Scan barcode
A review by nickymaund
Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah
4.0
I’m not going to lie, I did struggle with getting into this one, as I found it hard to relate to Meena’s (what felt like) instant love for James at the start. And given the subject matter and time period of the story, this was hard to read in parts - there’s colonisation, murder, mysogyny and abuse of wives.
I really enjoyed with the alternative version of characters in this one - I’m mostly looking at you aunt Kiran (Circe) - particularly her revenge of those sailors. But in some parts I was thoroughly frustrated with Meena staying with James after all they’d gone through - honestly he made my blood boil in parts. But then had to realign my thoughts given the time and setting - divorce was not a done thing.
This was such a good read as it combines myth and history - closely examining the horrors of colonialism. A great debut!
I really enjoyed with the alternative version of characters in this one - I’m mostly looking at you aunt Kiran (Circe) - particularly her revenge of those sailors. But in some parts I was thoroughly frustrated with Meena staying with James after all they’d gone through - honestly he made my blood boil in parts. But then had to realign my thoughts given the time and setting - divorce was not a done thing.
This was such a good read as it combines myth and history - closely examining the horrors of colonialism. A great debut!