Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

12 reviews

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow, this one was tough. Beautiful writing about some heart-wrenching subject matter. Through the death and destruction around them, the three central sisters shine, each with her own unique story, personality, and perspective. Their families and friends are wonderful characters as well, and each approaches the challenges that arise with goodness and perseverance. It was super interesting to learn about a period of Indian history I was unfamiliar with, especially as told through the lens of these stories. For a short book, it has a lot of moving parts, but the important themes and threads are carried throughout and resolved nicely.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Colonisation, Blood, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, Murder, Rape, and Xenophobia

Minor: Ableism and Suicidal thoughts

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Set during India's Independence (1946-1948), this tale of three sisters had me hooked from the beginning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, War, Classism, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Bullying, Death, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Vomit

someryarns's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-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: Xenophobia, War, Classism, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and Pregnancy

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Murder, Rape, War, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

 Independence is historical fiction, set in rural Bengal during the time of the Partition. It starts off slowly and is mostly centred on older sister Priya’s struggle to become a doctor. As partition draws nearer, religious conflict mounts and violence erupts, forever altering the family and broadening the novel’s focus. Middle sister Deepa marries a Muslim and ends up isolated from her family and in an increasingly perilous situation. Meanwhile younger sister Jamini embarks on a course of action that could alienate her from Priya forever. Then violence hits again and the family dynamics change once more. I enjoyed the way the point of view rotated among the three sisters, enabling the reader to better understand their unique perspectives. Each sister’s story highlighted different problems women faced in India at the time of partition. Despite their disappointments, heartbreaks and disagreements all three kept going, and when the chips were down they came together to support each other. Apart from sisterhood the novel also explores themes of family and friendship.  I was struck by the sudden and seemingly inexplicable rise in religious hatred. Neighbours of different religions had lived happily side by side for years but it didn’t take much to provoke them into violence against each other. The author captured this well. The book is divided into five sections and each begins with short literary note providing historical context, and also a bit of foreshadowing which always made me want to read on. A solid read centring the experiences of women during the turbulent time of Partition. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny

canne287's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Rape

heatherjchin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Islamophobia, Gore, Xenophobia, War, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Body horror, Kidnapping, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Stalking, and Colonisation

julianh's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, War, Violence, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Death, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

awebofstories's review against another edition

sad tense medium-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? Yes

2.5

Grade: C+

I may have come into this book with too much excitement.  I can't say that my expectations were too high because I had no reason to have especially high expectations.  But I was excited to read a novel about the Partition, which I only knew the bare minimum about before watching Ms. Marvel (and I don't think Marvel properties are the best historical sources).

There were things about it that I enjoyed.  Divakaruni does an excellent job of creating the world of India on the verge of independence.  There are so many sensory details here; the taste of the foods, the smell of the spices, and the thickness of the air.  I felt as though I was in India with these sisters. 

I also appreciated the realistic depiction of sister relationships.  Yes, these sisters love each other.  They also get angry with each and are jealous of each other. But, at the end of the day, they would do anything for each other.

Unfortunately, two issues negatively impacted my experience of this book.  The writing style just seemed to lack nuance.  I found this especially irritating in the book's first part when Divakaruni relied far too much on telling and not enough on showing.  Once the action picked up, the style was less irritating, but I never felt I could let the language take me away.

The second and larger issue was that I just didn't feel that the parts of this book fit together especially well.  Each of the three sisters has their own story.  While I could see how Priya's and Jamina's stories could be told in tandem, Deepa's story seemed completely separate from it.  I can't say I found much comfort in the Priya and Jamina storyline because love triangles set my teeth on edge.

I almost wish that this book had either been broken apart and only focused on one sister at a time (possibly as a trilogy) or that this had been a much longer book that went into a deeper dive and more closely tied Deepa in with her sisters.  While the sisters' stories converge in the third act, that event didn't feel as if it even belonged in this sort of book.

I'm disappointed that this book wasn't a hit for me, but I do appreciate that the Partition was addressed and I would be open to reading other novels set in this historical period.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Colonisation, Rape, Violence, War, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

I always struggle with Partition stories. It's such a painful chapter in Indian history and it has left so many scars. But the stories are often nearly the same, and sometimes that takes away from their impact. I appreciated that this book was set in Bengal instead of Punjab, because that's an aspect of Partition that I haven't had a lot of exposure to. I also appreciated that while we have one Hindu-Muslim love story (beloved trope of Bollywood that it is), we also have the stories of the other sisters that lend some context and varied insight. Painful to read but essential. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Religious bigotry, and War