ARC Book: Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Rating: 3/5

In a world where mortals and the Gods prejudice against women, Kaikeyi, the vilified queen from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, is an intelligent, brave, and powerful woman who preserves free will, fights for her worth, and carves her own destiny with a purpose. And get this, she has a magical gift to see and manipulate her bonds with everyone around her!

Growing up, I absolutely loved the Ramayana and would always get excited when hearing about it! I didn’t pay much attention to Kaikeyi’s character in the Ramayana and thought of her as the evil queen who exiled Ram for fourteen years so her son could be king. This book voiced and signified Kaikeyi’s experiences and struggles of being a woman exceptionally well! Kaikeyi is a complex character who’s so much more than a daughter, friend, sister, wife, or mother. She’s a strong woman, a warrior, a misunderstood queen who was faced with difficult choices for the welfare of others. She saw the truth many failed to see, making me like and respect her more!

I felt for her when nobody would listen to her. I understood her when she felt like she didn’t belong in the male-dominated world. I loved her when, despite growing up in a world where women must remain in the shadows, she fought for herself and other women. I admired her when she rose to power and held herself against misogynistic beliefs. The concept of the Binding Plane was amazing and it allowed me to see how her words and actions affected her emotional bonds with people.

This novel reimagines the Ramayana from Kaikeyi’s perspective to add depth to her character and let her be seen beyond a jealous queen. For that, certain changes to the original epic are probably necessary, and the author alters many things. However, to change relevant aspects of the Ramayana and what we Hindus consider to be the truth, the historical aspect of our culture, just feels wrong and was not it for me.

I understand this was a feminist retelling of the Ramayana and I even appreciated it at times, but even that wasn’t portrayed well. Kaikeyi seemed to be the only strong woman who actually held some sort of power. Sita, the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, was a strong woman in the Hindu epic, not some god-forsaken, anxious, insecure, confused young girl. She knew her worth despite not knowing she was Goddess Lakshmi herself.

I was also disappointed at how lazy the writing was at times. A good retelling happens by explaining character actions and drawing sympathy. The author took the easy way out to retell the epic by reversing the roles of good and bad to redeem Kaikeyi as a villain. For example, if Kaikeyi hurt good people, the good people are turned bad so it appears she did it for a good reason. If Kaikeyi breaks moral conduct, the moral codes are suddenly designed by Gods who’re supposedly perfect but they’re actually evil and are misogynists. The Gods declare that Kaikeyi’s good actions are against the natural order. Since when have the Gods been against strong and independent women when Hinduism consists of powerful, divine, feminine beings like Goddess Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lakshmi, Sita, Radha, and Saraswati?

The fact that Gods are portrayed as wrong, flawed, cruel, and uncaring shows the lack of ignorance and knowledge of Hinduism in general. The demi-Gods (Indra, Agni, etc) can be flawed although they’re divine, the Holy Trinity (Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma) is given little importance and recognition in terms of their power and strength and for who they really are. The Holy Trinity is above the Demigods but the term “god(s)” in this book doesn’t elaborate any further. So, anyone with minimal knowledge of the Ramayana or Hinduism, in general, will attack Hindus for worshipping such “flawed, wrong, cruel, and uncaring” “gods.”

The minimal regard for the righteousness of Lord Ram and Hindu deities was blasphemous. Hindu deities, especially Lord Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma, the three primary gods, believe women have free will and the right to make decisions. In Hinduism, men and women, like Gods and Goddesses, have unique personalities and are good as each other. Nobody is worth less than the other. If a mortal like Kaikeyi wants to create a better world for women in a male-dominated society, the Gods would be everything but objective and angry. Hinduism is an inclusive religion that consists of Gods of different genders. In fact, if Gods looked down on women (which they don’t since even the Gods worship Goddesses), the most powerful Goddesses would never sit silent and not interfere with this so-called “natural order.”

