Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Burnt Sugar

It took me a while to get into it, but I ended up loving this book. The toxic relationship of the main character with her mother, and as a result with herself and everyone else around her, is tragic yet somehow relatable. The writing feels labored at times (the references to science and medicine felt mostly unnecessary and out of place), but there are moments of stark and brutal honesty, particularly in the last third of the book.

The last chapter was rattling, and I absolutely loved it, though I'm sorry the book ended where it did - I would have loved to see more of the MC as a mother.

Content Warnings

taulkstoomuch's review against another edition

Go to review page

I've tried twice now to give this book a chance but it just isn't for me. I kept getting bored and/or dozing off during the audiobook and found it hard to stay interested in the characters' lives. The premise was so interesting though, disappointed that it didn't work out for me.

Content Warnings

eepemma's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

jessbasuthakur's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book broke my brain.
Despite being quite tough to read, there is a lot that I appreciated about this book. The complicated mother/daughter relationship, mental health issues (depression, PPD vs psychosis, PTSD, physical manifestations of trauma, etc), the depiction of an India that is not seen often in books (through the eyes of the rich) while also keeping depictions through poor and middle class eyes, and the biggest thing to me: the effect trauma has on memories. For being such a short book, I think Doshi addressed all these topics quite well and with very strong language.
Nonetheless, this book just wasn't pleasant. I found the depictions of bodily fluids and excreta to be too numerous and didn't provide much to the plot. I also took away a whole star because of a scene in which Antara speaks on having sex with her dad, which was disgusting and added NOTHING to the plot. I appreciate when authors explore the deep, dark, and vile thoughts of humans, but Doshi had too many and I felt like it diluted the effect. Reza's character is introduced in the second half of the book and because he is a pivotal bridge between Tara and Antara, you would expect his part to be deeply discussed, however it was not, and it felt like a missed opportunity. The scene where Antara confronts Tara about his role in her life was anti-climactic considering his role. This book is also VERY dark with not enough light. I think some lightness is necessary in such dark stories to keep it readable, and this book just didn't have enough, and I was glad it was as short as it was because I would've stopped reading if it was much longer.
I was going to DNF this book about half way through and am glad I didn't, as the second half of the book was strong and provided a lot of explanation into the antics of Antara, but I think there was a lot of unnecessary descriptions and darkness that could have been done away with.

Content Warnings

baruss666's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

book_perk's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

What did I just read? I am confused, and disgusted with the inter-familial relationships and longing. There were a few interesting lines and I did enjoy aspects of how the narrator's mental health and mother's disease played off each other. Overall though, the book just fell really flat for me.

Content Warnings

literarylaila's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

jaya's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

More...