Honestly, from the title I knew I had to read this book. And I really do love the title. For the most part, it was a nice book to read. I loved reading about these women and their friendship and book club forming, all while there is also so much change happening in their world. I liked how the author involved real people and events into this fictional story to understand the time better. Another thing I appreciated was the insight from Viv and Margaret that The Feminine Mystique only gave voice to a certain subset of middle-class women who had a choice, and it was not intersectional in its feminism or its calls for change. I liked how it showed that some men adapted to their wives finding themselves, and some just left. However, I wish there was more to the story. For the title, there was only Charlotte really living up to stirring up trouble and really going for it. The others also made choices and changed, but not to the same extent. I expected more complexity, I guess. I also would have liked to have more insight into what happened after they moved away, and how they kept up with each other, did they form new book clubs, did they show up for the funeral, how they went through that, etc. I wanted a lot more.

I struggled a lot with how to rate this book. From the get-go, I liked the concept of this retelling because, in the Ramayana, we do not know much about Kaikeyi and her story and history. I have read some other mythological retellings and absolutely loved them, so I was really looking forward to what this book had to offer. What I liked and enjoyed:

1. Understanding more about Kaikeyi's background concerning her childhood and her brother. As well as the story of her parents
2. Her bond with Kaushalya and Sumitra was also really heartwarming. How she became such a strong voice in Kosala and the women's council. Plus her bond with Dasharath was really well highlighted. As well as her qualities as a mother.
3. This depiction of Manthara felt more humane. She took care of her and supported her till the very end, even when other things fell apart.
4. I liked the insight we got on Lakshmana and his personality as well as why Urmila slept so long until their return (though the theory in another book I read was also good).

I cried a lot in the last few chapters, and I liked the last sentence, which said that 'before his story, it was hers', since everything is a matter of butterfly effects in the story of life.

On the other hand, things I struggled with:

1. Some parts, especially in part 3, felt like too much of a stretch in terms of the story. For example, Ravana being so nice and actually having a friendship with Kaikeyi (this makes zero sense) was too far-fetched. I did not understand why, in this retelling, Mandodari was dead; that was unnecessary. I wonder if this was to show that Ravana was actually really good at manipulation and he successfully manipulated her and us as the readers? But it's not clear in the book.
2. I also don't like the "Sita was his daughter" theory at all.
3. Ram's villainization was a little too caricature-ish for my liking. I feel like the fact that he knew he was a god and his misuse to influence people was very implausible to me as a reader. In my opinion, his character was very surface-level and was not as fleshed out to tie the story well together. In comparison, his character in Forest of Enchantments felt more realistic (made me wish that author had written this story so it could be better).

Now, the aspect of gods in this book was complicated. I think the message was more so not to put blind trust and faith in 'godmen' such as the sages. I felt like, towards the end, the scene with goddess Saraswati also implied that. But again, it was not clear, and hence, I can see why some people would take offense to the portrayal of Rama and the other gods or their messages.

Overall, I think the first two parts were much stronger than the last two. There were quite a few misses in the book. I wish she had stuck more to explaining the complexity of Kaikeyi's character and story without the extreme villainization of other characters.

This book series will always have a special place in my heart. The cafe makes me feel warm and welcome, so much so that I wish I could actually visit it. The stories always leave an impact on my heart, and this book series has a 100% rate of me crying during at least one of the stories. Sometimes we need simple stories to just remind us of what/who matters and how fickle time can be.

Trust that I will always read a book from this series whenever it's released!!

This book was so heartbreaking from the get-go. My heart hurt so much for Leila, she deserved so much love and safety that was not given to her as a kid, especially. I wanted more than 10 minutes with Leila, I wanted to know more moments that mattered to her. She didn't deserve that ending, nobody does, but especially not her. She was so full of love and light. The first 70% of the book was so strong, but the last 30% felt a little far-fetched and not as interesting. I did like that it was Sabotage who set her free at the end. I did love the friendship and the love they all shared. This book was a love letter to outsiders and the concept of found family.