| I am curious how my reading experience compares to those who are already familiar with the Mahabharat. This book feels intended for people who are already know this story and are interested by the novelty of it being retold through a female perspective. However I felt like it fails to balance the task of retelling this giant epic with the more intimate thoughts of Panchaali. Why did we get absolutely no interactions of her with her sons? Why did we get so few scenes of her with her 5 husbands? Instead she was obsessed with someone she never actually met which seemed to be her main motivation. It just doesn't make sense to me. I can't help but compare this to Madeline Miller's books Circe and Song of Achilles which do a better job (in my opinion) of creating complex human characters within mythology. However also I wonder if I feel that way because Miller wrote about stories I was already familiar with.