Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

La artista de henna: Una mujer en busca de sus sueños en la ciudad de Jaipur by Alka Joshi

12 reviews

chelle22's review against another edition

challenging dark sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

kris_tea516's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Book 81 of 2024

“The Henna Artist” by Alka Joshi

5/5 ⭐️ 

Set in Jaipur, India in the 1950’s, this is the story of a woman who left her abusive husband to make herself a better life. The unexpected arrival of a sister she never knew existed upends life & disrupts her plans. The years of work she spent building up a reputation of an expert henna artist & medicine woman is on the line. 

This was a beautifully written story of how life never goes the way we plan but it also a redemption story for almost every character involved. It is also a story of how none of us build a life outside of community. Through our journey people help us along sometimes in a benevolent spirit & sometimes with evil intent that leads to growth in character. No one in this story is entirely good or entirely bad…well, maybe one character…

I loved this book but I will warn that it may not be for everyone. There is some pretty intense scenes & topics discussed that are definitely not for kids but also many adults might prefer to skip this book so I will list some trigger warnings:

• emotional, mental, physical, & sexual abuse (at least one horrifyingly graphic mention of sexual abuse)
• Heavy discussion & focus at times around abortion
• One very descriptive sex scene
• Prostitution
• Abandonment
• Infertility, miscarriage & still birth
• Death of a parent
• Arranged marriages
• Depression
• Suicide
• Infidelity
• Sexual harassment 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, Islamophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

nikrib's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Classism

larika's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

betag1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

kw05's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Sexual harassment

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

this was very heartfelt and also informative. i really enjoyed this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

Minor: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

zakyya's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

hopeful sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This is June's choice for the local book club I'm in. I was quite interested in it based on the description, but wow is this book slow paced. Not a lot happens until the climax of the story, and even that is pretty short lived. 

I was alright with this at first though. I found the first third of the book to be fascinating as I learned about henna, the caste system of India, and their everyday lives. I rather liked the main character, Lakshmi, so it was interesting to see how she survived after running away as a teenager. 

However, her 13 year old sister, Radha, changed a lot on how I feel about this book. At first she was a very sympathetic character. She had lost her parents, discovered her long-lost sister, and had nothing to her name. She quickly starts acting like a spoiled brat though, and no matter what Lakshmi sacrifices it isn't good enough for her. I was so annoyed at how this selfish child, who wanted to act like an adult, was causing so many problems that I just couldn't enjoy the book anymore. 

The writing style is very descriptive and vibrant. This was ok for the first half of the book, but by the end I was a bit bored, and found myself skimming over the excessive descriptions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Bullying and Sexual assault