therkive's review
5.0
Kandaswamy has a way of writing that is a protest- a protest to educate to live to grieve to show the ugly violence in the world that the world tries to ignore. and every time, I am speechless and left with an unfathomable sadness.
frogjumpsin's review
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
jochno's review
1.0
I would consider this a book that falls into the category 'truly, truly not for me', some may get a lot from it and I would never say 'do not read it' but did I like it myself? Honestly no, not at all.
The format was interesting (I have never read a book formatted in this way) but I found that this was the most exciting bit about it, the story itself was fairly self-indulgent in many ways and failed to say very much. The introspection in the margins detailing the author's personal perspective at times felt tortured but not in a productive way: detailed navel gazing but not necessarily profound thought or insight.
Meena Kandasamy can quite clearly write truly excellent prose and poetry but the main narrative was quite a plain story about an interracial couple, I am not sure I really came to truly know the characters by the end, perhaps that is the point.
There are two main characters Maya and Karim who are in a strained marriage: I think I would have enjoyed it more if there were more risks with the central narrative or a focus on one particular part of their marriage. However it felt like it was too vague an overview of their lives over one-hundred pages rather than anything elucidatory and so as I finished the final page it more felt that Maya and Karim were a pair of narrative tools rather than two real people; again perhaps this is the point that I have missed.
That being said I did learn things from the book about history and modern society etc. I am always grateful to learn something in a book but I did not enjoy reading it. I am sure some people however will really enjoy it so for a one star review quite a positive one but I really did not like it.
The format was interesting (I have never read a book formatted in this way) but I found that this was the most exciting bit about it, the story itself was fairly self-indulgent in many ways and failed to say very much. The introspection in the margins detailing the author's personal perspective at times felt tortured but not in a productive way: detailed navel gazing but not necessarily profound thought or insight.
Meena Kandasamy can quite clearly write truly excellent prose and poetry but the main narrative was quite a plain story about an interracial couple, I am not sure I really came to truly know the characters by the end, perhaps that is the point.
There are two main characters Maya and Karim who are in a strained marriage: I think I would have enjoyed it more if there were more risks with the central narrative or a focus on one particular part of their marriage. However it felt like it was too vague an overview of their lives over one-hundred pages rather than anything elucidatory and so as I finished the final page it more felt that Maya and Karim were a pair of narrative tools rather than two real people; again perhaps this is the point that I have missed.
That being said I did learn things from the book about history and modern society etc. I am always grateful to learn something in a book but I did not enjoy reading it. I am sure some people however will really enjoy it so for a one star review quite a positive one but I really did not like it.
honeycombs's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
brittapoo's review
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-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
5.0
allthatissim's review
3.0
thebookffeinated's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
grise's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0