This Book of the Month selection has been sitting on my shelf for a while but I finally got to it. I loved that it was in first person narrative but gave it a 3.5/5 stars. This is a short review because I found myself skimming so I can’t do the book full justice.
Kaikeyi’s story was new for me and I’m glad we got to see her point of view in mythology but she wasn’t a likeable character to me. She was highly manipulative in general and didn’t fully understand the consequences of her actions. But I was captivated by her unique powers. It did feel a bit easy and coincidental how she learned how to use the threads so easily.
Part of me wanted to empathize with her since it’s a story of how women were treated unfairly with a direct example of her life compared to her twin brother. I don’t envy her situation and I’m glad she had the desire to learn to fight.
I’m not a big fan of “pray for what you want” so that part turned me off and I couldn’t relate but I understand it’s their culture.
Overall, the writing was dry and flat for me like it was a history lesson and I couldn’t engage much emotionally. Read this standalone if you like slower mythology.
Cassie Swindon 