Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

10 reviews

wilde_read's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.5

A slow plodding read where I kept expecting something to happen. Eventually things happen, but it was an uphill climb to get there. The blurb compares it to a Dickens novel. That's really over-selling it! The ending seemed very rushed, compare to the build-up of the beginning. I listened to an audio version read by John Lee. He is incredibly talented in portraying the Indian accent. I would rather listen to a long book read by his voice, and have many more lined up for later.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Hate crime, and Police brutality

dua_liepard's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Gore, Child death, Slavery, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Suicide

Minor: Colonisation, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Sexism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

adam0k's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Physical abuse, Rape, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

aliciae08's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This is an extremely well-written novel.  Mistry has a talent of interweaving seemingly unlikeable characters and forcing you to find empathy within their choices and actions.  That being said, this was not the book for me.

Just want you think there will be happiness for the characters—Dina getting married to a man that loves her, Om and Ishvar continuing their legacy, Maneck being spared by the suffering inflicted on the other characters—each hope is dashed. Yes, their are small victories and little rebellions, but the only characters that seemingly “win” are objectively terrible people. 

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to this novel, especially in how our actions—good or bad—are linked in ways we couldn’t ordinarily have imagined.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Animal death, Classism, Death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Suicide, Torture, Sexual assault, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Grief

margaretrose's review

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Excrement, Police brutality, Child death, Classism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Islamophobia, and Gore

correct_rper's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Classism, Death, Hate crime, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

dashes101's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A book I'm glad I read but would never recommend without many, many warnings. It's set during the Emergency in India and discusses major themes -- the role of capitalism, fate, trauma and trauma responses, history, Indira Ghandi and her effects on India, nationhood, femininity, masculinity, nihilism to name a few. The characters seem real and you will scream, cry, shake, or whatever you do when you read something horrifically shocking. Mistry really crafts his writing to pack a punch. If you want to learn more about Indian history without picking up a textbook, definitely read the warnings and then pick this one up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Gore, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Animal death, Ableism, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Death, Suicide, Violence, Sexism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Colonisation

izzyknight's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

One of the most beautiful books I have ever read. So totally devastating and gorgeously crafted I was transported into the harsh world created in the pages. The moments of joy filled me with hope that maybe this time things would get better for the characters only for despair to follow in such unimaginable amounts I actually gasped aloud reading the suffering they had to endure. One of my new favourite books ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Islamophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

bookshelf_al's review

challenging sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Classism, Death, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Kidnapping

shreyasalaria's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Hate crime, Rape, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Murder, Islamophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Bullying, and Animal death