A review by yukirarin
Honor by Thrity Umrigar

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Honestly had mixed feelings about Smita at the beginning with how negative she was about India as a country, it initially gave me the impression that the author may have been trying to paint India itself as a general country in a negative way just because. But the explanations for her character traits became so well defined and explained in the second half of the book it made me do a 180. This book made me feel so much feelings and it's complicated for me to process them. 

I don't belong to a racial minority, being a Chinese in Singapore. But I know how I'd likely be seen if I were to go to more southern parts of the USA for instance. Racial segregation has never been something I'd been forced to think about until I read this book. A man's honor is not something I had ever had to think to step around. The saddest thing is that this story rang so true to me of a case I remember hearing coming out of India years ago, where men thought the life of a woman was just disposable because they felt like they were dishonored. It's a painful reality, one that I'm sure does not just exist within the beautiful words of this book but also is just daily life for many others around the world. 
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