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savvyrosereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Updated Review (May 2024):
I still absolutely love this one, which is equal parts tragic and inspiring, and totally action-packed. The audio version is also extremely well-done and I enjoyed the narration!
Original Review (July 2022):
Rating: 5/5 stars
A feminist retelling inspired by the Ramayana, <I>Kaikeyi</I> tells the story of Radnyi (Queen) Kaikeyi of Kosala and her journey through magic, motherhood, and the destruction (and salvation) of her family and kingdom.
“It was a child, freer than her mother had been.”
I adored this book! I love a feminist retelling, but it’s no secret that many of them have a tendency to be slow and a bit boring in sections. Not so here—<I>Kaikeyi</I> is action-packed and engaging from the very beginning, and Kaikeyi herself is a delight of a character who I was rooting for the whole way through. So much happens in this book that it isn’t easy to summarize (or even review), but I laughed, cried, and was thoroughly enthralled by the story and all the side characters (especially Kaushalya and Lakshmana, my faves).
I will also add that even though I went into this with pretty minimal knowledge of the Ramayana/any source myths, I never felt confused about the world or the events taking place. In fact, while I’m sure those who grew up with these myths will also enjoy the book, I think I was even more enchanted because everything was new to me—so if you’re intimidated by this book for those reasons, don’t be!
Bottom line: if you enjoy mythology and retellings, you absolutely have to read this one.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: feminist retellings; Hindu epics; fantasy meets mythology.
CW: War/violence/injury/death; death of parent; abandonment; discussions of infertility; discussions of child death.
I still absolutely love this one, which is equal parts tragic and inspiring, and totally action-packed. The audio version is also extremely well-done and I enjoyed the narration!
Original Review (July 2022):
Rating: 5/5 stars
A feminist retelling inspired by the Ramayana, <I>Kaikeyi</I> tells the story of Radnyi (Queen) Kaikeyi of Kosala and her journey through magic, motherhood, and the destruction (and salvation) of her family and kingdom.
“It was a child, freer than her mother had been.”
I adored this book! I love a feminist retelling, but it’s no secret that many of them have a tendency to be slow and a bit boring in sections. Not so here—<I>Kaikeyi</I> is action-packed and engaging from the very beginning, and Kaikeyi herself is a delight of a character who I was rooting for the whole way through. So much happens in this book that it isn’t easy to summarize (or even review), but I laughed, cried, and was thoroughly enthralled by the story and all the side characters (especially Kaushalya and Lakshmana, my faves).
I will also add that even though I went into this with pretty minimal knowledge of the Ramayana/any source myths, I never felt confused about the world or the events taking place. In fact, while I’m sure those who grew up with these myths will also enjoy the book, I think I was even more enchanted because everything was new to me—so if you’re intimidated by this book for those reasons, don’t be!
Bottom line: if you enjoy mythology and retellings, you absolutely have to read this one.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: feminist retellings; Hindu epics; fantasy meets mythology.
CW: War/violence/injury/death; death of parent; abandonment; discussions of infertility; discussions of child death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence
aksmith92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
The Setup: 'Kaikeyi' is a unique and captivating reimagining of a character from the Indian epic, the Ramayana. In her debut novel, Vaishnavi Patel defies convention by transforming the traditionally vilified queen Kaikeyi into a multidimensional protagonist. The novel delves into her life and motivations with a depth and nuance that is both refreshing and thought-provoking. We witness Kaikeyi's journey from a young girl, grappling with the challenges of a patriarchal society, to a married woman with children, navigating the complexities of her role.
Kaikeyi is an ambitious and intelligent woman who seeks independence and power in this patriarchal society. Born as the only daughter of the Raja of Kekaya, Kaikeyi is overshadowed by her brothers and is deeply affected by her mother's banishment. As she grapples with this grief and frustration, she learns that she possesses an ancient magic known as the Binding Plane, which allows her to see and influence the bonds between people. This power becomes a tool for navigating the political and social structures around her - but sometimes with a cost.
Not even into adulthood, she marries Raja Dasharath, and she becomes a warrior and diplomat, striving to create a more just world, especially for women. She establishes the Women's Council with Dasharath's other wives to address the concerns of those who are often unheard. Kaikeyi takes on significant roles that defy the traditional expectations of her time. However, her journey is fraught with challenges as she contends with the divine destinies imposed on her and her family, particularly concerning her stepson, Rama.
Patel's portrayal of Kaikeyi is not just richly detailed, but also deeply empathetic, providing a fresh and powerful feminist perspective on an ancient story. The novel explores themes of power, destiny, and resistance, shining a spotlight on Kaikey's unwavering determination to carve out her own legacy despite the cosmic and societal forces that stand in her way.
