A review by rgoth
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book took me on a wild journey that left me feeling a bit uneasy and didn't quite meet my expectations.

The author had a strong emphasis on describing various smells throughout the story. While this can be an effective tool for bringing a narrative to life, the examples in this book became increasingly unpleasant. The descriptions included odors such as sweat and day-old banana, and the comparison of the smell of sex to fish and ice cream was particularly unsettling.

The main character and the weird girl character someone I typically enjoy reading about. However, there was a moment in the book where she imagined a sexual encounter with her father and pondered whether he could see her mother's face. This was highly disturbing and difficult to reconcile.

I did find myself empathising with the intricate dynamics of the strained mother-daughter relationship portrayed in the book, especially the love-hate feelings involved. Additionally, I appreciated the cleverness of the ending. But overall, I just couldn't get my head around the storyline and the weird descriptions.