Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Bandit Queens

Goodness, I love this book. At times grueling to read when it showcased female trauma in all its myriad forms, but always worth the journey. Beautifully told, fucking hilarious, and impossible to put down. I fucking love this book and know I’m going to revisit it over the years for its universal truths.

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blinnja's review against another edition

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3.5

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lemonsaurus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

4.5

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cheye13's review

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adventurous dark funny fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a much more nuanced take on the women-killing-men mirco-genre than I've usually seen, and the result is something unique and uniquely amusing. It's simultaneously a very broadly relatable story (alcoholism, domestic abuse, romance, loneliness), and a story very specific to this one community (the manner of gossip, the intersection of caste and religion and wealth). Obviously, a lot of focus is on how its better for women to be widows than divorced in this specific community and their wider culture.

The main element that turns the tropes of the micro-genre into something fresh is that Geeta actively wants no part in these murders. She is not the typical man-killing mentor that the trope usually calls for, which makes for a unique plot and some amusing shenanigans. At the same time, the book does not hide the pervasive and severe misogyny these women live through, but strikes a delicate balance between acknowledging these genuinely horrifying events with the persistence of daily life.

A surpsingly fun read.

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scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

I have listed almost all the content warnings I can think of it, and yeah, that full list can be pretty damn intense, and at first I thought I was going to have to take this book in small increments because a lot of these triggers may be really hard to deal. BUT, the book is wrought with dark humor, and it was sufficiently hilarious enough that I was able to keep going while not watering down or minimizing the serious topics discussed.

The main character, Geeta, is a social pariah in her village because her abusive husband left her five years prior to the start of the novel and they all think that she murdered him. She never confirms or denies this because it means people leave her alone while at the same time, buys from her jewelry business because they don't want to piss off the woman because heaven forbid she come after them! It all starts spiraling out of her control when one of the women of the village comes to her and asks her for help in killing her abusive husband. The Bandit Queen of the title references the Real Life Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi and she is talked about repeatedly in the book for the sake of making parallels to the MC. I strongly suggest looking up her life story, it is so interesting.

As you can see, the story has a lot to do with misogyny, domestic abuse, the patriarchy that plagues a lot of areas of India. There's a lot of classism spoken on in the book as well. Parini Shroff is able to make a reader both laugh and wince at what the MC and her found family (yes, this one has a found family trope!) go through.

Okay, I know I'm praising the book but why the lower rating? Because there's some ableism and fatphobia/fat-shaming that happens that is mostly just super glossed over or played for laughs. The MC uses it to insult her best friend turned enemy turned ally again and although afterward, she apologizes for her behavior, the fat-phobic jokes/insult still keep coming well into the end of the book. I feel like the author could have done a way better job addressing those issues because even if the book focuses heavily on sexism and domestic abuse/SA, I don't think ableism or body-shaming should EVER be used as comic relief. Because of this, honestly, I cannot recommend the book, but if you decide to read it, you will learn about another culture, but keep in mind all the trigger warnings as well as topics that Shroff could have done better. I would suggest keep an Internet search bar open as well because while I'm from India and understood all the foreign words and customs, readers might not because not everything is explained fully in the book.

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oceanwriter's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Full disclosure, I have no knowledge of the real-life aspects of this story portrayed in this book. I think if it was something I was well-versed in I might have enjoyed it a bit more. The things I didn't like about the book are a total preference thing as opposed to the book itself.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into but I was drawn to the cover and the summary given had me hooked. While the book lived up to it, I just had a really difficult time getting into it. It's a more aggressive plot than I like, which again, is something I might have realized if I'd known the origins of the story. It was definitely interesting. I'd be curious to look into the history more before looking through a fictional lens.

Aside from the plot, I wasn't a fan of the writing style. The dialogue flowed nicely, however, the amount of italicized words became a major distraction for me. The emphasis ended up getting lost. I didn't mind it so much when explaining new words and culture but in the regular flow of things, it became irksome.

I'm glad I gave it a go. I can see it becoming a popular book upon its release. I certainly learned something and was able to immerse myself in another culture for a little while which is always enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books/Random House for providing me with a free ARC copy to read and review.

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