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disabledbookdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
titalindaslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Vaishnavi securing her place as an auto-buy author between this and Kaikeyi.
cas_sand's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
rita02's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lexib_9's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
river24's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4/5
I do not want thrones, or riches, or renown. I want to be where I was loved.
I really enjoyed this book. The first half is very slow and meandering, encapsulating perfectly the river-like flow of the story. Like tributaries, it branches off into the minds of other characters and explores many of those that come to pray at Ganga's river. Every smaller story, every side character, is skillfully placed as everything weaves back into the main plot eventually. It's masterfully crafted and so intelligently executed. I loved the slow but inevitable build into the war we know, from the very first chapters, is coming.
Will you be king of ashes?
Ganga's journey is such an interesting one to be able to witness. She's such a fascinating character to explore as she holds such dichotomy inside of herself; she is a goddess who despises the mortal world, and yet she is a goddess who knows what it is to be human. She can't help but be affected by the mortal world, even as she spurns it.
I felt at times that Ganga's perspective as a goddess was possibly too vast, too pulled back from humanity, but I no longer think that's entirely correct. Ganga has the unique perspective, for a god, of mortality. She knows what it is to be human and to be caught up in their fears and desires and dreams, she is more entangled in humanity than she would ever care to admit. And beyond that, she gives life to humanity from her waters, she washes away pain and tends to those that she can help. Her heart is forever being changed by humanity. This, I think, provides such a spell-binding narrative to explore, such an incredible character to pull our focus.
Through Devavrata, or Bhishma, we follow the folly of mortals, the ever-lasting struggle for power. We see, in all its despair, what has become of the Kuru line and we see the mistakes every person has made at every step for it to have ended up as messy and as complicated as it now is.
I really adored how complex each and every character truly was, by the end of the book there was not a clearly noble and righteous victor, there was not the sharpness of a line drawn between good and evil. It was far more complicated than that. Characters that I hated became tangles of emotion in my mind as they became much more to me than just one evil deed. Characters that at first glance appeared to be only cannon fodder in the battles to come became fractured people woven into the fabric of the politics of the court. Characters that had for most of the book been virtuous and good, muddied themselves in the chasms of war and spoiled their gilded clothing with blood. Every person was more than what they first appeared to be on the surface and I think this was what I most admired about the book.
But gods should not need to enforce that which men should plainly know.
I appreciate the insightful nature of the storytelling even more as I look back upon it. Every element is crafted and placed so intricately, everything is moulded with such craft and care. I loved seeing how characters came back to haunt the narrative, how every person had substance and importance, how every action held repercussions. What I loved most was the cyclical nature of the story; everything came back to the beginning, ended as it began, everything felt whole and one. It was all so incredibly well thought out. I can't wait to read more of Patel's works!
I promise. I will return, and I will sit on your banks once more.
Thank you Orbit for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I do not want thrones, or riches, or renown. I want to be where I was loved.
I really enjoyed this book. The first half is very slow and meandering, encapsulating perfectly the river-like flow of the story. Like tributaries, it branches off into the minds of other characters and explores many of those that come to pray at Ganga's river. Every smaller story, every side character, is skillfully placed as everything weaves back into the main plot eventually. It's masterfully crafted and so intelligently executed. I loved the slow but inevitable build into the war we know, from the very first chapters, is coming.
Will you be king of ashes?
Ganga's journey is such an interesting one to be able to witness. She's such a fascinating character to explore as she holds such dichotomy inside of herself; she is a goddess who despises the mortal world, and yet she is a goddess who knows what it is to be human. She can't help but be affected by the mortal world, even as she spurns it.
I felt at times that Ganga's perspective as a goddess was possibly too vast, too pulled back from humanity, but I no longer think that's entirely correct. Ganga has the unique perspective, for a god, of mortality. She knows what it is to be human and to be caught up in their fears and desires and dreams, she is more entangled in humanity than she would ever care to admit. And beyond that, she gives life to humanity from her waters, she washes away pain and tends to those that she can help. Her heart is forever being changed by humanity. This, I think, provides such a spell-binding narrative to explore, such an incredible character to pull our focus.
Through Devavrata, or Bhishma, we follow the folly of mortals, the ever-lasting struggle for power. We see, in all its despair, what has become of the Kuru line and we see the mistakes every person has made at every step for it to have ended up as messy and as complicated as it now is.
I really adored how complex each and every character truly was, by the end of the book there was not a clearly noble and righteous victor, there was not the sharpness of a line drawn between good and evil. It was far more complicated than that. Characters that I hated became tangles of emotion in my mind as they became much more to me than just one evil deed. Characters that at first glance appeared to be only cannon fodder in the battles to come became fractured people woven into the fabric of the politics of the court. Characters that had for most of the book been virtuous and good, muddied themselves in the chasms of war and spoiled their gilded clothing with blood. Every person was more than what they first appeared to be on the surface and I think this was what I most admired about the book.
But gods should not need to enforce that which men should plainly know.
I appreciate the insightful nature of the storytelling even more as I look back upon it. Every element is crafted and placed so intricately, everything is moulded with such craft and care. I loved seeing how characters came back to haunt the narrative, how every person had substance and importance, how every action held repercussions. What I loved most was the cyclical nature of the story; everything came back to the beginning, ended as it began, everything felt whole and one. It was all so incredibly well thought out. I can't wait to read more of Patel's works!
I promise. I will return, and I will sit on your banks once more.
Thank you Orbit for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
bookish_olga's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I honestly really struggled to rate it. The whole book feels disjointed. Ganga's 1st person perspective is great, really immersive and lyrical. The other part, written in 3rd person and describing war is messy and all over the place. Unfortunately as a whole this book didn't work for me.
imiji's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
there was a truly superb book waiting underneath this one's skin and i felt sad that it never got to truly show itself. the acknowledgments seemed to imply that patel has written this book about the responsibilities of those with power in shaping the fate of the world. it fails at this mainly because we never really hear from or invest ourselves in any individual figure who isn't in power, only those who have a little less power than the all-powerful. but what patel has very nearly done in a very convincing and interesting way is write a story about divinity allowing itself to be shaped by mortality and humanity, and how a divine figure changes, learns, and grows as a result. ganga's internal arc as she pulls toward and away from the people who come to her is very moving and the strongest part of this book, and i only wish that this book had treated that as its center.
rnbhargava's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Yet another incredibly paced in action but also emotionally moving Hinduism related retelling from Patel. This one is just as interesting as Kaikeyi, I might like this one better with its slightly different storytelling construction, focusing on a godly mother and her essentially demi-god son. Her learning process regrading humanity and his struggles around what is morally upright in relation to his all too fallible paternal family members is told in compelling fashion. My minor gripe with this book is that supporting characters don’t get quite as full arcs. That said, aside from maybe one or two characters, I mostly felt like I could piece together what the supporting characters were up to with their motivations. Vaishnavi Patel is definitely shaping up to be one of my favourite writers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, and War
There is an element of infanticide, there is child-parent estrangement caused by one parent not allowing the other to see their child, there is a scene that could have easily become a sexual assault if not for certain storytelling/plot elements inhibiting it. There is war and characters motivated by vengeance. Whether gods are good or vengeful is a theme throughout. Family infighting in general is a large aspect of the plot.