Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The God of Small Things

This book was an excruciatingly slow read for me. If you're looking for likeable characters or a suspenseful plot that makes the time fly by, this may not be a great pick for you.

But I really liked it. I loved it's exploration of colonialism and gender and selfhood, of Borders and Boundaries and the people who cross them. The prose is expansive, almost poetic at times. Roy plays with language, in ways that can feel aimless, driven by association, by a need to reveal the edges of letters and words and the limits of the meanings they are meant to convey.

It isn't 5 stars for arbitrary reasons, not due to any flaw in actual quality. I only rate a book 5 stars if I can't wait to re-read it, and I don't want to re-read this, maybe ever. Finishing this book feels like finishing an overly rich, Michelin star meal at a restaurant you can't afford to go to again.

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nolsreadsbooks's review against another edition

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As soon as the kid had to jerk a guy off I was out. Not for me. I wasn’t really liking it already and then that happened and I was out.

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noahmarcuswhite's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I did not really expect anything going into this, but I certainly did not expect this. People should go into it blind.

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swampsquatch's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

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rzh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i really really loved the way this was written, the use of language is so smart and well thought out - the return to the same phrases again and again made it feel like an epic poem or a biblical text or something. really amazing. the only downside is the fact that it is SO long - feels a bit laboured at times

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