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mpho3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
Largely deserving all its accolades, Honor is a deeply moving work. Umrigar, a journalist and novelist, is clearly invested in exposing violence in India, much of it aimed at women, committed in the name of religion and tradition. Some aspects feel personal, as confirmed by an essay on her website. Despite this, I couldn’t give the book four stars, and here’s why:
The story begins with Shannon, a white American journalist recovering from a major surgery. Smita, a colleague and friend, cuts her vacation short to be by Shannon’s side. Indian-born Smita feels manipulated into finishing a story for Shannon, since she had vowed never to return to India. The relationships feel murky, especially with Nandini, who is Shannon’s translator, and Mohan, a male friend of some means. Ultimately, Shannon and Nandini feel unnecessary to the plot.
The second part shifts to Meena, a Hindu woman who in defiance of her community falls in love with and marries a Muslim man. The response from her family and village is horrific. As Smita takes over Shannon's story, she is tasked with interviewing Meena. Mohan, not a journalist, but simply a friend of Shannon’s, ends up as Smita’s translator and guide. Umrigar’s writing is at its best when telling Meena’s story—it’s poetic, poignant, and tender. However, Smita’s character, filled with dithering and logistical concerns, feels tedious, though when revealed her own backstory is revealed.
The third part intensifies, focusing on Meena’s harrowing ordeal, a section filled with distressing but crucial scenes. After a shocking climax to her story, Umrigar unfortunately, shifts to the romance between Smita and Mohan. I found this shift jarring. For me it took away Honor’s emotional gravity. The shift from Meena’s tragic narrative to a will-they-won’t-they romance undermined the emotional depth of Meena’s journey. Upon reading Umrigar’s essay, "Reclaiming Honor", (https://umrigar.com/honor-essay) I learned her intent was to contrast Meena’s choosing love regardless of the cost and Smita’s difficulty entertaining love even though doing so would be of no consequence to someone of her class/religion/status. All I can say is that the transition left me so frustrated I wanted to throw the book across the room.
In contrast, the book also features a deeper, more conflicted love story, i.e. the one between Smita and India. Her complex feelings for the country of her birth more befits the novel, and I appreciated the depiction of what had happened in Smita’s childhood to produce such complicated emotions in her.
So for me, ultimately this was a worthwhile read, and an important work, but I do give it less than a book of this caliber should merit.
The story begins with Shannon, a white American journalist recovering from a major surgery. Smita, a colleague and friend, cuts her vacation short to be by Shannon’s side. Indian-born Smita feels manipulated into finishing a story for Shannon, since she had vowed never to return to India. The relationships feel murky, especially with Nandini, who is Shannon’s translator, and Mohan, a male friend of some means. Ultimately, Shannon and Nandini feel unnecessary to the plot.
The second part shifts to Meena, a Hindu woman who in defiance of her community falls in love with and marries a Muslim man. The response from her family and village is horrific. As Smita takes over Shannon's story, she is tasked with interviewing Meena. Mohan, not a journalist, but simply a friend of Shannon’s, ends up as Smita’s translator and guide. Umrigar’s writing is at its best when telling Meena’s story—it’s poetic, poignant, and tender. However, Smita’s character, filled with dithering and logistical concerns, feels tedious, though when revealed her own backstory is revealed.
The third part intensifies, focusing on Meena’s harrowing ordeal, a section filled with distressing but crucial scenes. After a shocking climax to her story, Umrigar unfortunately, shifts to the romance between Smita and Mohan. I found this shift jarring. For me it took away Honor’s emotional gravity. The shift from Meena’s tragic narrative to a will-they-won’t-they romance undermined the emotional depth of Meena’s journey. Upon reading Umrigar’s essay, "Reclaiming Honor", (https://umrigar.com/honor-essay) I learned her intent was to contrast Meena’s choosing love regardless of the cost and Smita’s difficulty entertaining love even though doing so would be of no consequence to someone of her class/religion/status. All I can say is that the transition left me so frustrated I wanted to throw the book across the room.
In contrast, the book also features a deeper, more conflicted love story, i.e. the one between Smita and India. Her complex feelings for the country of her birth more befits the novel, and I appreciated the depiction of what had happened in Smita’s childhood to produce such complicated emotions in her.
So for me, ultimately this was a worthwhile read, and an important work, but I do give it less than a book of this caliber should merit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual assault
abigailslate's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
The author writes her characters well and displays her knowledge of India politics, culture, history and society extremely well as well as the virtues and vices of the modern country. I loved the poor characters and how they were written the protagonists and antagonists all felt like real people no matter how virtuous or vile.
The weakest part of the novel is ironically the subplot that’s used to tie the ending togetherthe romantic subplot clearly meant to invert Hindu Mina and her murdered Muslim husband with the kinda secular former Muslim journalist and Hindu IT guy raising a Muslim ish girl together with the help of a religious minority friend, is hit on the head so many times it was kinda disappointing and predictable the author would find a way to pretend a woman risking giving up her job to marry a rich man to raise a child was somehow not sexist because she’s clearly meant to serve a metaphor diaspora Indians especially those who fled horrific bigoted violence in India being able to come home and make a new India with the hood Indians who never left. Which while an ideal ending, the happy ending of it all suddenly was so unpolished and rushed compared to the rest of the novel especially when ironically a lot of the language was the same sexist language used to degrade women who don’t want a partner or children even if it’s meant to be about this woman who’s made an island of herself and pledged explicitly to a dying woman to raise the child. The expectations of the land lady was sexist, the idea of giving s child to other more fit and wanting people to raise is heartless is sexist lol. Like yes the character reeked if loneliness and I think she would be happy coparenting the girl and they live in urban and wealthy part that’s clearly meant to be a shield —though the book never discusses the bad ethics of diamond merchant? Which was definitely bc it’s the author using the ending for escapism of the current reality of India but it seem like such a plot hole in an otherwise excellent book and snagged for me but maybe that’s bc I’ve seen the mines people mined crawling in Mexico and read about the illness and danger in coal country US.
I don’t dislike the ending altogether but it was clearly rushed and is such a departure from the quality of the rest of the novel. Especially because the couple clinging to each other after nearly escaping assault of their own persons and the murder of an elderly woman and child make sense and I think could kick start a romance but the sex was too much and felt so insensitive and unrealistic and contrived/cliche. Like they both just saw a woman beaten death and burned and now they’re fucking the same night? :/ crass maybe because I have nothing against a longer book, but I think she should have made book 4 of the book much longer to reach the desired ending better, better pacing and not being afraid to make the relationship tentative and hopeful but more ambiguous. Especially since the use of the promise to a dying woman was used to justify her leaving her country when the actual wish was for her daughter to go to America. Like I understand the analogy being made but it makes it so obvious the parts not burdensome for a woman and asking more of her then the man are waved away as failing a promise but not the parts that the book is clearly self conscious might be sexist (bc how it was argued was loll)
But for all that it was good even if I thought the book was way to harsh on civil rights lawyers especially compared to journalists even if they both do good work.
But also I thought it was so weirdthe father never even finding out she was in India never came out or her brother when especially the dad felt really built up or even looking the other sister being abused who did so much to actually risk her life and quality of life to believe in a better India that feels almost abandoned by the rich Indian and Indian Americans in this book? Like even they can’t do anything they didn’t even look for her when she looked for her sister after the attack!
The weakest part of the novel is ironically the subplot that’s used to tie the ending together
I don’t dislike the ending altogether but it was clearly rushed and is such a departure from the quality of the rest of the novel. Especially because the couple clinging to each other after nearly escaping assault of their own persons and the murder of an elderly woman and child make sense and I think could kick start a romance but the sex was too much and felt so insensitive and unrealistic and contrived/cliche. Like they both just saw a woman beaten death and burned and now they’re fucking the same night? :/ crass maybe because I have nothing against a longer book, but I think she should have made book 4 of the book much longer to reach the desired ending better, better pacing and not being afraid to make the relationship tentative and hopeful but more ambiguous. Especially since the use of the promise to a dying woman was used to justify her leaving her country when the actual wish was for her daughter to go to America. Like I understand the analogy being made but it makes it so obvious the parts not burdensome for a woman and asking more of her then the man are waved away as failing a promise but not the parts that the book is clearly self conscious might be sexist (bc how it was argued was loll)
But for all that it was good even if I thought the book was way to harsh on civil rights lawyers especially compared to journalists even if they both do good work.
But also I thought it was so weird
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
jenhfultz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
bri_14's review against another edition
emotional
tense
5.0
This book felt so important and balanced. The comparison between both leading ladies and how they dealt with love—with men and India—was done so well. One thing Smita and Meena had in common was they both were risk takers, punishment be damned. But I was gettin real annoyed with Ammi being so rude! She couldn’t get over the loss of her son Meena could! Very selfish even if it was rooted in valid emotions.
I think it said A LOT about herd mentality esp among men. The amount of ppl that witnessed or participated in the violence was ridiculous. Only to wanna cower down years later and be sympathetic. The damage was done! And for Meena’s village to be ruled by Rupal was ridiculous. No one man should have all that pull over people. The fact that he said he had a phone with a direct line to God should have made these people wake up! He was taking advantage of their culture so bad.
Despite the terribleness, the tender moments of Meena/Abdul and Smita/Mohan were so so good. Both really encapsulated the point of this book to me. In spite of the darkness their home brought there was a spark of light. In a twisted way Meenamight’ve been better off reunited with Abdul instead of with their daughter bc she didn’t have the resources or privilege to protect everybody. But her final stand was really sad
It wasn’t a main focus but it does bring up a good point of when involvement teeters past education and dips towards trauma porn. These are real people not a story that’ll get you front page headlines and awards.
I think it said A LOT about herd mentality esp among men. The amount of ppl that witnessed or participated in the violence was ridiculous. Only to wanna cower down years later and be sympathetic. The damage was done! And for Meena’s village to be ruled by Rupal was ridiculous. No one man should have all that pull over people. The fact that he said he had a phone with a direct line to God should have made these people wake up! He was taking advantage of their culture so bad.
Despite the terribleness, the tender moments of Meena/Abdul and Smita/Mohan were so so good. Both really encapsulated the point of this book to me. In spite of the darkness their home brought there was a spark of light. In a twisted way Meena
It wasn’t a main focus but it does bring up a good point of when involvement teeters past education and dips towards trauma porn. These are real people not a story that’ll get you front page headlines and awards.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny, Islamophobia, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
alexxis88's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
genesismt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Sexual harassment
avajane02's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
An absolutely heartbreaking look into the class and gender divides in India from the perspective of a Muslim Indian-American reporter who returns to India to cover a story in place of her white American friend/coworker, who is recovering from surgery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Police brutality
sissizc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
sabs98's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I appreciate the subject matters of this book. The story of Smita’s complex relationship with India is one that would resonate with many children of immigrants like it did with me. Of course, Meena’s story is an important one to tell; bringing awareness and increasing visibility to social issues is vital to creating change.
I think the relationship that developed between Smita and Mohan was rushed, despite the over explanations of the reasons Smita should be with him. I also found it hard to believe that Smita could decide to stay in India while still carrying her trauma the way she was: it seems she hadn’t even begun to process or resolve it until she told the story of it to Mohan.
I think the relationship that developed between Smita and Mohan was rushed, despite the over explanations of the reasons Smita should be with him. I also found it hard to believe that Smita could decide to stay in India while still carrying her trauma the way she was: it seems she hadn’t even begun to process or resolve it until she told the story of it to Mohan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Grief