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dafni's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Dementia
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity
5aru's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Dementia and Pregnancy
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
sabotheking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Incest
savvylit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The character-driven nature of this story brings the ramifications of intergenerational trauma and neglect into stark relief. Tara is an irredeemably awful mother. Her intense narcissism rears its ugly head over and over again, forcing Antara to always feel as though she is an extension of her mother instead of her own autonomous person. Thus, when her mother loses her memory Antara loses not only her mother but herself. Doshi beautifully describes their intertwined lives in this book, keeping a very dark story continuously compelling.
If you are a fan of dark character-driven novels and poetic writing, add Burnt Sugar to your list!
Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming and War
Minor: Incest
waybeyondblue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Dementia, and Sexual harassment
ntvenessa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Dementia, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
Minor: Addiction, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Alcohol
travelseatsreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I enjoyed how Doshi looked at the almost toxic relationship between the character and the mother and thought how she looked back through the different time frames worked well. She made me question at times who was at fault in that moment and what actually did happen in reality.
I also really enjoyed how Doshi displayed just how effected people can be from events in their childhood without at times realising those effects themselves.
However I found I couldn't warm to or connect with any of the characters and found the stereotypical characterization of the "Indians vs Westerners" to be over the top, caricaturistic and wildly negative.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, and Dementia
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Animal cruelty
hannahmayreads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is the third book (almost in a row) that I've read recently that features dementia, with the repercussions of the loss forming a central point in the novel. Coincidence or not, and despite each book being very different, it is a thread that will always bind them together in my mind. They (The Last Wave and Ghosts) are all such different stories told by very different writers but the suspended grief of mourning someone who remains only bodily runs through each of them.
The fracturing of her mother's memory sends Antara searching through her own memory. The trauma, the toxicity and the secrets of her past and present are drawn to the forefront of her mind. It is as if her mother's shifting conception of reality is forcing her to reconsider the validity of her own memories. Who is she and did she get here? Are these questions she can even answer? As her mother's memory slips further Antara's own daughter comes into the world, and the mother-daughter relationship shifts again.
"Maybe we would have been better if I had never been designated as her undoing. How do I stop myself from making the same mistake? How do I protect this little girl from the same burden? Maybe that's impossible. Maybe this is wishful thinking."
The cover quote for this book is absolutely spot-on: taut, unsettling, ferocious (Fatima Bhutto in case you were wondering).
"I will never be free of her. She's in my marrow and I'll never be immune."
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity