Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Namesake

Finding beauty in the mundane aspects of life, The Namesake is a sweet meditation on identity: both the one we're assigned and the one we struggle to create.

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tashtasher's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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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abe26's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny 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

Beautifully written

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nenya's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I borrowed this book from my english teacher when we discussed colonialism in class and she recommended it - and regarding that topic, it definitely fulfilled my expectations. Since neither I, nor my ancestors have been colonized or have migrated somewhere, I am in no position to judge the authenticity of the plot and characters but I must say, it felt very true and accurate to me. It gives excellent and thoroughly elaborated insights into different perspectives of Indian immigrants as well as their children growing up in America and their struggles with balancing the two different cultures.
However, the story telling sometimes left me a bit bored - generally speaking it was well written but what bugged me was how when the plot got a bit mysterious and anticipation was being built up, the chapters tended to end in a small cliffhanger being followed by a time jump in the new chapter which very passively explained the past events/the outcome of the cliffhanger. This kind of took some of the suspense out of the story telling in my opinion and was a bit unsatisfying at times.
Yet, it is most definitely a good book and I would totally recommend it.

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emmaa_andrews's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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gabberjaws's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What I loved most about this book was that Lahiri's writing is simple, but somehow rich and poetic at the same time. She has a knack for setting events up gently, and making the follow through feel so impactful and emotional, even though her narration is very simple and straightforward.

I felt privileged to follow along with the Gangulis; to see how they learned and grew and created traditions all their own, to see how the learned to love, accept, respect and understand one another despite their very different individual journeys. The story wavered a little towards the very end, with

Moushumi's affair skewing the pacing a tad

but overall, this was a great read.

The title of this book is a little misleading. This isn't a book about embodying your namesake, or about the power of names. Instead it's a beautiful, emotional documentation of one family's journey in learning what home means to them, and in finding themselves. It's a book about one's relationship with family and culture, the struggles of being known, and of knowing yourself. I'm so glad I read this.

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Death (chapter 1), Transphobia (a single instance of a certain outdated term for transgender people, now considered a slur, Chapter 5), Death of a parent (chapter 7), Deadnaming (chapter 9), Infidelity (chapter 10), Adult/Minor relationship (chapter 10)

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dariad123's review against another edition

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informative 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

2.75

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