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malabar 's review for:
The Palace of Illusions
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
It took some time to gather my thoughts and here it is: I liked the book. Not love, and only because of one thing; the Karna-Draupadi drama that was in a way the main focus of this retelling. I know that of course the whole point of a retelling is to look at a familiar story from an unfamiliar point of view. Maybe it felt icky because I had watched the almost faithful B.R. Chopra Doordarshan adaptation and loved it. Individually, I have a lot of respect and admiration for both characters, but the romantic connection between them was weird. Also, at no point during the course of this book did I feel that Karna had any feelings towards Draupadi at all. Even the confession to Bhishma felt forced. Also, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU CONFESS IN THOSE WORDS TO AN ELDERLY, RESPECTABLE PARENTAL FIGURE SIR????
Anyway, overall, the book was great. I love female led retellings. Solid 3/5. Would recommend it if someone asked me for an Indian mythology retelling.
Edit: I missed one of my biggest gripes with the book. Draupadi was vain. She was extremely unlikeable at times. And while it was intentional, it just felt oddly superficial too. Above all, the titular Palace of Illusions (Maya Sabha; and her unhealthy attachment to it) was a MacGuffin to me.
Anyway, overall, the book was great. I love female led retellings. Solid 3/5. Would recommend it if someone asked me for an Indian mythology retelling.
Edit: I missed one of my biggest gripes with the book. Draupadi was vain. She was extremely unlikeable at times. And while it was intentional, it just felt oddly superficial too. Above all, the titular Palace of Illusions (Maya Sabha; and her unhealthy attachment to it) was a MacGuffin to me.