Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

21 reviews

sakisreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-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 was so pleasantly surprised that this was by Balli Kaur Jaswal, because I recently read ‘Now You See Us’ and loved it ✨

This story was SUBLIME. Lighthearted moments with touching parts in between, this is definitely worth a read ❤️ 

I’ll discuss some of my favourite parts but there’ll be some spoilers so I’ve put them in my spoiler tags ✨

Spoiler

I was so delighted that Nikki had her happy endings; getting justice for Maya (or starting to), finding love with Jason, making friends with Kulwinder etc. I was so invested in her and her widow friends, I kept rooting for them 🥳

Spoiler

Another one! The murder by Jaggi and the assault by him and Tarampal was very upsetting, but I was so happy when it brought the widows back in again 🥰 Arvinder and Sheena were two particular favourites; badassery and femininity are not mutually exclusive 🤷🏻‍♀️

Spoiler

Asian mums express their love in the same ways and so this excerpt got me 🥹 

‘Grace's gesture stirred something in Nikki. She couldit believe how much she missed Mum all of a sudden - Mum who had pushed money into her hand the same insistent way the first time she returned home for dinner after moving out.’

It’s 4.5 out of 5 stars for me ✨ Big fan! Thank you 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Rape, and Misogyny

miss_fish's review

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, Murder, Rape, and Racism

haley49's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book! Was! So! Good! 
I read it in a day. I loved all the sweet ensemble characters, the growth of the leads, the pacing, the themes. There were so many valuable themes throughout the story but none felt rushed or overly forced. They felt like a natural exploration of the Punjabi community’s experience in the UK and beyond. I loved how casually muslim they were and how the different characters were different ranges of religious. It felt so realistic. Everyone’s emotions seemed so realistic and the relationships between the women were gold. Obviously bits and pieces were exaggerated but all the women felt authentic to the spirit of “auntie”  culture. 

I really appreciated the discussion on middle aged and older women and their importance to communities. Their emotions, sexuality, education, desires, and even gossip were all valid parts of them; and thus essential elements of their community. It was a sweet lesson that a person’s value does not decrease with age nor does it depend upon status, money, gender, education, birth place, children, romantic relationships (present or not), etc. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Sexism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Hate crime, Pedophilia, Car accident, Physical abuse, Racism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Addiction, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, and Sexual violence

Minor: Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Infertility, and Lesbophobia

mazzeroo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Grief and Religious bigotry

Minor: Gaslighting, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

foulone's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Fire/Fire injury

sabs98's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Though this book focuses on the Punjabi community in Southall, England, the themes and traditions discussed are relevant to South Asian communities everywhere. The book is defined by: the heartwarming account of a young, female, second generation Punjabi immigrant finding community in an unexpected way; the empowerment of Punjabi widows, a group typically ostracized from their society, as they unleash their creative voices and acquire a renewed level of respect from others; the desperate and often disturbing lengths people will go to in the name of protecting honor; the way children of immigrants have to deal with the opposing forces of the Western lifestyle they grow up around and conservative or traditional ways enforced by their parents.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Grief, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Rape, and Stalking

alishamegan's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Well there's a lot of stuff stuff I could say. Idk why this is tagged as lighthearted as it is not! 

Definitely makes me upset and angry, though I hope that things are not as dire for the women in the community as this book depicts, but that just be me trying to uncharacteristically optimistic about the lives and status of these women. I mean, there is a Southall Black Sisters for a reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Racism, Misogyny, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape and Pedophilia

CW for honour killings in addition to mentioned triggers

kathrun006's review

challenging funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

The book is not an anthology. It is about women taking a creative writing class. Most of the stories they write in the class are erotic, but the plot of the book is not centered around sex.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Murder, Child death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Cancer, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

This book deals with the theme of arranged vs. forced marriage so it contains mentions of forced marriage and child marriage. The characters who were married as children are adults and widows when the story takes place, but it is relevant to the story. The only content warnings which are described in a scene are fire and fire injury and interpersonal violence. The violence described is a man attacking a woman. I have included misogyny as an explicit content warning because it is a major theme of the book, but the book is mainly about women supporting eachother and finding their voices in a misogynistic world so do not think that the book itself is misogynistic.

diana_raquel's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

“Out of all the opportunities Britain offered us, choice was the most important thing.”

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I didn't expect it to be one of my favorite books of 2022. I loved it! It's perfect!!! Totally recommend it!!

The plot and characters are well-developed and well-structured, and the plot twists happen at the right time, making the story truly interesting and entertaining. 

I may have been reticent, especially taking into account the hype, but I totally recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Infidelity, Xenophobia, and Hate crime

Minor: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Toxic relationship

izbizedgerton's review

emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I really liked this book!!! I loved how it’s not really that hot- mostly just about sisterhood and expressing your sexuality as a woman. It was lighthearted, silly, and the ending was very feel-good. My only hang up was how did Nikki gain respect as a teacher and what teaching was she actually doing??? Seemed like she was there learning and honestly Sheena was the real teacher. I liked the threads of community gossip that culminated to a bigger plot line. I couldn’t predict it either, which I always love. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Violence

Minor: Death of parent and Rape