The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Rating:⭐⭐⭐ ~3.5 stars~

Plot: The retelling of a classic epic from Panchaali’s point of view

First, a very daring novel indeed. Because retelling a literary epic such as the Mahabharata which is rooted in the religious beliefs of ppl takes a lot of effort and courage.

Expectations are like hidden rocks in your path—all they do is trip you up.”

Disclaimer: I haven't read the whole  Mahabharata but I have read a few excerpts from it and know the story. This legend mainly focuses on mainly on Arjun and Krishna so it is refreshing to see the importance shift elsewhere about how a woman living in that era would experience the Kurukshetra war

Complex narrative and descriptive writing 

“A problem becomes a problem only if you believe it to be so. And often others see you as you see yourself.”

Now to address the problem, The first half is very well written; engaging and brisk, after which the story becomes too repetitive (if that's the word). Nothing is intriguing after a point. A good handful of scenes are nicely done

An interesting retelling