A review by caseydmc
Honor by Thrity Umrigar

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

Honor is a fast-paced examination of how the concept of honor, and specifically, defending honor, shapes (and haunts) people and whole communities by weaving together the journeys of vastly different characters of different levels of privilege.  The author provides startling, and sometimes sad and horrifying, depiction of impoverished and insulated communities where misogyny, religious extremism, and political corruption wreak devastation on marginalized people, particularly girls and women, sit alongside wealthy, industrialized urban environments where some of the same problems remain, but manifests in sometimes more subtle ways.  

The climax and conclusion felt rushed and maybe a little too neatly sewn up compared to the trauma the main characters just survived, although readers will find a hopeful, pleasant ending to bring them back from the prior darkness.  Such content at times risks feeling like "trauma porn" or "poverty porn" for Western audiences, although the author is careful to give the most prominent victim voice and agency by shifting into first-person POV for her backstory, as well as mention parallels between the horrors of misogyny and religious fundamentalism that occur in full modern Western worlds.  

An enjoyable and thoughtful can't-put-down read. 
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