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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
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:
Complicated
"How to tell a shattered story? By slowly becoming everybody. No. By slowly becoming everything." 🥀
She really becomes everything and unveils this story that smells a lot like loss. In this scattered and shattered story, we meet Anjum, a Hijra and Tilo, a woman who is considered strange due to her unconventional views and ways. Each has a different story of grief, with its pieces scattered across India. But they're somehow intertwined with each other.
"Death was everywhere. Death was everything. Career. Desire. Dream. Poetry. Love. Youth itself. Dying became just another way of living."
The author describes the situation in Kashmir, where bloodshed and violence seem to have become permanent residents.
Furthermore, she mentions numerous unsolved and unsolvable issues, along with what she defines the best—love.
"Love, after all, is the ingredient that separates a sacrifice from ordinary, everyday butchery."
I absolutely adore Arundhati Roy and her writing! The poetic quality and the way she directs her words never fail to amaze me. I can't remember what made me travel to Kandy after my lectures, alone, and buy this giant of a hardback book that evening, but I'm glad I did ❤️
She really becomes everything and unveils this story that smells a lot like loss. In this scattered and shattered story, we meet Anjum, a Hijra and Tilo, a woman who is considered strange due to her unconventional views and ways. Each has a different story of grief, with its pieces scattered across India. But they're somehow intertwined with each other.
"Death was everywhere. Death was everything. Career. Desire. Dream. Poetry. Love. Youth itself. Dying became just another way of living."
The author describes the situation in Kashmir, where bloodshed and violence seem to have become permanent residents.
Furthermore, she mentions numerous unsolved and unsolvable issues, along with what she defines the best—love.
"Love, after all, is the ingredient that separates a sacrifice from ordinary, everyday butchery."
I absolutely adore Arundhati Roy and her writing! The poetic quality and the way she directs her words never fail to amaze me. I can't remember what made me travel to Kandy after my lectures, alone, and buy this giant of a hardback book that evening, but I'm glad I did ❤️
there are a bunch of characters in the book and it became hard to follow their individual stories after a while and how they interweaved with one another. i don’t have a problem following characters (a song of fire and dance, ahem) but maybe it was because this book really has no plot that i started to lost interest, fast. also, i don’t enjoy books on politics and insurgencies, be it fictionalised. roy writes like a dream though....that is undisputed.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-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
Master storyteller but don’t get it into it if you don’t want to dedicate a lot of time and energy into understanding what’s going on
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Classism
I really enjoyed this story how it followed many characters down the routes of their lives and community of outsiders that become family. I also love reading stories from this geographic place written by those who live there - I felt so often transported back to my own childhood - although different places definitely so close to home. Also I loved the look Kashmir which seldom happens.
challenging
dark
sad
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:
No
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved this book - it’s a slow, beautiful read.