A review by vivisms_82
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran

emotional sad
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Good book and worth reading. I'm in two minds though - I like many (if not most) of the book - the detailed description of the war in Sri Lanka, British colonisation, the immigrant experience when you look different, have an accent, pray differently etc - I get that. The racism and violence are absolutely valid and I get what she was trying to say but it became too much too soon in escalation that I think it lost some of it's impact, reducing it's believability as a whole when lumped all together like that in a short period of time. I was thinking "yes, this is a book we need right now" but then it became relentless in bringing the point home and I was a little bummed. I'm glad it's become part of book clubs and people are discussing some topics that they otherwise mayn't have felt comfortable bringing up. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings