Welcome to Litsy!

His was not a mouth that it taken long hiatus from kissing

I loved everything about this book: The setting, the frenemies, the suspense, the humor. I did not expect to be cackling like I was! And the last two chapters are perfect. In a recent author chat I attended, Shroff hinted there may be a sequel. Crossing my fingers for that!

Reading this for the March fiction Feminist Book Club pick. Enjoying it so far.

That was fun!

This story is flat out soul-satisfying! Greta, like many of the women in her small Indian village, is abused by her husband. She finds some freedom when he disappears. Some think she killed him and want her to help them get rid of their equally horrible spouses. Mahem ensues. Lots of humor amongst the very real pain. By the end, after getting her vengeance, she tells her returned wastrel, “You‘re wrong, I‘m right, and I‘m definitely not sorry.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of women in an Indian village finding a way out from under negative circumstances. Yes, a few husbands got killed, but they needed killing. 😂 Kidding, sort of. They were pretty horrible men. This was a lively read that moved along quickly. I just loved the way the bad guys tripped themselves up with their own inflated egos. Sweet justice.

It‘s so good! I‘m visiting my mom, and bought this for her, but she‘s going to have to wait until I‘m finished with it 😂 I read half of it in one night, so I don‘t think she‘ll be waiting long!

This book is fantastic. Just the right amount of wry humour mixed with a brilliantly engaging narrative, and I got to learn some more small bits and pieces about Indian culture.

The Bandit Queens tells of Geeta who has been ostracized in her village due to the disappearance of her husband five years previous. Many of the villagers, including several friends in a women's business loan group believe the rumor that she might have murdered him as it was known that he was abusive towards Geeta. At the start of the novel, one of the women in the group Farah approaches Geeta pleading for her help as she is in a similar (CONT)

“Poor Bandit was ill prepared for the tempest incarnate stomping around her house as she cursed Saloni with verboten invectives even she'd never dared utter before...Only when she ran out of lizard parts did she collapse onto her mattress, spent. “
#AuldLangSpine @larkken @monalyisha

After 3 months on hold, I finally got this from my local library. I have high hopes after the long wait but so far, I love the narrators voice so let‘s see where it goes!

Indie bookstore haul!

June's fiction and nonfiction choices #12booksof2023 @Andrew65

I wouldn't be surprised if this nonfiction wins in its category for the reading brackets for 2023!

#FavBook2023

I love books that bring to light powerful, change-bringing women that I did not previously know (Phoolan Devi). In this way this book reminds me of In The Time of Butterflies, and is one that will stick with me for years to come.

I loved the multi-layed look at Geeta's life, the community loan she is in, the other women of the loan, and how each treat the other. At it's core this is about community and not being a victim.

#12Booksof2023 April

A book that surprised me in the best possible way from the Woman‘s Prize for Fiction Longlist this year.

About a group of women in an Indian village trying to control their lives

My #top23of23 is actually 15 5 star books. Each of these i really enjoyed reading at the time and am still thinking about much later.
Im enjoying seeing everyone‘s lists and i know there will be some great ones waiting tight till NYE!
Happy holidays to all and wishing peace and love to our friend @Cinfhen

I am really in the minority on this one. Although I can appreciate dark humor, it didn‘t work for me here. I thought the light-hearted treatment of the serious subject matter crossed the line into silliness.

It‘s eggnog season!

This book ended up being so good! The first 75 pages or so were a bit slow for me, but I ended up really liking most of it…Geeta was an incredibly HUMAN character, who doesn‘t fit nicely into just one box. Such a fun, interesting read!
⭐️: 3.75/5

Ever since I saw the first reviews about this book, I wanted to read it. And since my friend from India agreed to do a Buddy Read we had some great discussions about modern day India and the topics in this novel.

And I came to love Geeta more and more (the dog!) and I loved how she evolved and scrutinized her own thoughts and actions. How she started to make friends again, how she started to refused to be a victim. Dark humor, which I love.

Entertaining #audiolisten full of intrigue and blackmail. I liked how the backstory was slowly unveiled explaining the tensions between the characters and how perception and reality were different for each one. Seeing the caste system and cultural references in action were interesting as well.

First September bookspin bingo read done ✔️ the premise of this book is a good one I enjoyed the beginning and the end but started to get alittle bored 😑 mid way a so so read for me, sometimes a certain book just doesn‘t fit with your current mood. Funny how our reading moods shift. Happy Friday folks and happy 😃 weekend reading

It‘s September and we‘re closing up #CampLitsy23 by announcing our winner. It was a VERY close call but this year‘s #CampChamp is The Bandit Queens!

Thanks to nominations by @Eraderneely @Megpiegem @Jenniferw88 @CSeydel @ImperfectCJ and @Read4Life the book was shortlisted for #CampLitsy23. With 15 votes it was our number 3 on the shortlist (behind Birnam Wood with 16 and Yellowface with 21 votes).
 
Continued below ⬇️

This was good! Light hearted mixed with serious themes. The power of the women working together is inspiring, and the insight into rural India is interesting

I thoroughly enjoyed this story that had far more depth than it appeared at first blush. The fact that I already knew the story of Phoolan Devi definitely added to the reading experience. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2023/07/review-bandit-queens-by-parini-shroff.h...

This book really grew on me by the end! A combination of tasteful and sophisticated prose combined with sitcom-like friendship antics made this a great story. Female friendships, caste systems and a colourful cultural setting make this a unique read.

I went into this book thinking I was going to love it from the start and in reality it took me most of the novel to become invested. In the end, I loved the power of female friendships and the empowerment it spoke of, I just wish I felt that right from the beginning.

