Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Honor by Thrity Umrigar

3 reviews

criticalgayze's review

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

3.0

This was the first book from my 30 before 30 list, a project I curated by getting 30 book recommendations from friends to read before my 30th birthday coming up this December.

I will start with the lessons I learned from this book that I hope to carry into my 30s:
  • Standing up for yourself and your needs is always the right decision
  • It is never inconvenient to build and maintain community

Now, for my actual review:

If the book had been just the first 2/3s of the final text, I would maybe have given it somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. Like many Reese picks, it was a little on the nose with its themes and values, but it was intense and emotionally affecting in the way it seemed to want to be. I did feel like it was still largely westernized in its lens, but I thought that was fine, especially as the author has similar cultural connections from my understanding.

The book started to lose me when Smita suddenly realized, seemingly out of nowhere, that she was starting to love India again, despite having had no positive experiences other than her budding relationship with Mohan. When a book struggles that bad with setting up where it wants to go, I know it is going to lose me. But even then, I didn't think I'd fall off as bad as I did.

This book lost me completely after Meena's death.
The book does a little grappling with the traumatic fallout of this event, but it then makes a pretty abrupt tonal shift into romance in a way that almost felt offensive. Besides the presence of Abru, the book departs from the social justice story that had been the spine of its first 2/3s in a way that felt like Meena's trauma was just a way to bring Mohan and Smita together.

I also found it interesting that Smita never resolves the truth of her work with her father, who is dropped fairly quickly after the "revelation" at the start of Book Two.

This, combined with Daisy Jones and Crawdads, confirms for me that I am probably not the reader for Reese's literary fiction picks. We'll just have to agree to disagree there.
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caseydmc's review against another edition

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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.  

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.  

An enjoyable and thoughtful can't-put-down read. 
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laurxndxx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley, Thrity Umrigar and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Honour is an excruciating book to read, but only because it opens your eyes to the harsh reality other people are facing in different countries. I think this book should be taught in schools to make others aware of their privilege.


Indian American journalist Sima arrives back in India since the time her family were driven out and moved to America years before. She ends up following the story of Meena, a woman who was burnt, and her husband murdered. All because of his religion and her culture. Reporting on her story Sima becomes aware of how unfair the justice system can be, and unlocks similar memories to her childhood.It’s a heartbreaking story and is a one that will stay with me forever. 


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