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popcorrrrnn's review
4.0
My favourite female author, she’s so beautiful with her words that even though I have never seen the Calcutta and California she talks about, I must have dreamt about it.
What a lovely tale of desire and love which is beyond the dictionary meaning. Truly a masterpiece.
The story of Anju and Sudha move you completely and just for once you feel their emotions in exact same way as Chitra has weaved them.
She’s an artist with exceptionally beautiful writing skills and story telling.
What a lovely tale of desire and love which is beyond the dictionary meaning. Truly a masterpiece.
The story of Anju and Sudha move you completely and just for once you feel their emotions in exact same way as Chitra has weaved them.
She’s an artist with exceptionally beautiful writing skills and story telling.
mobinazk's review
3.0
Was a fun quick read. Read through the book in a record 2 days! I like the play on Indian thinking and morals vs. What's acceptable in the west but it was a bit overwhelming. The characters could have been fleshed out a little more. I ended up wanting to contemplate "what do I desire"
fingerguns45's review
Turns out this is a sequel! May return after reading the first.
meharkaursandhu's review against another edition
2.0
I decided to delve into one of Divakaruni's older works after having been thoroughly impressed with her mythological and historical retellings, and I'm quite pleased to see how she's grown as a writer.
The characters are all very well written but I was unable to grasp any real depth (however, this may be because I haven't read the previous book in the series); it's easy to understand and actualise Anju and Sudha but I wish I got the same for Sunil, who I feel was a bit haphazardly written. We're given tidbits into his childhood and his troubled relationship with his parents, but there's no real way to understand what drives him to be the way he is and do the things he does. He sort of just, does them and it's as though he does so thoughtlessly - makes him look like quite the airhead. Then again, I may be feeling this because I'm missing out on details that may be in the first book.
Lalit I also feel had the potential to have been developed a little further - with the very short insight into his childhood I felt as though we were left hanging about him but maybe that was intentional. I just think if he was written as a side character we shouldn't have been given his POVs and history crumbs because now I'm invested and it isn't really going anywhere.
I do think the characters are quite stereotypical though - the femme fatale of sultry destruction and her dim boyish counterpart and how a man torn between desire and duty stands at the centre of their relationship. A trope we know all too well but it was written well enough for me to not quite mind.
The story isn't so heavy that it requires my utter and complete investment, yet at the same time, it was just about compelling enough to keep me reading. A pretty average book, nothing outstanding and nothing terrible. I was hoping for a light, easy read and this book gave me that, so I can't really complain; it was effective at being a good break from studying for finals and for that I thank it.
The characters are all very well written but I was unable to grasp any real depth (however, this may be because I haven't read the previous book in the series); it's easy to understand and actualise Anju and Sudha but I wish I got the same for Sunil, who I feel was a bit haphazardly written. We're given tidbits into his childhood and his troubled relationship with his parents, but there's no real way to understand what drives him to be the way he is and do the things he does. He sort of just, does them and it's as though he does so thoughtlessly - makes him look like quite the airhead. Then again, I may be feeling this because I'm missing out on details that may be in the first book.
Lalit I also feel had the potential to have been developed a little further - with the very short insight into his childhood I felt as though we were left hanging about him but maybe that was intentional. I just think if he was written as a side character we shouldn't have been given his POVs and history crumbs because now I'm invested and it isn't really going anywhere.
I do think the characters are quite stereotypical though - the femme fatale of sultry destruction and her dim boyish counterpart and how a man torn between desire and duty stands at the centre of their relationship. A trope we know all too well but it was written well enough for me to not quite mind.
The story isn't so heavy that it requires my utter and complete investment, yet at the same time, it was just about compelling enough to keep me reading. A pretty average book, nothing outstanding and nothing terrible. I was hoping for a light, easy read and this book gave me that, so I can't really complain; it was effective at being a good break from studying for finals and for that I thank it.
jackiehorne's review
4.0
I've been teaching Divakaruni's SISTER OF MY HEART for the past two years in my multicultural literature class. Each year, it is one of the most popular reads of the semester, in lager part because of the romance and fairy tale elements, I believe. I usually don't like to read sequels to books I'm teaching, as I find that my memories of a book get muddied -- did this happen in the book we're reading, or in the later book? But as I'm not gong to be teaching this year, I decided to go ahead and find out how Divakaruni decided to continue the story of Anju and Sudha, two cousins raised almost as sisters in India.
At first, I found this new book difficult; the narrative voice is far different than the first person alternating narratives of SISTER. But as I read, I began to see why Divakaruni had chosen the multiple ways of narrating her story (switching point of view, switching from the first person to the third, switching discourses). Sudha and Anju are no longer as sure of themselves as they were as teenage girls; the third person allows Divakaruni to show us her characters from a distance, from the outside, almost as they themselves are feeling -- distances from their home,as immigrants in the U. S., but also distanced from themselves. Who am I, each struggles to discover. What do I desire? While the answers to these questions aren't as pleasing to readers as they were in SISTER, they made for a rich, thoughtful study in character.
At first, I found this new book difficult; the narrative voice is far different than the first person alternating narratives of SISTER. But as I read, I began to see why Divakaruni had chosen the multiple ways of narrating her story (switching point of view, switching from the first person to the third, switching discourses). Sudha and Anju are no longer as sure of themselves as they were as teenage girls; the third person allows Divakaruni to show us her characters from a distance, from the outside, almost as they themselves are feeling -- distances from their home,as immigrants in the U. S., but also distanced from themselves. Who am I, each struggles to discover. What do I desire? While the answers to these questions aren't as pleasing to readers as they were in SISTER, they made for a rich, thoughtful study in character.
merrmerrs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.75
soniapage's review against another edition
2.0
I read it because I wanted to see how it all turned out for Sudha and Anju. I don't like the way it turned out - Sudha's personality changed for the worse and the story became a messy soap-opera.
The author's writing, however, is beautiful and I plan on reading some of her other works.
The author's writing, however, is beautiful and I plan on reading some of her other works.
susanbrooks's review
4.0
I just loved the dramatic embellishments in her writing. This follows the Indian characters from Sister of My Heart, which we read in book club, but is set in the Bay Area.
tulscip's review
4.0
The ending had no meaning really to me. I had no idea what happened to the characters in the end. This book was based more off of the emotion of events than the actual events. Writing style greatly changed from the first book to the second book.
All in all, the plot part was good, though lacking development through the whole story.
All in all, the plot part was good, though lacking development through the whole story.
sharanyasarathy's review against another edition
2.0
Actual rating: 2.5
Read this book on my quest to incorporate more WoC (and POC in general) into my reading list. Unfortunately, this book is bad. The writing is bad (jam-packed with similes, metaphors, and general floweriness) and the plot doesn't seem super original. It's basically a worse version of Jhumpa Lahiri's the Lowland. However, the second half did lift the book when Sudha started actually doing things and taking initiative.
Don't recommend, however -- I definitely do whole-heartedly recommend the Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Read this book on my quest to incorporate more WoC (and POC in general) into my reading list. Unfortunately, this book is bad. The writing is bad (jam-packed with similes, metaphors, and general floweriness) and the plot doesn't seem super original. It's basically a worse version of Jhumpa Lahiri's the Lowland. However, the second half did lift the book when Sudha started actually doing things and taking initiative.
Don't recommend, however -- I definitely do whole-heartedly recommend the Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.