Villainizing Lord Ram, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and turning Ravana into a kind, helpful friend who respects women felt incredibly wrong. Lord Ram was a noble, selfless, and respective man who didn’t have any clue of his divine identity and divine purpose whatsoever. He deeply respected women and loved Sita dearly and treated her like the queen she was. When Kaikeyi announced that Ram should go into exile for fourteen years (not ten, as the book says), Ram was never angry at her. He happily obliged his stepmother since he loved her as his real mother, and denied anyone to join him since this exile was meant for him only. Sita and Lakshman both willingly went with him in a supportive stance. Unlike what this book states, Lord Ram never had to force Sita to come with him as she chose to be with him through thick and thin.

To redeem Kaikeyi, the author portrays Lord Ram as a manipulative, narcissistic, misogynistic, war-loving, power-hungry prince who believes women bring weakness into the world, which is extremely misleading. The Ram in the book would willingly put his loved ones in actual danger just to prove his point and gain control of any situation, which is beyond absurd. What’s even more wrong is trying to redeem Ravana by ignoring the fact that he sexually assaulted many women. Sure, he was a devotee of Lord Shiva and was a scholar but that doesn’t justify his failure to differentiate between right and wrong.

As for Sita being Ravana’s daughter, there are different versions of the story. In the Jain interpretation of the Ramayana, Sita is Ravana and Mandhodari’s daughter but Ravana orders to get Sita rid when he discovers that Sita will bring his downfall. His servants put her in a box and bury her in the earth where after some time, Sita’s adoptive father, King Janak of Mithila, finds her in the earth. Ravana was greedy and egoistic with little respect for women, so it’s absurd to even show him to have any sort of fatherly feelings for Sita. In fact, Ravana was never aware that Sita was his daughter regardless of the varying versions of the story.

There are many other little points that were different from the original Ramayana that didn’t sit right with me. Lord Ram was blue-skinned and that wasn’t mentioned anywhere in this book. In Sita’s swayamvara, the task was to lift the Shiv Dhanush (Lord Shiva’s divine bow) and string it, not hit a specific target. Also, Lord Ram did lift the bow with ease, but he also broke it into two, a thing that nobody was able to do. And I highly doubt Ravana attended the swayamvara and tried to win Sita’s hand in marriage. Besides, if he knew she was his daughter, why on earth would he marry her?

It’s challenging to redeem a villain, but Kaikeyi wasn’t all villain. In the original epic, she was consumed with jealously, ego, and fear that drove her to exile her beloved stepson. Regardless, Lord Ram, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu (the protector and preserver of the universe), took birth on earth for a purpose, which was to cleanse evil and let dharma (righteousness) win over adharma (wrong and evil). Ravana was wrong and evil and Lord Ram came to earth to defeat him. For that, Ram’s exile, Sita’s kidnapping by Ravana, and everything else were destined to occur.

I deeply wished this re-imagination freshly and originally interpreted the Ramayana while keeping and respecting many of the core aspects of the original story. Nonetheless, despite my criticisms and objections, I am thankful to receive, read, and review an ARC of this book on Net Galley. Kaikeyi is officially out for the world to read!

This book blew away my expectations, which is already saying a lot because I love mythology-based fantasy Going in, I actually had no knowledge of the original poem, but after finishing the book I read a summary of it. Kaikeyi is a perfect retelling: it retains the allure of a good epic but brings much more life into the story. I was surprised to learn that the character Kaikeyi is somewhat of an antagonist in the original, because Patel's version is such a dynamic character. As queen, she wants to be an advocate for all women, from all backgrounds. She will achieve her goal of doing what's best for the kingdom at any cost. Despite her flaws, readers will deeply sympathize with Kaikeyi and see that she has a good heart. Not to be cliche but her strength and determination are truly a feminist, screw the patriarchy, girl power moment. To humanize a villain this way is the best part in my opinion.

An epic reimagining of the life of the notorious queen from India's Ramayana. Lovers of Circe and Ariadne will fall hard for this Indian mythology. A story of passion, jealousy, heartbreak, and a woman's quest to make her own way in the world of gods and men. Stunning, beautifully written page turner.

