Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Bandit Queens

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.

Content Warnings

bookish_afrolatina's review against another edition

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dark funny inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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amyw2's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective 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

4.5

A great read on so many levels. Part comedy, part oftentimes dark drama, woven together seamlessly by a gifted storyteller.

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katewhite77's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

This is a riot of a novel.

A feminist gangster novel set in raural India. Full of violence throughout the humour is more than equal to it. This is the very definition of a dark comedy but the humour makes the important all the louder and all the clearer.

This is why reading is so important, sometimes we are shown into different realities from around the world we would otherwise be unaware of.. Not for the first time my hobby has made me appreciate what I have and worry less about what I don't.

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

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dark funny 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

4.25

Title: The Bandit Queens
Author: Parini Shroff
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: January 3, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Cinematic • Sassy • Empowering

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Geeta is believed to have killed her vanished husband – a rumour she hasn’t bothered trying to correct, because a reputation like that can keep a single woman safe in rural India. But when she’s approached for help in ridding another wife of her abusive drunk of a husband, her reluctant agreement sets in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of all the women in the village.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Initially intrigued by the premise, I added The Bandit Queens to my TBR earlier in the year. But what really encouraged me to get to this debut sooner rather than later was its inclusion on the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction longlist. And I must say this book is unlike anything else I've read.

Firstly, Parini Shroff does an extraordinary job portraying the sense of place of this small rural Indian village. The author expertly highlights the plight of women living within both the caste system and a patriarchal society. It's clear she's done her research as she details the historical context of constraints put into place in order to keep women oppressed. Additionally, she cleverly uses dark humour to really help situate the reader.

The audio narrated by Soneela Nankani is excellent. Yet because there are so many characters, I relied on tandem reading with a digital copy in order to keep track of everyone and everything. Each of the characters' stories had an important place and I really wanted everything to flow, but it's quite possible with so much going on it disrupted the pacing. It lulled from time to time, and really took me longer to get through than it normally would.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing, the characters, the cultural insight, and the humour, even though there were some kinks with the structure and pacing. This novel based on friendship and women banding together to form a community was incredibly empowering, and I'm glad it was highlighted on the longlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction. The Bandit Queens would certainly make an excellent movie.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Desperate Housewives devotees
• dark humorists
• fans of female camaraderie

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"This was the version of her who had survived and there was no sense in apologizing for being a survivor."

"The amount of bullshit that fell from that fucker’s mouth could fertilize half of India."

"He broke the contract first. When someone threatens your body, you have every right to protect yourself."

Content Warnings

sinslashcos's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny 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

5.0

It took me a while to feel inspired enough get to pick up this book. However, about halfway through, I blazed through it. I dreaded reading about the violence and the horror, but the dark humor made it more... digestible? It pretty much covers all of the content warnings. I appreciated Getta's dry wit, courage, and also vulnerability. Her experiences with trauma and invasive thoughts resonated with my own and her ways of coping and surviving inspired me. A big theme of the book is "the power of stories" and I'm very glad to add this story to the collection of stories that influence me. Cheers to the female bonobos, here's to taking down the patriarchy together.

One of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Men like him would always look at her and see the things they were glad they weren't: weak, small, timid, powerless. Let them. She'd expended so much energy vying for a broken seat at an uneven table. Fuck it, she'd make her own damn table." (p328)

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