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jocelynh's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Starting with the minor complaints, the extremely frequent word concatenation for the kids' POVs drove me a little crazy. "Steelshrill," "chinskin," "trainrumble," "carbreeze," "greentrees," and "daymoon" are only some of the ones in chapter 2, and it keeps going from there.
There's also a bit of overreliance on simile and metaphor. It takes a long time for Roy to get to the main thrust of any scene, and I get the mild impression that Roy came up with a bunch of these turns of phrase and couldn't bear to edit any of them out, so they tend to clash overall. For example, we have:
The gray sky curdled and the clouds resolved themselves into little lumps, like substandard mattress stuffing.
Less than a paragraph later, there's:
Raindrops slid across the curved bottom of the rusted gutter on the edge of the roof, like shining beads on an abacus.
I wish they were at least thematically consistent; all the different imagery gave me whiplash. Some others are just bizarre:
The silence gathered its skirts and slid, like Spider Woman, up the slippery bathroom wall.
I will grant that she takes so much time with these, and with describing scenes in general, that the settings and events are extremely vivid. It felt almost like I was there, seeing, smelling, feeling, and hearing everything. Whether or not every detail (e.g. the formations of mosquitoes, or the personal histories of characters we never hear of again) is needed is perhaps more of a subjective call.
About 90% of the book is spent as exposition circling and leading up to the central event, and though we learn a lot about the characters and the cultural context, the writing (see above) makes it feel like a slog.
The God of Small Things is a somewhat long-winded and extremely emotionally ugly story, and that combination makes it a miserable read. Everyone suffers, no one is ever really happy except in a bitter, spiteful, gloating way.
It's a disgusting tale told in a poetic way. I think it's a very useful and culturally informative tale and I'm glad I read it as someone who isn't very familiar with Indian cultural biases, but I can't say I really enjoyed the journey.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
squiggle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
conniebrown's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, and Religious bigotry
hatoooz's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Blood, and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
nikwui's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Incest
evllhag's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Police brutality
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Colonisation
dwellordream's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
womanwill's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Ableism, Rape, and Vomit
sameenniazi's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma
Minor: Incest