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catandherbooks'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
4.5
Graphic: Chronic illness and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Vomit
grace_cr1'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
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
sophsg88'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: Dementia
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
aaminak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Medical content
Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Misogyny, Blood, and Pregnancy
literarylaila'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
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
kayleyhyde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body shaming, Physical abuse, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Fatphobia
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
bookmaddie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Besides that, I found the narrative structure to just be a bit lacking and jumpy—quickly going from flashback to present and back again. It was hard for me to form a coherent picture of her present day. I also thought this would be more about her mother's memory loss but instead it devolves into a picture of the main character's trauma—yet doesn't bother to really examine that much in context with her mother's memory loss.
The ending really turned the book on its head, though. I think on one hand, it added a real level of interest when contemplating the story as a whole. But even so, I still feel like it didn't add much to the story to make me like it more. While I understand what Doshi was trying to do with this book, I just feel like it fell flat for me. There was something missing—I think I just wanted more depth and acknowledgement of trauma and memory.
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Blood
Minor: Abortion
nakutski'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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, and Dementia
Moderate: Body shaming and Bullying