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anushkamarri's reviews
245 reviews
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
A debut novel and part one of the celestial kingdom duology, Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a novel inspired by the legend of the Chinese Moon Goddess - Chang’e.
It is a story about her daughter Xingyin who is kept (secretly) hidden from the celestial emperor to avoid his wrath for having stolen his elixir of immortality.
It doesn’t last. One day, her life turns upside down as she’s discovered and forced to flee, leaving behind the comforts and love of her mother and home.
She makes it her mission to acquit her mother from the emperors exile. What follows is the story of a helpless young lady that turns into a fearless and strong woman making the ends of the universe meet to live peacefully with her mother.
I’d sell the story to at least half of you with one word: DRAGONS!
More ways to sell you the story:
- A beautiful adaptation of the Chinese mythology
- A powerful female warrior
- A friends - lovers - enemies trope
- Dragons, did I already say dragons? But Dragons!
- A world of immortals
Since I haven’t elaborated earlier, Xingyin’s character goes from a girl that’s protected from all harm to a maid to the prince of the celestial empire to being the first archer in the army, hunting down deadly creatures and saving kingdoms to finally embracing her powers completely and finding a way to release her mother from the exile!
The other characters are wonderful too. I’m just enticed with Xingyin too much.
PS. I think I forgot how to review books! S E N D H E L P !
The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.0
When this book was doing rounds on the gram, one look at the cover made me want to push everything aside and read it.
I’m so glad I did!
The last queen is a historical/biographical fiction detailing the life of Rani Jindan Kaur of Punjab. When I say detail, I mean DETAIL! The book tells us everything starting from childhood up until the last day that the queen lived.
We hear so much about the male rulers we’ve had. When it comes to female rulers, we can pretty much count the stories on our fingers.
In lieu of complete transparency, I have never heard of Rani Jindan and if one of the goals the author had by writing the story was to get more people to know the Queen, she has won.
The story is divided into four parts - Girl, Bride, Queen, and Rebel.
I expected a triumphant woman who defied the prejudices of the society, fighting wars and ruling kingdoms. While she was everything that I mentioned above, she was also a woman that went from rags to riches becoming the youngest queen of Maharaja Ranjit Singh aka Sarkar, the Regent Queen when her son is set to rule at the tender age of five and back to rags, denied her pension once the British government takes over.
So, while it was all-powerful and joyous, it was also sad and depressing. What spoke to me most is how real the story was. No time was wasted in trying to glorify her life.
We learn about the rise and fall of the Empire, Raji Jindan’s relationships with her parents, her brother Jawahar, Guddan - a wife of Sarkars’ that she befriends, Mangla - her maid and ultimately her son - Dalip. We get a view of internal politics and how they make and break kingdoms.
The part I enjoyed the most was the one that takes place in Britain where her zeal and fire never die down in spite of the circumstances. She holds her ground and never gives up.
So while the story per se is not of someone winning and conquering, it is about someone who will inspire you to be yourself and never let anyone or anything bring you down!
Rating - 4/5
China Room by Sunjeev Sahota
TW: Child Abuse, Purdah, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Marital Rape, Rape, Oppression.
China room is a book that came off as a pleasant surprise to me. Though confusing in the beginning, once all the characters were introduced and the scene was set, I started enjoying the narration while also being positively intrigued as to what would happen next.
It runs in two timelines. The story of Meher, a victim of child marriage, and the current life of her great-grandson, a victim of drug abuse.
It took me a while to put two and two together and understand what was happening. Meher, along with two other women is married to three brothers and she tries her best to find out which of them is hers.
While her great-grandson arrives at his uncle's to get out of drug addiction and makes a decision to go live in their old family home. Here, he is bombarded with bits and pieces of gossip about Meher and how she was locked in a room for straying from her marriage.
While Meher is stuck between the brother she's married to and the brother she was supposed to be married to, the family politics, the 'ego' between the brothers, and the pressure to give them a child while her great-grandson is re-painting and bringing their ancestral home back to life while falling in love with the doctor.
The story had high potential and it does deliver to some extent with the exploration of all the traumas and how they affect lives.
Ultimately, there is an ending to both stories. I'm not exactly in content with them but I am glad we were not left hanging with a vague conclusion.
Spoiler alert and TW: Mai, Meher's dominant mother-in-law summons the women to a 'dark room' when their husbands request for them. Apparently, being the youngest of the three, Meher was betrothed to Suraj, the youngest of the brothers but after having a look at the three of them before the wedding, Jeet, the oldest brother marries her instead.
What happens next is very confusing to me because it seemed as though Meher was warming up to her husband and Suraj, who finds out about how she was supposed to be his wife, out of spite for his older brothers' power over him, persuades her to believe that he is the husband and 'makes love'. This obviously is sexual assault.
Now, I cannot seem to understand why even after learning about the deception, she continues to indulge in her love for him when she had initially warmed up to her husband. Then again, she was a 15-year-old.
Anyway, I can see why this was longlisted for the booker prize.
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
'Not all Prisons have bars. And not all love is a Prison.'
TW: Child Abuse, Purdah, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Marital Rape, Rape, Oppression.
China room is a book that came off as a pleasant surprise to me. Though confusing in the beginning, once all the characters were introduced and the scene was set, I started enjoying the narration while also being positively intrigued as to what would happen next.
It runs in two timelines. The story of Meher, a victim of child marriage, and the current life of her great-grandson, a victim of drug abuse.
It took me a while to put two and two together and understand what was happening. Meher, along with two other women is married to three brothers and she tries her best to find out which of them is hers.
While her great-grandson arrives at his uncle's to get out of drug addiction and makes a decision to go live in their old family home. Here, he is bombarded with bits and pieces of gossip about Meher and how she was locked in a room for straying from her marriage.
While Meher is stuck between the brother she's married to and the brother she was supposed to be married to, the family politics, the 'ego' between the brothers, and the pressure to give them a child while her great-grandson is re-painting and bringing their ancestral home back to life while falling in love with the doctor.
The story had high potential and it does deliver to some extent with the exploration of all the traumas and how they affect lives.
Ultimately, there is an ending to both stories. I'm not exactly in content with them but I am glad we were not left hanging with a vague conclusion.
Spoiler alert and TW: Mai, Meher's dominant mother-in-law summons the women to a 'dark room' when their husbands request for them. Apparently, being the youngest of the three, Meher was betrothed to Suraj, the youngest of the brothers but after having a look at the three of them before the wedding, Jeet, the oldest brother marries her instead.
What happens next is very confusing to me because it seemed as though Meher was warming up to her husband and Suraj, who finds out about how she was supposed to be his wife, out of spite for his older brothers' power over him, persuades her to believe that he is the husband and 'makes love'. This obviously is sexual assault.
Now, I cannot seem to understand why even after learning about the deception, she continues to indulge in her love for him when she had initially warmed up to her husband. Then again, she was a 15-year-old.
Anyway, I can see why this was longlisted for the booker prize.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Drug abuse