Overall Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
World Building - 10/10
Character Development - 10/10
Trigger/Content Warnings - War, arranged marriage, fighting among family
Tropes/Themes - Power, Feminism, Family, Right vs Wrong
Representation - Roots in Hinduism and (south?south east?) Asia

Plot; The feminism!! This entire book is basically just the plight of women, and I am here for it. Not to spoil, but the end makes it so so satisfying in that regard. All of the plot lines were also so enticing. No matter where they went or what the problems were, it was enthralling to read. This plot, while exceptionally fast paced, was so well done. There are a few points that I think are a little convenient (mostly around Rama's bonds, but I mean, what can you do when your character is a god?) But even those I still think were well rooted in the plot, and they were not spur of the moment, they all had other points in the book to back them up. So we'll weaved together, and each part felt truely it's own.

Characters; I'm honestly surprised you can get so much diversity in personality with a book full of men, man of whom have similar negative views of women. Even the sons, being raised the same time, place, and by the same people, are all vastly different. It's brilliant. Each characters has strengths, weaknesses, flaws, they're all very human and it's beautiful. I also appreciate that we get to see many of them in and out of Rama's influence, as that vastly changed their character. It's like writing multiple personalities for a single character and switching back and forth. It was great. All of the characters were also loveable and hateable at the same time. Like these are character writing goals.

Romance; I love the displays of all types of love in this story, and not just between Kaikeyi and others, but all characters. The brotherly love and its evolution was beautifully written, the love between all the Radnyi, and how love (or lack there of) looks differently in different couples. It's even acknowledged by Kaikeyi in multiple instances, and I think it's beautiful. I am happy that the choice to not go into a full romance subplot was made, I think it being extremely background was beneficial to the plot.

Writing; The writing in this is beautiful. My favourite aspect is likely when the author makes reference to a large event in the future that the current moment impacts. I usually am not a fan of this type of foreshadowing, but for this book it worked so well. It kept me fully engaged the entire read, and wanting for more. The descriptions of the plane and the bonds were beautiful and I felt like I could see them too, and while it all moved very quickly, I never felt lost. The writing was amazing.

Overall Thoughts; This book was mindboggling, truely. I knew the moment I heard about this it was going to be one of my favourite books of the year, and I was not wrong. I'm a little confused about the source material, cause I'm not sure if it's Indian or Cambodian, I keep finding info for both ways? This was a story I was unfamiliar with before reading, so I did look into the source material and I definitely like this version better. I could write all day and still have a million great things to say about this book. The only negative I can come to, is if someone doesn't like a book that has was or politics they might not like this, but even that's a stretch, I think. This is definitely a must read for me.

I received an ARC of Kaikeyi from Redhook Books in exchange for an honest review.

Circe is the book that launched a thousand female-forward retellings of ancient stories: The Silence of the Girls, A Thousand Ships, The Witch’s Heart, Ariadne, and seemingly countless others. Kaikeyi, a refreshing departure from the Western locus from which most of these myths originate, is the first that I’ve read—and mind you, I haven’t read them all—that has challenged Madeline Miller’s crown. This is not a competent but inferior imitation of Circe; this is a rich and fully-realized novel in its own right, filled with characters and relationships which are complex, dynamic, and engaging. I loved it and will be recommending widely.

Kaikeyi retells events from the Ramayana from the perspective of Kaikeyi, one of the wives of King Dasharath of Kosala, who sends her stepson Rama into exile so her son Bharata can take the throne. Patel portrays Kaikeyi’s life leading up to Rama’s exile: she grows up with seven brothers in the kingdom of Kekeya and is particularly close with her twin, Yudhajit, and she trains in the art of war prior to her marriage to Dasharath. At Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala, Kaikeyi befriends her husband’s other wives, and the three women begin implementing social, political, and cultural reformations throughout the kingdom.

Kaikeyi has no trouble carrying this story. She is an active and motivated character, and I found myself invested both in her endeavors to fight on the battlefield and enact change in the people around her. Her relationship with Yudhajit is a particular highlight—the elasticity and raw energy they have together speaks to the deep and complicated love of a sibling relationship. Kaikeyi also has the ability to see into the “Binding Plane,” a world where her relationships with others manifest as colorful cords of various textures and thicknesses, each of which reflects the nature of that relationship. It’s a smart storytelling device which provides the reader with an effective shortcut to emotional investment.

