Today I collected some adult book reviews to share with you. Three for the price of one! I’m going to be reviewing Goddess of the River, Earthlings, and Oye. This is for the ones who love eclectic stories that make you think!
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Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel
A mother and a son. A goddess and a prince. A curse and an oath. A river whose course will change the fate of the world.
Ganga, joyful goddess of the river, serves as caretaker to the mischievous godlings who roam her banks. But when their antics incur the wrath of a powerful sage, Ganga is cursed to become mortal, bound to her human form until she fulfills the obligations of the curse.
Though she knows nothing of mortal life, Ganga weds King Shantanu and becomes a queen, determined to regain her freedom no matter the cost. But in a cruel turn of fate, just as she is freed of her binding, she is forced to leave her infant son behind.
Her son, prince Devavrata, unwittingly carries the legacy of Ganga’s curse. And when he makes an oath that he will never claim his father’s throne, he sets in motion a chain of events that will end in a terrible and tragic war.
As the years unfold, Ganga and Devavrata are drawn together again and again, each confluence another step on a path that has been written in the stars, in this deeply moving and masterful tale of duty, destiny, and the unwavering bond between mother and son.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Goddess of the River is a book I had high hopes for. After Kaikeyi, I was so excited for Patel’s latest. Immediately, I enjoyed how Goddess of the River is about how human look for control. How we can grab onto anything to try to have an illusion. However, quickly the time flashbacks were incredibly confusing for me. Combined with short chapters, it means I couldn’t really figure out who was who and what time we were in. I enjoy the way Patel describes and portrays the complexities, hypocrisies, and intricacies of myths and humans.
Plus I loved the mother and son dynamics! If you liked Kaikeyi, then you definitely have to check this one. But for me, the beginning was a big hurdle to get over to get my footing. Maybe if I was more familiar with the source material, the connections would be more firm from the beginning, but it just took me a while to fully immerse into the book.
Find Goddess of the River on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata and translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Natsuki isn’t like the other girls. She has a wand and a transformation mirror. She might be a witch, or an alien from another planet. Together with her cousin Yuu, Natsuki spends her summers in the wild mountains of Nagano, dreaming of other worlds. When a terrible sequence of events threatens to part the two children forever, they make a promise: survive, no matter what.
Now Natsuki is grown. She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal. But the demands of Natsuki’s family are increasing, her friends wonder why she’s still not pregnant, and dark shadows from Natsuki’s childhood are pursuing her. Fleeing the suburbs for the mountains of her childhood, Natsuki prepares herself with a reunion with Yuu. Will he still remember their promise? And will he help her keep it?
Review
Make sure you check out the trigger warnings on this one (i.e. cannibalism, pedophilia, rape, sexual assault, murder). I heard about the trigger warnings before, but I don’t know if I was prepared for it. At the beginning, Earthlings broke my heart in the ways Natsuki navigates the darkness of her childhood. The ways our family and society can turn their backs on us, not believe us, not show us love. Earthlings is very much a book dedicated to exploring societal conventions.
All the ways society can have these things we have to do, the models of behavior, of lives we have to life. How they reinforce these expectations, makes it feel like we are living in a surveillance bubble. I think this is the strength of Earthlings. It feels like a story with some extreme events, but that are logical dismantled and all revolve around what we are ‘meant’ to do. What we would do when we don’t fit in.
It’s one that shocked me, in more ways than one, but also made me think about all the times I’ve felt pressured, judged, and surveilled. Listening in audio book form meant that some of the trigger warnings brought tears to my eyes and Nancy Wu has done a phenomenal job with the tone of Earthlings which is crucial to the discussions and metaphors. Find Earthlings on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.
Oye by Melissa Mogollon
Luciana is the baby of her large Colombian American family. And despite usually being relegated to the sidelines, she now finds herself the voice of reason in the middle of their unexpected crisis. Her older sister, Mari, is away at college and reduced to a mere listening ear on the other end of their many phone calls, so when South Florida residents are ordered to evacuate before a hurricane, it’s up to Luciana to deal with her eccentric grandmother, Abue, who’s refusing to leave. But the storm isn’t the only danger. Abue, normally glamorous and full of life, is given a crushing medical diagnosis. While she’d prefer to ignore it and focus on upholding her reputation and her looks instead, the news sets Abue on her own personal journey, with Luciana reluctantly along for the ride.
When Abue moves into Luciana’s bedroom, their complicated bond only intensifies. Luciana would rather be skating or sneaking out to meet girls, but Abue’s wild demands and unpredictable antics are a welcome distraction from Luciana’s misguided mother, absent sister, and uncertain future. Forced to step into the role of caretaker, translator, and keeper of the devastating secrets that Abue begins to share, Luciana suddenly finds herself center stage, facing down adulthood—and rising to the occasion.
As Luciana chronicles the events of her upended senior year over the phone, Oye feels like the most entertaining conversation you’ve ever eavesdropped a rollicking, heartfelt, and utterly unique novel by an author as original as she is insightful.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Oye is a unique book told in dialogue. It’s about family shifting dynamics and the ways we can try to protect our loved ones even if they don’t want it. How sometimes what someone just wants is to be left alone. That to watch our loved ones suffer and make mistakes sometimes is just the best way to learn. It feels like a book that would be superb in audio book form. It makes me think about what people would think if they just heard my half of the conversation.
Oye is a must read for siblings. About the conversations we have with our sisters, our siblings. It’s a fascinating book which explores the space between what we say, and what we don’t. We read between the lines, witness all the barbed comments and placed silences. Oye is unique and feels a bit like stream of consciousness. Definitely worth a read and I’ll be checking out the audio book! Find Oye on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.