I put this on hold at the library as the WPrize longlist was announced & only just got it! But it was perfect timing for me to lose myself in Geeta‘s life and to RAIL against her awful husband. You could say some of the twists in this book are foreseeable but Shroff does such a great job of character, its so rich in personality and foibles, that who really cares! Oh i just wanted to blow some people up and this was cathartic for me! Loved it 💕

I went in knowing that I really wanted to read this. I picked it for my IRL book club. Assigning it to August had more to do with library availability than anything else. And then it ended up on the longlist for the Women's prize. So I was hopeful. And I wasn't disappointed. I loved it.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

My book club meets later today to discuss this one, so I finished in the nick of time! Geeta‘s story, set in a very small village in northern India, makes for a fast & genuinely engaging read. Five years earlier, her husband vanished & town gossip lays the blame on Geeta as his murderer. When another wife looks to become a widow to stop her alcoholic husband‘s fists, she turns to Geeta for her expertise. The humor balances the violence throughout.

Read in June😳so late in reviews. In general I liked this novel and the story, which could be absurd sometimes but that I loved that sarcastic humor and there funny scenes. It was so terrible how women were treated and the life of the real “bandit queen” was harder. So interesting about different religious beliefs and cultural traditions. This novel is a debut, so let see what else the author writes in the future. 3.5/3.75⭐️

Super loved this one, and laughed out loud more than a few times. Something about dark, twisted humor…. Anyway, this is the story of how a small group of women in a rural Indian village come together (tho not easily) to rise up & actually kill their abusive, alcoholic husbands (one of whom was also known to molest children). There‘s a lot packed in, and I thought it was a wild ride. #bookspinbingo #bookspin #bbrc:once bitten

Forgot to post a review. A soft pick for me. I enjoyed parts of it but the first half didn‘t keep my attention and it took forever for me to finish. Not entirely sure why. Perhaps I couldn‘t get invested in some of the characters. But glad to read it with the #camplitsy crew.

fourteenth book of summer.

Madcap yet oddly relatable.

1 tough decision - I tagged one of the best
2 Jodi Taylor: The Good, The Bad and The History
3 Juno Dawson: The Shadow Cabinet
4 Travis Baldree: Bookshops&Bonedust
5 Martha Wells: Witch King
6 Wesley Chu: The Art of Prophecy
7 Shannon Chakraborty
8 Tress of the Emerald Sea
9 ⬆️
10 ⬆️
11 Laura Shepherd-Robinson: The Square of Sevens
12 all on #MountARC?

#MidYearBookFreakOut

Thanks for the tag, @Klou

Want to join in? You're tagged. 😁

This was a fun read. Geeta's husband disappeared 5 years ago, and her village believes she killed him. Other women in the village start going to her to have her get rid of their husbands too.

I had good intentions of participating in #CampLitsy2023 but things didn't work out as I'd planned. However, I did manage to finish this book which I loved! The characters were wonderful, and I enjoyed both the humour and the exploration of ethical questions that are not so easy to answer.

@BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain

34/23 I am so wildly behind on #camplitsy 😂 because… life. I finished The Bandit Queens last week and am only a little way through Birnam Wood BUT I absolutely loved The Bandit Queens. I found it refreshing, funny, enlightening, and a page turner. It was interesting to read just after Invisible Women as a lot of the story is directly linked to the gender imbalance of the books focus. I loved reading the discussing afterwards too - thanks campers!

The Bandit Queen wins this month, and faces off with The Very Secret Society, and the two were just so different, made me feel totally different (cozy satisfaction vs hell yeah badassery), so I‘m going to need some time before the winner makes itself clear.
#ReadingBracket2023

So, I made it through this. Barely. How is this about sisterhood when the women are terrible to each other most of the time? Full of stereotypes, bad writing and generalisations.
Nuance and subtlety never stood a chance here 😅

The Bandit Queens did quite well in my #fiction #readingbracket2023, but I think I'd have gone down a rabbit hole with Poolan before now so The Postscript Murders just edges it out and becomes my top book for the first half of 2023 as I want to listen to book #3 soon!

@chasjjlee

I liked the mood of this novel: dark, funny, and strong female characters. This almost had a slapstick nature to the plot which could have been really annoying and ridiculous, but was actually charming and welcome given the heavy themes of violence, misogyny, and class. However, the plotting was a bit off and I struggled to get through the first third or so before settling in. The moments where true female friendship shined made this worth it. 3⭐️

Playing catch-up: this was the first book for #CampLitsy23 .

Geeta is alienated by village society because they all think she killed her husband. This reputation suits her fine, even though the truth is, he simply left her. But when another abused woman asks for Geeta‘s help in killing her husband, Geeta has to either fess up or aid and abet. This was a farcical black comedy taking aim at the caste system and women‘s rights in India.

Unpopular opinion: I am hating it so far.🙈
The characters are all behaving like immature teenagers and I am getting really fed up with stories that seem to feel the need to make all men monsters. I realise this is an attempt at dark humour, but it's not working and the laissez-faire attitude to murder is getting out of hand in this one.
Also there is addressing social issues and there is making a culture all about them.
And there is 7h to go...🙄

I had wanted to finish this when reading along with #camplitsy23 but for some reason every time I went to read it I fell asleep. I ended up reserving the audiobook at my library. I enjoyed this book with its dark humor and insight into life for women in India.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look at this face! Nothing whatsoever to do with this book review but I don‘t have the energy to find the book and create the scene. #CopperBopper #Griff #whpg #TotalWeirdoDogLoveBug

I am giving this 5 star because it made me feel and made me think. It made me mad and it made my heart ache. It impressed me mightily as a debut! And I love that Elizabeth McCracken is one of the author‘s friends. (My dog is a weirdo, so am I.) & I embrace theme 👇