The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
kelly_e's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Title: Honor
Author: Thrity Umrigar
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: January 4, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Immersive • Profound • Unforgettable
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.
💠T H O U G H T S
When Honor was announced as a Reese's pick for January 2022 it immediately caught my attention. After reading the synopsis, I was certain it was one of her picks that I would jive with. As the year went on I heard some really good things about it, but it took me until late 2023 to finally get my hands on a copy.
I was 100% invested, not bring able to put this book down, and reading it in its entirety in one sitting. It is heartbreakingly beautiful and complex. Yet despite all of the pain, it remains a story of enduring love and hope. Through her prose, Thrity brings into focus so many dichotomies (hate and love, oppression and privilege), intertwining comparisons between the western world and rural India. We get a look into two very different women. Meena's story is absolutely devastating, and I wanted to know Smita's family story for escaping India.
Oh but, it was really the last 'book' which dug itself into my mind. The graphic depictions of caste hierarchies, cultural conservatism, misogyny, public shaming, torture that continue to be the reality faced by so many to this day was deeply unsettling to read. It filled me with sadness. It filled me with rage. It filled me with empathy. It made me question humanity. I read a physical copy while listening to the audio, and this created a completely immersive experience.
My one quibble would be how it ended. I think Smita and Mohan's future would've been better left open-ended. Offering an answer reminded me of society's inability to sit with uncomfortableness. And in doing so it took away from the power of what came before.
Every now and then there is a book that touches me in ways I am not anticipating. Honor was one of those books. It shines a light on India's humanitarian crisis. Some of the hard-hitting and disturbing scenes will forever be etched into my memory. It is certainly the type of book you need to be in the right frame of mind for. I am definitely interested in exploring Thrity's backlist and picking up her 2023 release as well.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like realistic fiction
• anyone looking for memorable female protagonists
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Sometimes, it seemed to Smita that the history of the world was written in female blood."
"As children, we were taught to be afraid of tigers and lions. Nobody taught us what I know today - the most dangerous animal in this world is a man with wounded pride."Â
Author: Thrity Umrigar
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: January 4, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Immersive • Profound • Unforgettable
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.
💠T H O U G H T S
When Honor was announced as a Reese's pick for January 2022 it immediately caught my attention. After reading the synopsis, I was certain it was one of her picks that I would jive with. As the year went on I heard some really good things about it, but it took me until late 2023 to finally get my hands on a copy.
I was 100% invested, not bring able to put this book down, and reading it in its entirety in one sitting. It is heartbreakingly beautiful and complex. Yet despite all of the pain, it remains a story of enduring love and hope. Through her prose, Thrity brings into focus so many dichotomies (hate and love, oppression and privilege), intertwining comparisons between the western world and rural India. We get a look into two very different women. Meena's story is absolutely devastating, and I wanted to know Smita's family story for escaping India.
Oh but, it was really the last 'book' which dug itself into my mind. The graphic depictions of caste hierarchies, cultural conservatism, misogyny, public shaming, torture that continue to be the reality faced by so many to this day was deeply unsettling to read. It filled me with sadness. It filled me with rage. It filled me with empathy. It made me question humanity. I read a physical copy while listening to the audio, and this created a completely immersive experience.
My one quibble would be how it ended. I think Smita and Mohan's future would've been better left open-ended. Offering an answer reminded me of society's inability to sit with uncomfortableness. And in doing so it took away from the power of what came before.
Every now and then there is a book that touches me in ways I am not anticipating. Honor was one of those books. It shines a light on India's humanitarian crisis. Some of the hard-hitting and disturbing scenes will forever be etched into my memory. It is certainly the type of book you need to be in the right frame of mind for. I am definitely interested in exploring Thrity's backlist and picking up her 2023 release as well.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like realistic fiction
• anyone looking for memorable female protagonists
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Sometimes, it seemed to Smita that the history of the world was written in female blood."
