Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara

20 reviews

ceecee9093's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death and Domestic abuse

dgrachel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a novel that broke my heart. When a classmate goes missing, 9 year old Jai, who is obsessed with detective shows on TV, gathers his two best friends to investigate the case. As other children go missing, Jai and his friends take bigger risks to try to discover the truth behind the disappearances. Told from Jai’s perspective, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, is both amusing and horrifying. As an indictment of the treatment of the poor and “other” in India, the novel sheds light on how the poor are barely considered human, but it also showcases the resilience of the people, particularly the children. Happiness and hope weaves throughout the suffering. It’s a beautiful, if heartbreaking, novel and I cannot recommend it enough. Also, the audiobook is phenomenal. I switched between audio and print, and the narrator is fantastic. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

enjoyjournaling's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.75

I liked Jai, a young boy, as the narrator. It gives a darker story that childlike obliviousness that glosses over some of the worse parts of the world. I thought the pacing was a little slower, but it’s clear the author has spent time in communities like the one she’s written about here. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

dbear's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

womanwill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Excrement, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Stalking

rozereads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Beautifully written from a 9-year-old's point of view.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Islamophobia and Kidnapping

According to the author's afterword content -- 130 children disappear everyday in India.

fionac326's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Religious bigotry

kmaller's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

deedireads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads

TL;DR REVIEW:

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a moving story about tragedy and class in India. The plot moves slowly, but it sparkles with character and voice.

For you if: You like character-driven novels that confront reality and aren’t afraid of grief.

FULL REVIEW:

“We need ghosts more than anyone else, maybe. Because we are railway station boys without parents and homes. If we are still here, it is only because we know how to summon ghosts at will.”

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line was longlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize, which is what landed it in my lap. This is exactly why I love reading literary prize lists — they help me read books that I might have taken years to prioritize otherwise. I really liked Djinn Patrol, and I’m glad I read it.

Inspired by real events, the book takes place in a metropolitan area of India, primarily in a sort of slum neighborhood where the main character, a young boy named Jai, lives. When one of his classmates goes missing — and then more and more children start to disappear — Jai summons all his knowledge from watching police shows and recruits his two best friends to help him solve the case. This takes them all over the city, giving readers the opportunity to witness and reflect on issues of class, education, policing, Islamophobia, mob mentality, family, grief, and more.

This book is beautifully written, and it’s a particular triumph in character and voice. Jai is such a vivid narrator, one we love implicitly and root for vigorously. We see his neighborhood and journey through eyes wide open — as we read, we truly are him in a way that not all first-person novels achieve.

I did think that the pacing was a bit slow, and I spent time wondering what the purpose of different scenes was. I think that’s because I really expected it to be driven more by the novel’s central mystery of the missing children. And indeed, whenever I got to one of the chapters that showed what had happened to them right before they were snatched, I became a lot more invested. But by the end, I realized that even though it’s a mystery, it’s really more about setting and character than plot.

I may reread this someday; I think it’s the kind of book that will give you a little bit more every time you read it.



TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Alcoholism; Kidnapping; Child abuse; Death of a child / grief; Islamophobia

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Islamophobia

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Excrement, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief