Rani Patel in Full Effect, by Sonia Patel

Rani Patel in Full Effect, by Sonia Patel

From my Kirkus column about Rani Patel in Full Effect:

It’s about gender and power dynamics and sexism, about how sexism is not only supported within culture, but built into its framework. It’s about the emotional and psychological effects of incest: about how a victim of incest can be scared of her abuser, ashamed of the abuse, angry about the abuse; but also crave the attention of the abuser, feel special about being singled out, feel jealous when his attention turns elsewhere. Patel writes about the complexity of Rani’s feelings about her father with such nuance and empathy—she knows what he’s done to her is wrong, but now that he’s gone, she still misses him.