Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

91 reviews

raeich's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

This book does such a clever job of shifting and widening one's perspective about choice, traditionalism, honor, feminism, and liberation in the context of strong cultural and modern values. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Murder

deven_c's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, and Suicide

matmatmatty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? No

5.0

This story focuses on a Sikh community in Southall, London where a young "modern" woman is hired to teach a literacy class (although she thinks it's a creative writing class) and while giving her students (who are, of course, the titular Punjabi widows) the confidence to express themselves properly, she starts to uncover the truth about some of the community's secrets.

I really liked the dynamic between the m in characters- coming from a religious immigrant community myself, I could completely understand Nikki's thinking and the way she acts, but could also see some of my family in Kulwinder and some of the widows.

This book gave me a lot to think about - from how our safe communities can become toxic, to how it's important to stand up to our ideals even if the world is against us.

I know what happened to Maya does happen - there was a lot of talk of "honour killings" in the UK a few years ago, but it sometimes feel like things are out of our hands with things like this, and this story helped me realise that it doesn't have to be.

Really loved this book and looking forward to reading more from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Violence, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Xenophobia and Sexism

sophiestasyna's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

chaos_na_regale's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Misogyny

serenspace's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

dani_reis's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Kind of bored with the pace feeling too slow. Bit too much like an anthology of erotica, which I should have expected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death, Sexism, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Murder, Infidelity, Suicide, and Stalking

Minor: Rape and Adult/minor relationship

hoagie's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Grief, Islamophobia, Murder, and Sexual content

xoxo_biz's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-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? No

4.0

This book is delightful with a twist. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

ashleytalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Oh my God. I am in love with this book. It made me laugh. It made me cry. The erotic stories were very hot at times. It handled feminism, culture, desire, and the every day lives of women beautifully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Racism