What I loved: I knew nothing about this retelling, so most of the information was entirely new to me, and I loved it. Kaikeyi was a formidable character in the best way—she was layered, nuanced, and poignant. She was also strong and determined and showcased so much grit. And while she wanted to do what was best for the women in her community, she also cared deeply about her family. I adored her character.
In addition, the plot and the retelling itself were phenomenal. Again, I knew nothing about the Ramayana, so this whole world was new to me. Still, I thought it was brilliant for Patel to tell this story of just Kaikeyi and her upbringing, leaving the Ramayana mostly untouched (when Rama was older and finding his divine purpose). We get to see Kaikeyi's motivations and what happens to her children throughout the years.
The prose was also quite readable and beautiful. I don't know if I would call this atmospheric, but I loved Patel's writing, sentence structure, and storytelling. I was utterly immersed in this novel and couldn't put it down.
Lastly, I honestly loved the tiny dose of fantasy in this novel—the Binding Plane and the integration of gods/goddesses were important touches. Not only was this needed because it relates to the mythical story of the Ramayana, but it added a layer to Kaikeyi and helped paint her story. With that said, be prepared to understand little about the magical system—it just exists.
I don't really have anything bad to say about this book—but be prepared to be frustrated, especially if you identify as a woman and understand a teensy bit about a patriarchal society. This book was no doubt embedded with sexism and misogyny, as that was the point. This book could be hard to read at times. However, that was the point and made the book even more powerful.
I am so thankful to have read this and look forward to seeing what other novels surface from Patel.
Kaikeyi is an ambitious and intelligent woman who seeks independence and power in this patriarchal society. Born as the only daughter of the Raja of Kekaya, Kaikeyi is overshadowed by her brothers and is deeply affected by her mother's banishment. As she grapples with this grief and frustration, she learns that she possesses an ancient magic known as the Binding Plane, which allows her to see and influence the bonds between people. This power becomes a tool for navigating the political and social structures around her - but sometimes with a cost.
Not even into adulthood, she marries Raja Dasharath, and she becomes a warrior and diplomat, striving to create a more just world, especially for women. She establishes the Women's Council with Dasharath's other wives to address the concerns of those who are often unheard. Kaikeyi takes on significant roles that defy the traditional expectations of her time. However, her journey is fraught with challenges as she contends with the divine destinies imposed on her and her family, particularly concerning her stepson, Rama.
Patel's portrayal of Kaikeyi is not just richly detailed, but also deeply empathetic, providing a fresh and powerful feminist perspective on an ancient story. The novel explores themes of power, destiny, and resistance, shining a spotlight on Kaikey's unwavering determination to carve out her own legacy despite the cosmic and societal forces that stand in her way.
What I loved: I knew nothing about this retelling, so most of the information was entirely new to me, and I loved it. Kaikeyi was a formidable character in the best way—she was layered, nuanced, and poignant. She was also strong and determined and showcased so much grit. And while she wanted to do what was best for the women in her community, she also cared deeply about her family. I adored her character.
In addition, the plot and the retelling itself were phenomenal. Again, I knew nothing about the Ramayana, so this whole world was new to me. Still, I thought it was brilliant for Patel to tell this story of just Kaikeyi and her upbringing, leaving the Ramayana mostly untouched (when Rama was older and finding his divine purpose). We get to see Kaikeyi's motivations and what happens to her children throughout the years.
The prose was also quite readable and beautiful. I don't know if I would call this atmospheric, but I loved Patel's writing, sentence structure, and storytelling. I was utterly immersed in this novel and couldn't put it down.
Lastly, I honestly loved the tiny dose of fantasy in this novel—the Binding Plane and the integration of gods/goddesses were important touches. Not only was this needed because it relates to the mythical story of the Ramayana, but it added a layer to Kaikeyi and helped paint her story. With that said, be prepared to understand little about the magical system—it just exists.
I don't really have anything bad to say about this book—but be prepared to be frustrated, especially if you identify as a woman and understand a teensy bit about a patriarchal society. This book was no doubt embedded with sexism and misogyny, as that was the point. This book could be hard to read at times. However, that was the point and made the book even more powerful.
I am so thankful to have read this and look forward to seeing what other novels surface from Patel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, War, Misogyny, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, and Medical content
Minor: Toxic relationship and Body horror
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Death, Murder, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Grief, and Infertility
Minor: Classism, Abandonment, Child death, Sexual violence, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
scrubsandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
4.0
As a South Asian reader with Hindu family members, I'm not a stranger to the story of Rama and Sita and how their return to Ayodhya is marked by the celebration of Diwali. So, I jumped at the chance to read the retelling of the story from the POV of the allegedly wicked stepmother. I absolutely loved how the author told her story. I do agree that the pacing at some points felt like it dragged and many parts made me wonder why it was even written in but I suppose in the long run, it added more depth to Kaikeyi's motives for every decision she took. I already knew the ending, of course, but the story gave one hope that it would change and things would work out. I do believe there were also strong aromantic and asexual vibes with the MC which was a delight to read as a South Asian ace myself!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Misogyny, War, Death, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy and Infertility
tinysierra's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Kaikeyi is a beautiful story. It took me a moment to really get into the book, but once I did, I felt Kaikeyi’s frustration, joy, heartache. Vaishnavi Patel did a beautiful job crafting the story through Kaikeyi’s eyes. She was such a great main character.
Kaikeyi is aroace, which was incredibly well done. The words “aromantic” and “asexual” are not used on page, but the text is clear.
Aromantic quote:
“They thought me shy when it came to such matters, for I would sit back quietly, but in fact I had nothing to add. No such feelings for Dasharath, or any person, had ever surfaced in me. I was comfortable with my husband, loved him as a dear friend, but the pull of romance meant nothing to me. I could be happy for those in love, but I could not understand.” pg 198
Asexual quote:
”For when I thought about the acts Manthara described, or when I studied the illustrations in some of the more well-hidden recesses of the library, I felt only indifference. I had heard serving girls talk in whispers and giggles about men they found charming, or how it felt to steal a covert kiss with their betrothed. I thought of Dasharath and searched for the same desire within myself, but nothing ever emerged.” pg 98
I loved the sense of sisterhood between the wives. I loved that the children were cared for equally by all of them. It was so achingly beautiful.
I personally liked that although there was pregnancy, it wasn’t talked about deeply.
Kaikeyi is aroace, which was incredibly well done. The words “aromantic” and “asexual” are not used on page, but the text is clear.
Aromantic quote:
Asexual quote:
I loved the sense of sisterhood between the wives. I loved that the children were cared for equally by all of them. It was so achingly beautiful.
I personally liked that although there was pregnancy, it wasn’t talked about deeply.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infertility, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
lucystolethesky's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, Death, Child abuse, War, Misogyny, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Child death
Minor: Blood, Infertility, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
some_random_person_hi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
I love when people retell stories in ways that uproot it from the bigoted views from the time it was written. It was kind of slow but even without having previous contact with the Ramayana, the impending sense of doom compelled me to read on and by the last ~80 pages I couldn't put the book down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, War, and Mental illness
Minor: Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Medical content, and Infidelity
not_asha01's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
destynee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
Life truly did not want me to finish this book, and I finally did! This book is honestly what I expected Circe to be. We are introduced to Kaikeyi and have time to get to know her, but unlike with Circe she truly is an advocate for women. She may have stumbled at some parts but she was very much human and even worked to look for solutions to those problems. As usual, characters made me laugh, smile, and even made me angry. I look for that in books and it was just as prominent here. Vaishnavi Patel did a great job at not only explaining and showing who Kaikeyi was but at giving her justice as well. Her story truly is heard in this novel and it is one that I will keep with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Sexism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Medical content
dannilmp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A mythology re-telling that will inspire people to want to read more about the Ramayana while also offering a different perspective on why Kaikeyi took the actions she did rather than her just being labelled the evil-stepmother. Despite not knowing much about the Ramayana before reading Kaikeyi, there is now an inspiration for me to go and learn more and then most certainly come back here for a re-read (hopefully in audiobook form next time) to see how I feel about the novel then.
One thing I thought was done really well in this novel was the use of the time skips throughout. None of them felt especially forced, or jarring and I was never confused as to whether there had been a time skip or the length as it was clearly stated in the novel. To see what Kaikeyi achieves, especially as a woman in her time was inspiring and motivating. While I never realised that asexuality featured in this story(I just believe that due to it being an arranged marriage, Kaikeyi never developed true romantic feelings) looking back it is a little more obvious, I really enjoyed rethinking about this aspect of Kaikeyi and found it is good and really well written into her character.
On the other hand, it is some of the men that I couldn't stand and am ashamed to say this is why the book won't be a five star for me (at least on first reading) and while I understand that culturally and historically the actions and beliefs of these men would have been written accurately, I still couldn't get over how annoyed and angry it made me feel. But credit given for such writing being able to cause me to emote like it did
One thing I thought was done really well in this novel was the use of the time skips throughout. None of them felt especially forced, or jarring and I was never confused as to whether there had been a time skip or the length as it was clearly stated in the novel. To see what Kaikeyi achieves, especially as a woman in her time was inspiring and motivating. While I never realised that asexuality featured in this story
On the other hand, it is some of the men that I couldn't stand and am ashamed to say this is why the book won't be a five star for me (at least on first reading) and while I understand that culturally and historically the actions and beliefs of these men would have been written accurately, I still couldn't get over how annoyed and angry it made me feel. But credit given for such writing being able to cause me to emote like it did
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child abuse