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A slow start, but it quickly picks up. Geeta‘s wit shines, and the sisterhood she builds with Saloni, Farah, Priya, and Preity is fierce and unforgettable. A bold, layered story that dives into caste and justice—with some very satisfying payback. Book #36 in 2025

After Greta‘s husband disappeared years ago, rumors in her Indian Village had her murdering him. Now she is being approached by other women to help them become widows but nothing she does goes as planned. Great characters, humor ( a little too silly at times), and women taking the justice denied to them- definitely enjoyed this one.

Thank you @CBee for the great #LCS #LittleChristmasSwap gifts.
I'm really looking forward to this book and the chocolates are great.
BTW I have alreasdy added some of the stickers to my laptop. THANKS!
@bookish_wookish that you for hosting.

A lot of rough topics in this book. Even skipped through some parts of the audiobook. Geeta frequently frustrated me. Saloni and Karem were great. Infuriating how much crap the women of this village had to endure from men.

My best friend borrowed The Bandit Queens for her choice in her bookclub and when we did Big Meal Day yesterday my niece (10 yrs old) told me she accidentally (it was very much an accident Aunt Shawna) spilled hot cocoa on it. When I left last night she also gave me a little note I wasn't allowed to read until I got home

I think I scared a woman at my coffee shop yesterday 😂 I was walking in and she was pulling out this book and I just started gushing at her!! I loved this book so much, and how much it has to say about women and relationships. By the end I had her totally excited and now I am afraid I raised her expectations too high!

Do you talk to people you see reading books you loved??

**photo from website Tess Talks Books

WOMEN TELLING WOMEN STORIES!!!
WOMEN TELLING WOMEN STORIES!!!
I had such a blast reading this book, If you love stories on women by women then you should definitely read this.
I usually don‘t go by praise or reviews in the book itself but this review at the end perfectly summarises what I felt about it
HIGHLY RECOMMEND (cannot stress this enough)

Favourite lines from this book!!!

21% complete, really enjoying the story so far

WORD OF THE DAY: SACCHARINE
Excessively sweet or sentimental!!!

WOMEN TELLING WOMEN STORIES!!!
WOMEN TELLING WOMEN STORIES!!!

Word of the fay : DÉTENTE
The easing of hostility or strained relations!!!

This made me laugh so hard!!!

Word of the day:-
JEJUNE

Dry and uninteresting
Naive, simplistic and superficial

Word of the day:
PERSPICACITY
Having a ready insight into and understanding of things

Totally worth the hype! Funny, raw, and compelling, this snarky feminist gem was fantastic! I enjoyed it on #audio as well. #BookspinBingo

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 ⬇️

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⭐️