Relationships are where Kaikeyi shines most brightly. Patel’s prose, while smooth and readable, sometimes leans a bit too heavily on telling rather than showing, and the way she handles pacing can occasionally be clunky, especially when events begin cascading into one another near the end of the book. This can make it difficult to parse the motivations of certain characters. I also found the increased presence of fantastical elements later in the novel to be somewhat awkward, given the suddenness with which they are introduced to the story; this works in mythic texts, but not so much in contemporary literature.

Patel is particularly deft in her portrayal of the patriarchy. Male characters in this book are not, for the most part, mustache-twirling misogynists—rather, they have been swallowed up whole by patriarchal institutions, and their misogyny tends to manifest as well-meaning microaggressions. It truly hurts when male characters who are kind and likeable, such as Yudhajit and Dasharath, make harmful comments about women, because their intentions are pure and they genuinely cannot recognize when they are causing pain and reinforcing the patriarchy. This is captured best of all by the character of Rama, who slips into a misogynistic mindset despite Kaikeyi’s efforts to raise a feminist.

Kaikeyi has a couple chinks in its armor. The ending feels a bit rushed, several characters (including but not limited to Asha, Sita, Urmila, and Ravana) needed more presence in the story to fully flesh out its themes, and I wanted more conflict for Kaikeyi; all things considered, she does pretty well for herself in an environment which is stacked against her, and I would have appreciated more failure and friction—which would have enriched both the character and the story overall. That said, Kaikeyi feels like the first book since Circe capable of delivering that same magic.

Don’t miss this one.

Kaikeyi will vindicate you if you've ever read any classic legends and encountered a vilified character and believed there was more to the character's story, history, and unjustified vilification (especially if that character happened to be female). Kaikeyi is written like a fantasy meets memoir about the life of Kaikeyi from the Ramayana (an epic tale from India). This book gives breath to a woman who was best known as the "jealous queen", but in Kaikeyi she becomes so much more; the princess suffering under the patriarchy, the sister who loves her brothers, the fierce warrior who craves strength and then learns the true meaning of war, the sister wife who finds kinship, and the loving mother fighting even against the gods to try and save her family. Her story is written by the best author for the story as well who brings the world and culture around Kaikeyi to life with luxurious settings and characters.

I ADORE mythology, but I've never read a mythology based book that wasn't Greek. And this did no disappoint. I can't wait to read more from this author.

This was an enchanting and enthralling story! I embrace the new look into the Indian folklore. If you love a strong female narrator that is exploring and attempting to take her fate into her own hands this book is for you!

Kaikeyi was a fantastic read and it is definitely making it onto my favorite books list.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I cannot wait for everyone to get a chance to read this amazingly well written story. If are a fan of Madeline Miller's retellings of classic Greek mythology, you will definitely want to check out Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel. I think this was a completely original and gripping story and does not need the comparison to Madeline Miller but it definitely doesn't hurt.

I could not put this down. A fantastic feminist retelling with great character development.

I was excited to read this book and overall I enjoyed it. The market currently seems to be overflowing with retellings of Western myths from a feminist perspective, so the addition of an Eastern perspective was very intriguing. The biggest drawback, I think, is that I (along with many people, I think) do not have a firm enough grounding in Hindu mythology to properly feel the depth of Patel's critiques. The other main theme of the book, however, being the battle between feminism and fundamentalism, was fascinating. I found myself thinking about how things have and haven't changed just before characters wondering if their efforts would change anything about women's treatment by men. That aspect of the story was truly gripping and kept me moving through the story when nothing else was binding me to the story.

A retelling of the Ramayan that centers Kaikeyi, the queen who exiles Rama, which pushes him towards godhood. This is an inversion of the epic, where the bad and good characters are flipped which plays out in some interesting ways that crumble a little with some analysis.

