Reviews tagging 'Death'

Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu

13 reviews

shadow_cat94's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

This author does a good job at balancing a creative coming-of-age story with analyzing religious fanatacism, indoctrination of children, and fractured families under a strict religious upbringing.

Praise to Blue-Skinned Gods for its captivating imagery, and Sindu's ability to capture Kalki's voice as he ages from a child to a naïve young man exploring outside India.

The story occassionally flips forward in time very briefly and it feels uncalled for, but easy to ignore. The very last sentence of this story is why I dropped it by half a star. It does not fit with the tone of the scene nor the mindset of the character at that time. I agree with other reviewers, I feel like I need 50 more pages, because I need an explanation on why that sentence was put there.

Overall, this is a great read with some hard topics and deep questions buried within the pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Slavery, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Cultural appropriation

There are 2 attempted murders or murders of passion in this story. The victim does not end up dead though.

20sidedbi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tetedump's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, and Gaslighting

allergy reaction

viji's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Transphobia, and Grief

nu_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I want to start off by saying that this book delivered a completely different story than what I was expecting via the synopsis. Technically the synopsis was correct in what you described as a story inside the book, but I was definitely expecting more of a contemporary fantasy than contemporary.

Despite the book claiming to span across many times, it is mostly linear safe for a couple of flashbacks and flash forwards in the earlier books. To me the book was more about Kalki and him trying to reconcile with the traumatizing family/father. He was lied to from a very young age, and being told that he had to bear the burden of his parents sacrifices. In a way this coincides with a lot of themes in South Asian culture where we have this fake reverence towards beings that are godlike, but not actually caring about them as individuals. Allowing our ability to put them on a pedestal of reference and divinity to essentially not let us treat them in a respectful and humane manner.

But his horrible person of a father was of course only thinking about himself and of the fortune that he could make. The main themes of this book like religion/seduction of belief is basically told through the trauma that Kalki goes through at the hands of a narcissistic parent who will do anything for power, including but not limited to, marketing a blue baby as a god too desperate worshipers and forcing his family to play along because he prefers to manipulate people into furthering his own agenda and his own plan (one that is very flimsy upon close inspection).

It's a disturbingly beautiful book, with the writing style so simple yet loud and incisive. It's essentially Kalki retelling his story, looking back at his time at the ashram with nostalgia and bringing us into the crux of his naivity during his childhood. It really forces you to think about how badly people want to believe in something (not necessarily just religion), and even after the "illusion" falls how there will still be people choosing to believe in the lie because it brings them comfort and is better than confronting their entire worldview falling apart.

It's a heavy book, especially in the child/domestic abuse area, so I encourage anyone who's not in the best place mentally to tread lightly. But if you're able to read the book I wholeheartedly reccomend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Kidnapping and Cultural appropriation

renniewest's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

i have mixed feelings about this book. it explores very a interesting concept of a child being manipulated into thinking he is a god, and it also explores questions of belief, faith, and the varieties of people with different types of beliefs. this book introduces some very meaningful conversations but i don’t know if any of them are done justice. 

the abuse and manipulation kalki endures is very impactful, and it’s understandable that this would affect him as an adult when he realizes what he’s been through, but the book ends leaving kalki in a perpetual state of traumatized. i wanted better closure for him, and if i’m going to be honest he disappointed me in the end. i also really wanted him to give lakshman a big fuck you in the end, so that was really disappointing. 

i also don’t like the attitude with which believers are depicted in many scenes, either with pity as victims of manipulation or blind idiots. i really don’t know what this book was trying to say. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Grief

sknappy1's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

racheloddment's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, and Vomit

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.25

Thanks to Libro FM for the free copy of this book.

 - BLUE SKINNED GODS takes its time unraveling it's story, but my goodness, is it worth it. This book is beautiful, enraging, heartbreaking, joyful, and so much more.
- Even when I thought I knew exactly where Kalki's story was going, there's a major plot twist I did not see coming.
- The audiobook, narrated by Varun Sathi, is an immersive experience. I felt like I was right there in Kalki's head, trying to work everything out with him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

ahliahreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol