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A review by mynameismarines
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
3.0
3.5 stars
I read this as part of my project to read all of the books nominated for a 2023 Goodreads Choice Award in the debut category.
This one is complicated. I really appreciated the project of this book and the way it balanced humor and antics with darker thematic content and explorations of racism, colorism, misogyny, fatphobia, and motherhood. I listened to this on audiobook, and I had moments where I genuinely laughed out loud and others where I was tense, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
That said, I do feel like we sat in this story and those antics a bit too long. I had to look up how many pages were in this at one point because it kind of felt like I'd been reading forever.
Because this also explores the subjects above, there were some moments where this was just sort of unpleasant to read. I absolutely understand why the fatphobic comments were included, for instance, but it was a lot and very unpleasant. I don't think it was every portrayed as positive, per se, but it was played for laughs at points. I will also say, that for a story that eventually comes around to the importance of female friendships and solidarity, these women spend most of the book being pretty awful to each other, and I found myself wishing that were different.
It was interesting, and I think it will be memorable. I'm interested in following Shroff's career!
I read this as part of my project to read all of the books nominated for a 2023 Goodreads Choice Award in the debut category.
This one is complicated. I really appreciated the project of this book and the way it balanced humor and antics with darker thematic content and explorations of racism, colorism, misogyny, fatphobia, and motherhood. I listened to this on audiobook, and I had moments where I genuinely laughed out loud and others where I was tense, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
That said, I do feel like we sat in this story and those antics a bit too long. I had to look up how many pages were in this at one point because it kind of felt like I'd been reading forever.
Because this also explores the subjects above, there were some moments where this was just sort of unpleasant to read. I absolutely understand why the fatphobic comments were included, for instance, but it was a lot and very unpleasant. I don't think it was every portrayed as positive, per se, but it was played for laughs at points. I will also say, that for a story that eventually comes around to the importance of female friendships and solidarity, these women spend most of the book being pretty awful to each other, and I found myself wishing that were different.
It was interesting, and I think it will be memorable. I'm interested in following Shroff's career!