cliorr's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, and Pedophilia
r0ry_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Incest porn is not my thing tbh.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Incest, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality
hannah_cogo's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Incest
wetdirtreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Sexism, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Car accident, Grief, and War
chuseyin's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual violence and Alcoholism
sir_ren'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? It's complicated
4.5
the novel has a rather simple story- the main plot. even though I could predict the general plot of the story (as the novel is written switching from the past and the present) it was still engaging and interesting thanks to the writing and the details. the construction of the novel- the unfolding of events and use of language make it satisfying and rewarding to see it all come together.
the "Kid Speak" used in the novel tends to be polarizing as far as I can tell. some people put the book down to never complete it due to the language. not that I am in a place to be telling anyone what to do with their time, but I would still seriously encourage readers to stick it out even if they are mildly irritated by the peculiarities. my experience is that I found it puzzling at first and then interesting, but the novelty wore off soon and it started to feel badly used. but this changed as I kept reading, the way Arundhati Roy built her novel and used language- the payoff was Real for me. the "quirkiness" of the language turned into a blessing as the novel went on. Intimacy is what I experienced again. in a novel all about this family- to speak their secret language and to have a few odd words and phrases evoke all the emotions and thoughts that they did was a moment of intimacy with the novel and its characters.
another point of contention tends to be the "villain", who some find to be a cartoonishly evil/bad person. in my opinion, the character was believable.
now for the parts I did not enjoy. the book describes or mentions a lot of the uglier sides of human nature/bodies/actions. I felt the number of instances was a little excessive. maybe one or two could have been cut and the book could still retain its integrity.
and I felt the Kid Speak could have been cut in a few places. but I am glad the language was what it was
Graphic: Pedophilia, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Incest, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, and Excrement
Minor: Alcoholism
sunny_not's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Incest, Abandonment, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Pedophilia
ahyacinthine's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Incest
sharkycharming's review
- 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
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual content, and Vomit
I would not recommend this book to anyone who is squeamish, because this books describes so many realities of bodies, sex, violence, hatred, and the [sometimes scary] animals and plants that live and grow in a tropical climate.saestrah's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism