The Poppy War meets The Combat Codes in this underdog, heart wrenching, pounding book.

Kavi is a Taemu, a people hunted, killed, and hated for their role in the war. For their berserk rage and power.
To find her lost family, she must enter the elite mage academy where the Jinn will test her and the people will beat her.

It was the perfect recipe to create a monster. So easy even she could break it down. To start, you take: one Taemu woman. Add: her supposed propensity for violence and criminal acts and complete lack of morals.
Stir. Simmer. Then: add a sinister ability that undermines your conception of the basic structure of reality. Turn up the heat. Watch the line between human and animal blur. Wait until you can smell the threat, Serve and enjoy your monster with a helping of coconut chutney.

This will definitely appeal to fans of The Poppy War where there are castes and differential treatment and an underdog girl who will do anything to survive.
However, Kavi is more timid than Rin, scared to give in to her rage in case it overtakes her. She is also extremely compassionate and empathetic and must learn to put herself first.

”I want change. I want people to respect strength, not power. But to do that, I first need power.”

I do think the latter half suffered from a suddenly over-powering protagonist which propelled the story, but also made it frustratingly unrealistic.
But Caitlin, this is a fantasy book, obviously it’s going to be unrealistic! Yes, but I still expect certain rules to be followed otherwise I will stop rooting or feeling worried for the MC.

Overall, an extremely engaging premise with a slightly over-the-top end.

Thank you to Gollancz for providing a physical arc in exchange for a review!

Let me tell you this book is brutal. It's one of the most visually graphic books I've ever read, and is a story that deals with a lot of pretty heavy and poignant topics - colonialism, poverty, racism and oppression, and never really pulls any punches. It's raw and ruthless and unpredictable in a way that keeps you, almost uncomfortably, on your toes whilst reading, and I found myself gripped from the first page.

The story follows Kavi, a Taemu, a people who have been systematically murdered over the years, seen as nothing more than vermin in the eyes of the upper castes, but Kavi has always dreamt of being more. Determined to win her place in the hallowed halls of the Mage academy and help raise her people out of poverty, but she is working against a system that will never accept her. She's someone who, despite her place in the 'caste' system, has never learnt to back down, to not fight for herself or those she cares for, despite the danger she puts herself in. Her life isn't an easy one, she has been dealt a heavy hand and her plight begins from the first chapter, with her true story slowly unwinding the more she tries to stand up for herself. But you can't help but empathise with her, this girl who has been told she will never amount to anything more than a servant, and I enjoyed seeing her grow into her powers and show the world who she, and the Taemu, really were.

The story is set in an almost pre-independent India, and Aman skillfully weaves in the magical elements that make up Kavi's world. It's rich in it's history and we are certainly never spared any kind of world building, rather getting a deep dive into how the world came to look the way it does currently. My one, teeny issue was with some of the historical elements, there are a few chapters throughout that throw back to a different character and I never felt that these, and the stories they told, were truly developed enough for me. I could never work out what part they had to play in the story, but that might just be me being a little picky. Aman's descriptions bring Kavi's world to life, with rickshaw's rocketing down the street, to the street food haulers. It's a broken world, one that has been ripped apart by people claiming to want to help, but through Kavi's eyes we get to see the beauty that still lives there.

I mentioned above how the story deals with some pretty heavy topics and colonialism is definitely the one that sticks out the most to me. We see this most obviously through the Taemu people, the lowest caste and the one that Kavi belongs too. These are a people who have been hunted down and murdered over the years for the rebellion they lead years ago. They are treated as nothing better than scum, spat on, beaten, murdered, all for something that happened years ago. This element, along with so many others mean it's not an easy read. Rather it's one that makes you angry, angry not only at Kavi's situation, but at how these people are treated in general. If you do have any triggers for racism, oppression and colonialism I would be very wary going into this book.

It's also a story not for the faint of heart. I genuinely couldn't get over just how visceral and graphic some of the scenes are. There is a lot of action, thanks to Kavi's lot in life and then when she tries to join the Mage's academy, and Aman knows how to write the most powerful and raw of fight scenes. It's explosive in parts, and downright horror filled in others, all helped along by the magic system that features heavily in the story. I'm not going to mention the magic in detail because it plays a pretty large part in the book, but also features heavily in some of the plot twists, and you should absolutely go into this as blind as possible because the twists absolutely blindside you in the best, and most terrifying of ways.

All in all this was one of the most graphic and uncomfortable book's I've read in a long while, but I absolutely loved it. Aman just knows how to get you to feel the way they need you to for this book to have the emotional impact it should and, once I started and got invested in Kavi's story, I found it nearly impossible to put down. Perfect for lovers of dark and ruthless stories and characters who will burn down the world to save their people.

4.5 stars
My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for a free eARC of Kavithri by Aman J. Bedi.
What an action packed Epic Fantasy, close to a Grimdark, standalone!
If you love a great underdog story with an excellent heroine you can help but cheer for, you cannot miss "Kavithri".
I appreciated the rich Indian inspired world that has accurate depiction of poverty, oppression, raw portraits of colonialism and caste system.
My love for Kavithri and the other misfits of this story made me care so much and was a great anchor for when the extreme violence of the book hit on full blast.
The more I think about this standalone, the more I want to do a re-read in the future as I strongly felt the lack of a glossary in the first half of the book.
I highly recommend "Kavithri" to all experienced Adult Fantasy readers that want a diverse, powerful and engaging reading experience.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This is one of the best debut authors I have read in a very long time and I hope many many more people give this a read as it thoroughly deserves to do well. The worldbuilding is so amazingly rich (my only minor niggle is that at the beginning I slightly struggled with terms I was not familiar with mostly related to titles and clothing, but a quick google sorted me out). Kavi was a such a wonderful complex and relatable character to read. What really grabbed me is how well the plot was constructed, it was not predictable in any sense and kept me so gripped I could not put it down. The ending was beautiful. This will suit readers who like me love immersive epic fantasy - note that in comparison to most fantasy being published recently there is no romance in this. I really hope this book does well as I really would love to see more work from the author. Go read this book!