A review by pokewhat
Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy
4.0
Sleeping on Jupiter is a very picturesque, detailed look at a few days in a bunch of characters' lives and minds, and the past of the primary character, Nomi.
I loved the different character viewpoints and how the viewpoint can sometimes change very quickly and very briefly between characters, even the ones apart from the main six. The mystery behind Nomi's life is very compelling, as are the first-person recounts of it.
At some point the physical/sexual abuse in the story gets *very* heavy, making it almost too much to bear. Luckily most of the scenes heavy in such content are also pretty short, with one prolonged exception.
I was mildly disappointed in the ending, because while for Nomi and Badal you had a pretty clear arc that had a conclusion, Suraj was more ambiguous (which is okay because I basically hate him), and the three grandmothers yet more so. One doesn't know if Gouri will be found or not, only it looks like she will. But I couldn't really see what the three of them had got from this trip, what their journey within the journey was.
But overall, the book still successfully whooshed me away to the shores and temples (and one ashram) of Jarmuli, and into the minds of the characters. Definitely going to pick up more of Anuradha Roy's books.
I loved the different character viewpoints and how the viewpoint can sometimes change very quickly and very briefly between characters, even the ones apart from the main six. The mystery behind Nomi's life is very compelling, as are the first-person recounts of it.
At some point the physical/sexual abuse in the story gets *very* heavy, making it almost too much to bear. Luckily most of the scenes heavy in such content are also pretty short, with one prolonged exception.
I was mildly disappointed in the ending, because while for Nomi and Badal you had a pretty clear arc that had a conclusion, Suraj was more ambiguous (which is okay because I basically hate him), and the three grandmothers yet more so. One doesn't know if Gouri will be found or not, only it looks like she will. But I couldn't really see what the three of them had got from this trip, what their journey within the journey was.
But overall, the book still successfully whooshed me away to the shores and temples (and one ashram) of Jarmuli, and into the minds of the characters. Definitely going to pick up more of Anuradha Roy's books.