Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

9 reviews

malvika_k's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

This book brought a historically important event to life for me. It is written with so much care and research. I recommend every Indian, particularly Indian women, to read this book. Words don’t do it justice. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and War

nehaanna's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

jenpurlteach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring 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

4.5

I loved this sister story! There were so many ways it could have ended, and I didn’t predict the final outcome. Loved learning about this period of history in India. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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

ashlynhare's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Sexual assault

inked_in_pages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

What did you think of the novel overall?
This is a heartbreaking novel filled with historical accuracv.
Independence follows three sisters during the partition of India in the 1940s. It was written in a way that was easy to take in despite the incredibly heavy subject matter. I found myself invested in each characters story as I read. Overall, I think this a book that all historical fiction fans should read.

Was there anything challenging about the novel? Surprising?
This is a book that is not for the faint of heart and definitely not for someone looking for a lighter read. I struggled with the trauma these women faced throughout the novel and I needed time to process after reading. I was intrigued by the history of India as I read and learned so much about Demand Action Day, the partition of India and the histor of conflict between Hindu and Muslim people.

Was there anything you didn't like?
I mean, the ending was absolutely heartbreaking. So that's a hard pill to swallow. I did feel like there was A LOT leading up the final event and then it felt like it happened quickly.

Who would you recommend it to?
All historical fiction lovers. This is a new (to me) topic to read about and I learned so much while still connecting with the characters and the story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Hate crime and Sexual assault

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

Moderate: Body horror, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Stalking, and Colonisation

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

thebookcoyote's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

TW/CW: Violence, death, murder, death of a parent, sexual assault 

REVIEW: Independence is the story of three sisters who try to go their different paths during the years of Indian independence and partition. 

This book was beautifully written, there is no doubt about that. The author does a beautiful job of creating her setting and her characters, and of pulling everything together to make a powerful narrative. The way she combined history and the narrative was really engaging. 

My biggest problem with this book was that every one of the sisters keeps making the stupidest decisions and it was incredibly frustrating to read! I couldn’t make myself really like any of them because I just wanted to scream at them over what was clearly going to be an enormous mistake. And…they almost always were. 

This is a very sad, very frustrating book and while it’s very well written, it’s not a pleasant book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent