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tashy49's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War
clarezillaa'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
sunnyinka'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
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Mental illness, Vomit, and Cultural appropriation
emjane89's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, and War
biancalouisew's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Colonisation and War
aseel_reads's review against another edition
Minor: Death, Racism, and Xenophobia
alyssagj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and War
taro4lyfer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
The characters are well thought out with their own motivations, desires, and beliefs while both settings (Sri Lanka and Cinnamon Gardens) are captivatingly written.
Chai Time also won the Miles Franklin award in 2023, which is well deserved.
The only reason it isn’t 5 stars is because it is definitely the kind of book that requires content and trigger warnings, which it didn't include. Hopefully future editions will include content warnings in the book or a mention online - the online content warnings so far are user written on storygraph or AI generated based off of reviews.
Graphic: Sexual assault and Torture
Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
All of the trigger warning concepts are explored through the character arcs and repeatedly brought up during the story to expand on how they affect the characters emotionally.confused_cat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
- The author writes beautifully and I can feel her love to Sri Lanka and to the Sri Lankan people.
- I learnt more about Sri Lankan civil war and the hardship of being an immigrant.
- I had a good discussion with a diverse mix of people about racism (in Australia) thanks to this book. Learned that accidental racism is still racism.
Small criticsm:
- Characters don't seem real and are just mouthpieces for the author to tell the story. E.g. These characters are so well adjusted and successful despite of their horrific background.
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War
sop17hie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism