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A review by emoweaboo
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.5
i love women so much
--
In a clever story wrapped in dark humour, Shroff takes us along with Geeta and half a dozen women from her villages on a journey to become "self-made widows" and get rid of useless, abusive men. A surprisingly funny read, but that I had a tremendously hard time getting into it. I was losing hope around the 45% mark, but then the pace suddenly picked up, and the story went way faster and became way more interesting. Another hindrance was that the audiobook reader had an odd way of pronouncing Gujarati names and bits in Hindi - which took a lot of patience to get over. But besides that, the story is original, empowering and puts forward the importance of community. Female friendships are truly wonderful.
--
In a clever story wrapped in dark humour, Shroff takes us along with Geeta and half a dozen women from her villages on a journey to become "self-made widows" and get rid of useless, abusive men. A surprisingly funny read, but that I had a tremendously hard time getting into it. I was losing hope around the 45% mark, but then the pace suddenly picked up, and the story went way faster and became way more interesting. Another hindrance was that the audiobook reader had an odd way of pronouncing Gujarati names and bits in Hindi - which took a lot of patience to get over. But besides that, the story is original, empowering and puts forward the importance of community. Female friendships are truly wonderful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Xenophobia
Minor: Vomit, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Infertility, and Police brutality