Kaikeyi, a character from Ramayana is rich with possibilities. She’s one of the wives of Rama’s father, the cause of Rama’s exile from Ayodhya, and by all accounts of the Indian mythology: an egotistic female filled with jealousy and surrounded by bad advisors.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel’s parallel with Madeline Miller’s Circe is impossible to ignore: they’re both books that centered on a smaller female antagonist from the Epics they belonged to, and aimed to rewrite the story with a new, feminist perspective.
That’s also, unfortunately, where the similarities end. Where Circe is poetic, Kaikeyi is trite. Where Circe is a character still bound to make mistakes and missteps, Kaikeyi is ever misunderstood and mistaken. The magical elements in Kaikeyi are only part explained, and when they are – they seem rather rudimentary anyway. Some of the supporting reasons to believe in this positive spin of Kaikeyi are also very forced – particularly Ravana’s story arc.
All in all, this isn’t a read I would recommend, but if it’s on your bookshelf already – nothing sharp I would say to dissuade you either.
Perplexed Potatoes 