Get a free hat with your first book.

Join for just $5.

We’ll make this quick.

First, enter your email. Then choose your move.

By pressing "Pick a book now" or "Pick a book later", you agree to Book of the Month’s Terms of use and Privacy policy.

Get a free hat with your first book.

Join for just $5.

You did it!

Your account is now up to date.

get the appget the app

Our app is where it’s at.

Unlock our Reading Challenge, earn prizes, and get notified of new books on our app.

Our app is where it’s at.

Unlock our Reading Challenge, earn prizes, and get notified of new books on our app.

Download on the App Store
Get it on Google Play

Already have the app? Explore here.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Fantasy

Kaikeyi

Debut

by Vaishnavi Patel

Excellent choice

Just enter your email to add this book to your box.

By pressing "Add to box", you agree to Book of the Month’s Terms of use and Privacy policy.

Ear-nings rewards

Ear-nings rewards

0/5

You’re 5 audiobooks away from a free credit!

Quick Take

Why should boys have all the fun? In this epic tale that pulls heartstrings, Kaikeyi fights for her place in history.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, 400

    400+ pages

  • Illustrated icon, Feminist

    Feminist

  • Illustrated icon, Slow_Build

    Slow build

  • Illustrated icon, Based_on_a_Classic

    Based on a classic

Synopsis

“I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.”

So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales about the might and benevolence of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.

Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her.

But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak—and what legacy she intends to leave behind.

Why I love it

The best retellings are ones that surprise and enthrall, yet feel so resoundingly true and timeless that you can picture yourself hearing them for the first time huddled by firelight. Gods, prophecies, magic, monsters—these essential elements of fantasy are given striking new life in Kaikeyi, a reimagining of the vilified queen from Hindu mythology.

Kaikeyi lives in a world shaped by the whims and ambitions of men, her value determined by the arrangement of stars and potential marriage alliances. Not content to be a passive daughter or a silenced wife, Kaikeyi cultivates a secret magic, one which allows her to manipulate the capricious threads of power around her. Through guile and nerve, she elevates herself to the status of warrior, diplomat, and, eventually, the king’s most valued advisor and confidant. But in defying destiny, Kaikeyi puts herself in the path of angry men and vengeful gods—and the choices she makes will determine not only her legacy but the future of all women in her kingdom.

Like Kaikeyi’s enchanted threads, Vaishnavi Patel weaves an intricate tale of motherhood, fate, courage, sacrifice, and the nuances of female power. Turn off your phone and huddle around your proverbial fire: this story is compulsively readable, infinitely complex, and—in every sense—magical.

Celebrate AAPI Month
Babel
The Three-Body Problem
Lunar Love
Gifted & Talented
Independence
Here After
Six Days in Bombay
The Fox Wife
How to End a Love Story
Banyan Moon
Dragonfruit
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
Kaikeyi
A Song to Drown Rivers
Peach Blossom Spring
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
Immortal Longings
Severance
The Cartographers
The Storm We Made
The Leftover Woman
Sister Snake
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
Tomb Sweeping
What We Kept to Ourselves
Advika and the Hollywood Wives
Camp Zero
Immortal
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
Paper Names
Afterparties
Bronze Drum
The Dark Forest
The Ministry of Time
Vilest Things
Five-Star Stranger
The Lotus Shoes
Death’s End
Celebrate AAPI Month
View all
Babel
The Three-Body Problem
Lunar Love
Gifted & Talented
Independence
Here After
Six Days in Bombay
The Fox Wife
How to End a Love Story
Banyan Moon
Dragonfruit
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
Kaikeyi
A Song to Drown Rivers
Peach Blossom Spring
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
Immortal Longings
Severance
The Cartographers
The Storm We Made
The Leftover Woman
Sister Snake
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
Tomb Sweeping
What We Kept to Ourselves
Advika and the Hollywood Wives
Camp Zero
Immortal
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
Paper Names
Afterparties
Bronze Drum
The Dark Forest
The Ministry of Time
Vilest Things
Five-Star Stranger
The Lotus Shoes
Death’s End