Translating to more familiar territory for me: The story is similar to saying Judas is right to have betrayed Jesus because Jesus actually hated women (citation needed). And the snake who tempts him in the desert isn’t the Devil, but just actually a nice guy with a daughter. These stark personality changes are mostly seen off-camera but motivate Kaikeyi to make her decisions. As I said, it’s interesting, but gets a little convoluted as the message that Kaikeyi’s empowerment to rise above the patriarchy diminishes everyone around her into shallow harsh depictions.

To the book’s defense, a lot of this reshaping is acknowledged as being merely Kaikeyi’s perspective, not reality, but having knowledge of the original story makes the changes feel off. I’m always encouraging of stories that question and remix the classics, and this one might be your ticket - there’s always another angle to explore.

One of my favorite reads of the year! This book was such a pleasure to read from the beginning. I do not know much about the original epic, which I do think added to the intrigue of the story for me. I was constantly curious about how Kaikeyi would become vilified while also watching her grow into her role as new wife and mother. I highly recommend this to people who enjoy retellings of important myths and epics, its probably my favorite in that subgenre of fantasy/fiction!

4/5

Kaikeyi is a heroine that grabs you and brings you into her captivating world. Most if not all of mythology was written by men, it was special to see this story told from Kaikeyi’s point of view. Her main conflict is with the gods and a misogynistic society. While the events of the myth do play out and steem from these things I really enjoyed that her conflict is her own. We see her life from her point of view but understands and accepts her flaws and mistakes. She has a thankless life set before her, when she realizes she would inevitably destroy, it didn't stop her from keeping to her morals and helping as many as she could. Kaikeyi is a true force of spirit. And the magic system! Incredible I am blown away, connections are powerful.

The sisterhood between the three wives was so lovely and I couldn’t wait for their next council. This glorious fantastical world is still a mirror of our own struggles; a world written by men and controlled by them. Freedom from that motivates Kaikeyi, we are worthy, our fate is our own to decide, no gods or men will set a path for us. The whole cast is very rich and each character fleshed out. But there is a focus on women and female friendships and wanting to help other women.

A few issues I had was the time jumping but at the same time the plot being very slow and sometimes meandering. Ten years could pass in a paragraph but then one day could be a chapter, I just found it jarring and hard to keep track of the timeline. It also does not have a true climax, just the tale of Kaikeyi’s powerful and inevitable life, this is both good and bad.

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel tells the life of the Queen, who bears the name of the Indian epic Ramayana.
In the Kingdom of Kekaya, Kaikeyi is the only daughter of seven siblings. Of all her siblings, she is the closest to her twin Judagit. Not particularly intimate with either parent, it's still a shock when Kaikeyi's father announces that her mother has left the kingdom without explanation.
While looking for her comfort in her library scrolls, Kaikeyi finds that she has the power to help her throughout her life, despite her position abandoned by her god. know.
Kaikeyi's father informs her that she will soon be married while she is still testing the limits of this power. To some control of her situation, Kaikeyi agrees to her marriage provided that her future husband vows to protect.
After her marriage, her story continues when Kaikeyi finds her place in her new kingdom. And she is trying to ease the constraints that affect the lives of women in these times.
This beautifully written debut is entirely spoken from Kaikeyi's point of view. As Kaikeyi grows older, the tone changes easily from a girl's voice to an adult's voice.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in mythology from a fresh feminist perspective.

Given I am not familiar with the original tale, I can’t attest to how close it is, but based on other reviews and those that did grow up with this, it’s quite faithful and does an excellent job at telling the female perspective, Kaikeyi’s perspective, who is later villainized.

I loved the cultural aspects and rich descriptions, from the food to the clothing and customs, it was well executed to make me feel transported and lost to another time. Along with this, the many characters introduced at first felt overwhelming, but slowly became very distinctive and memorable in their own way. I appreciated that many were selfish in their own ways, even if not outright intentionally deceptive or harmful because I think it speaks to reality. Often people are very gray because their motivations and societal positionings place them in different orbits or perspectives. We see this especially with Kaikeyi throughout as her awareness and intentions grow and change, yet they are often sure to include herself first and foremost. She wants the ability to have choice and freedom, and then only later on sees that other women should as well. She doesn’t like the pecking order of birthrights, yet she ensures her son will be king nonetheless.

