Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

11 reviews

henrismum's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.25

First by author
Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
Why I added this book to my TBR pile: Since this is a popular book, it may have come as a recommendation.
Will I read more of the series / author?     Probably Not     Maybe    Highly Likely
This was a good read that took me to India. The stories of the three women were compelling. The story of their mother's death was sad, but understandable.
The narrators were Soneela Nankani and Deepti Gupta. I don't know which did the most narrating, but they were both good.
Source: Queens Library

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Grief, Abortion, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual violence, Infertility, and Miscarriage

sabs98's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

This book was so wonderfully written. The author's skillfulness in painting a portrait of each character is amazing; she does this by switching points of view to show the sisters from all perspectives and by describing memories of their pasts that arise as they are navigating new and uncomfortable situations on the pilgrimage together. The most compelling thing about this story is how real and relatable everything is to me as a child of immigrants: everything including their experiences of their ancestral land after having grown up in the West, the pressure and guilt unintentionally imposed on second-generation kids when they fail to meet even the smallest of their parents expectations, the anger and shock at the harmful and unjust patriarchal ways that pervade every part of life. Each sister carries childhood trauma, and the ways in which it plays out in their adult lives makes sense. The author is able to connect everything together so well, every character and every minor plot point has a sensible purpose. Balli Kaur Jaswal might just be my favorite author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abortion, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Police brutality

Minor: Alcoholism

jordan_noel's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.25

I was expecting this book to be about three sisters reuniting while grieving over their newly-deceased mother. I was not expecting so many important societal issues to follow.

This book talks about the patriarchy (specifically in India), MeToo and women's rights movements, female feticide, marriage, spirituality, and how to connect and adapt to different situations in order to preserve the most important relationships.

I loved these characters and grew closer to them as they slowly learned to trust one another and deconstruct the difficulties of their childhoods together. The only real flaw to me was that the characters didn't feel entirely real as they began to transition into a better relationship with each other. It was close, but just not quite there I don't think.

Overall, I thought this book was great and necessary for anyone learning to sacrifice a bit of their pride to repair lost connects with people they love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Abortion, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Police brutality, Rape, Alcoholism, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

There is a section of the book (maybe 1 page detailing the event and 10 pages mentioning it) about police brutality. In this same area, a group of girls recite sexual assault statistics and detail a rape that occurred recently in a major city---it's very news-like. One character has an alcohol dependency, but it's only really mentioned in the first third of the book and she's making efforts to escape it from the time we know her. One character is in a toxic relationship and experiences emotional and physical abuse. There are heavy instances of misogyny and sexual harassment for the characters once they're in India.

Additionally, a big theme of the novel is women being forced to abort female fetuses in traditional Indian families.

Several characters get pregnant and one experiences multiple miscarriages. The book starts with the characters losing their mother to cancer. The daughters grieve their mother throughout the story as they fulfill her final wish for them.

saliwali's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad fast-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: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Medical content, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Mental illness, Animal death, Bullying, and Grief

emmsco's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, and Abortion

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Miscarriage

zomigi's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Infertility, and Miscarriage

gheron's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Suicide

Moderate: Abortion, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, and Bullying

Minor: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Grief

caedy's review

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

apassporttoliterature's review

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

abbie_'s review against another edition

adventurous 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

I picked up The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters and was immediately hooked! I devoured 200 pages of it on Sunday and finished it last night, it’s a really addictive read with a good mix of character development and page-turning plot.

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It follows three British-born Punjabi sisters who are undertaking a journey to India at their mother’s last request. Anyone who loves books centred around sibling relationships, especially sisterhood, is bound to enjoy this one! All three sisters are very different and all are burdened with secrets and troubles they’re trying to keep hidden from one another.

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One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was how Jaswal explored the disconnect between the sisters’ Punjabi heritage and the country they grew up in. At one point, Rajni, oldest by around a decade, talks about how she spent her teenage years trying to quash her culture and fit in with white western ideals while still being subjected to racist remarks from her peers. But by the time her sisters were that age, on the other hand, being of a different ethnicity was considered ‘trendy’.

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I’m not sure it’s one I’ll remember forever, but it pulled me out of my binge-watch hangover and for that I am grateful!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Terminal illness