Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

46 reviews

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I liked the feminine approach to this story and how Patel structured Kaikeyi. The story is split up into four parts to follow four major plot points of her life and how every small decision still led to Kaikeyi’s fate. 

This took me a while to finish because it was a book I really needed to pay attention to the details to give it the comprehension (on my end) that it deserves. Beautiful writing and retelling of Kaikeyi’s story.

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I enjoyed this book for it's take on a mythology that not a lot of people know about! I love exploring different mythologies and learning about different cultures through reading. This one is a good one for my historical fiction collection.

The character of Kaikeyi is a very complicated individual, she has these abilities that she came upon out of know where and she tries to use this power to help her family and her sons but she has also used this power to use for herself. To get what she wanted for herself or to get into a position using these abilities. It was a journey to see her come to grips with her abilities and stop relying on them as heavily as she did when she first got them. She had to learn fate worked in other ways that she couldn't even control and sometimes you just have to let them happen. 

The complexity of the other characters like Kaikeyi's sons and her husband along with the wives she shared him with. Especially with the sons one in particular is a very central figure in mythology and this story. I also liked the way that Kaikeyi tried to go against the gender norms of her time period and country. She tried to remedy this by creating a counsel of women to help make decisions for the village. Giving women a purpose besides just what roles they were given. 

Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend this to people who are interested in learning about a culture they don't know about and reading a retelling that has nice little twists to it!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What a beautiful book! I have always loved retellings (even when I don't know the original story very well) and this one was gripping and immersive and impossible to put down. I loved every character (even the hateable ones – give me all the complex, three-dimensional antagonists!) but I especially loved our titular character Kaiykeyi (and I love that she is queer!! Aroace rep!! It will never stop feeling magical to see my experiences as an ace person reflected in media. I feel buoyant every single time.) 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark 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: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional hopeful 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: No

My first by Patel and one I really enjoyed! While the story felt like it dragged a little bit at the beginning, some of that detail was necessary to fully portray Kaikeyi as a three-dimensional character, which was the primary aim of the novel. I also appreciated how much it resisted and actively worked agains some of the ways in which the Ramayana is conceptualised today in Indian culture and politics. Even though the feminist angle felt a little heavy-handed in some places, I am deeply impressed with the work that Kaikeyi is doing and its ability to portray her as messy, real and determined and not defined by one seemingly bad decision as history has portrayed her.

CWs: Sexism/misogyny; war; injury; death; abandonment; brief mentions of child death 

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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: Yes

this book was (excuse my language) FUCKING AMAZING. kaikeyi is such an interesting character and i loved seeing her growth through so many different situations as yuvradnyi, then radnyi, and then mother, all while being "godsforsaken" it made for such an interesting character.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings