light’ political commentary but discusses things like (sexual) abuse, starvation and includes detailed descriptions of goats being slaughtered. I initially picked this up because of the cute goat on the front and this definitely wasn’t that. I’d say it was better for it, but just keep that in mind if you intend on reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Classism, and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship
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