"As children, we were taught to be afraid of tigers and lions. Nobody taught us what I know today - the most dangerous animal in this world is a man with wounded pride."Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Sexism, Murder, Violence, Torture, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Racism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Cursing
death of partner, mutilation, povertyjenpurlteach's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Death
Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, and Islamophobia
Minor: Alcohol and Cursing
caseydmc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Honor is a fast-paced examination of how the concept of honor, and specifically, defending honor, shapes (and haunts) people and whole communities by weaving together the journeys of vastly different characters of different levels of privilege. The author provides startling, and sometimes sad and horrifying, depiction of impoverished and insulated communities where misogyny, religious extremism, and political corruption wreak devastation on marginalized people, particularly girls and women, sit alongside wealthy, industrialized urban environments where some of the same problems remain, but manifests in sometimes more subtle ways. Â
The climax and conclusion felt rushed and maybe a little too neatly sewn up compared to the trauma the main characters just survived, although readers will find a hopeful, pleasant ending to bring them back from the prior darkness. Such content at times risks feeling like "trauma porn" or "poverty porn" for Western audiences, although the author is careful to give the most prominent victim voice and agency by shifting into first-person POV for her backstory, as well as mention parallels between the horrors of misogyny and religious fundamentalism that occur in full modern Western worlds. Â
An enjoyable and thoughtful can't-put-down read.Â
The climax and conclusion felt rushed and maybe a little too neatly sewn up compared to the trauma the main characters just survived, although readers will find a hopeful, pleasant ending to bring them back from the prior darkness. Such content at times risks feeling like "trauma porn" or "poverty porn" for Western audiences, although the author is careful to give the most prominent victim voice and agency by shifting into first-person POV for her backstory, as well as mention parallels between the horrors of misogyny and religious fundamentalism that occur in full modern Western worlds. Â
An enjoyable and thoughtful can't-put-down read.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, Classism, and Racism
Moderate: Cursing
bookishnookish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
This book has shattered my heart. I finished it and can't stop crying, not only because of how sad it is, but because no matter how hard I want this to be mere fiction, this is a reality. Gender biases, classism, casteism, corruption - show up time and again. So many of us are lucky to have been raised in cities, moved to more modern countries, but when you read Honor, your heart will ache because some of these ills have touched your life too and yet you are the lucky one.Â
I grew up in a Hindu household that acknowledged and accepted all other religions. We went to church on Sunday with my grandparents, who were Christian, we celebrated Eid with my parents' Muslim friends, we celebrated every festival, spoke 4 languages, and for the longest time, I thought the entire world was like that, multicultura and accepting. I quickly grew up to see reality, but I staunchly remained as open minded as I could. I married a Catholic, mixed race man, who is a wonderful human being, but not once can I forget that I get to make this choice now because we were lucky and because of the life our parents made for us, the privileges and opportunities provided to us. So many of my countrymen and especially women do not have this choice.Â
I applaud Thrity Umrigar for shedding light on a very difficult topic. I am sure this book is going to have its naysayers, but there is a lot of love in this book too. I was reminded of all the places, people, and foods I love and for that, I am so thankful.Â
I grew up in a Hindu household that acknowledged and accepted all other religions. We went to church on Sunday with my grandparents, who were Christian, we celebrated Eid with my parents' Muslim friends, we celebrated every festival, spoke 4 languages, and for the longest time, I thought the entire world was like that, multicultura and accepting. I quickly grew up to see reality, but I staunchly remained as open minded as I could. I married a Catholic, mixed race man, who is a wonderful human being, but not once can I forget that I get to make this choice now because we were lucky and because of the life our parents made for us, the privileges and opportunities provided to us. So many of my countrymen and especially women do not have this choice.Â
I applaud Thrity Umrigar for shedding light on a very difficult topic. I am sure this book is going to have its naysayers, but there is a lot of love in this book too. I was reminded of all the places, people, and foods I love and for that, I am so thankful.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Classism, and Bullying
Minor: Torture
andrea_gagne's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Violence, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Sexual violence
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