This shows nuance and depth by the author and also shines the light on all the various wants women and people can have, all the faces they can wear, all the power held in different forms that can be wielded.

Where this lost me a bit was in its length, it felt quite long in several parts with not much happening in the way of character development or action, while at the same time entire swaths of time go by (3 years after Kaikayi’s mom is banished and she’s training with her brother, for example). This also felt emotionally…muted. For example, we are told about kaikeyi’s mother’s exile with little fanfare and emotional insights into kaikeyi. She’s upset, but also seems to move on….? Also early on, Kaikeyi experiences a break in a relationship - one with her closest friend or so she calls her, but she does little emotional assessment or introspection about it and doesn’t seem to mourn the loss of a friend so much as a fear of the magic she doesn’t understand. Some of this is surely due to her young age at the time these things happen, but it felt a bit cold and clinical.

Overall an intricate and spellbinding read for those who are familiar with the tale of Ramayana or appreciate gods and mythology. While it was a bit long and slow for me, it did love reading something that felt new and refreshing from what I’ve been reading recently.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS WAS A DEBUT!!! patel’s writing was so unbelievably gorgeous and the story was just so well-written, I’ll immediately buy anything she writes from now on

I’m a sucker for mythology retellings so you know I screamed when I got the ARC 🥲

this story is one of heartbreak, resilience, believing in oneself and WOMEN POWER!!! the female characters in this one were so amazing, I just wanted to give them all a huge hug okay

definitely pick this one up if you like: circe, song of achilles, getting your heart ripped out and stomped on … okay yes

a huge thank you to redhook and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time!!!

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: plum wine

First and foremost, this is just a reimagining of queen Kaikeyi's life and an attempt to make sense of her decisions which is considered one of the biggest betrayals in Hindu mythology. I absolutely enjoyed how the author wrote about the concept of binding plane to make sense how she might have got everyone's approval in her favor or even helped change things for women in general.

But I had to remind myself many times that this is just author's take on Rama as it is extremely difficult for me to even read a single word against revered god Rama. Even calling him manipulative was tough to tolerate but I was interested to see how it continued and went with it after reminding myself that it is just fiction. I enjoyed the first half more as it was completely focused on Kaikeyi and second half basically became Kaikeyi vs Rama. Women were at terrible disadvantage earlier and the mythology was no different but Sita's relationship with Rama is always considered the ideal so the part about Sita did not really tie in that neatly for me as someone who has read a lot of Hindu epics/mythology.

Overall, I was impressed with the book and Kaikeyi is such a great character to write about for she was unique without a doubt!!

Shocked this is a debut. It was a beautiful retelling and I loved the emotion I felt reading. It’s a long book but didn’t feel long which is a testament to the great writing and pacing. Already excited for the next!

What a fabulous read this is! Kaikeyi will most likely make it into my Top Books of 2022. It tells the story of Kaikeyi, the daughter of the king of Kekaya, a kingdom of ancient India. She is a twin, whose brother will eventually take over as king, and the only girl of the family, largely ignored by her father among the seven brothers. Her feminism is frowned upon by everyone in this ancient world. Eventually, she is married off for political reasons, but really wants to make a difference and use her position to help other girls and women. That's all I will say about the storyline.
I did not know anything about this story when I started reading - that it is a retelling/reimagination of an Indian epic story Ramayana told from Kaikeyi's perspective - but that may have added to my reading enjoyment of this book since I had no idea how everything would end. There are lots of gods, miracles, and good and evil mythological characters. I loved it and highly recommend it, especially if you are enjoying the various recent mythological retellings.
Thank you so much to #Netgalley and #Redhook for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this mythological retelling of characters from the Ramayan! Just like with other retellings, this allows you to see the characters from different point of views than their original work and allows greater character development. The mythological retelling phase started a couple years ago and I hope it doesn't end any time soon. Looking forward to what Ms. Patel will write next.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.