OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Aman J. Bedi was born in Mysore, India. He grew up in Vizag, studied in Bangalore, lived in Bangkok, completed a PhD in experimental psychology at the University of Canterbury, and has settled (for now) in Melbourne, Australia. His writing draws from modern Indian history and is influenced by writers and artists like David Gemmell, Brandon Sanderson, Takehiko Inoue, and Kentaro Miura.

FORMAT/INFO: Kavithri was published on May 16th, 2024. It is 448 pages long and told in first person from Kavi's point of view. It is available in hardcover, audiobook and ebook formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS:  All of her life, Kavithri has been told that she is nothing. Shunned by society for her Taemu heritage, she lives on the streets, simply trying to survive. The one thing that keeps her going is the annual chance to test for admission into the magic academy known as the Vargola. Every year she is denied entrance to the exam, but every year she tries again. A chance event, however, puts her on a new trajectory, one that offers her a whole new way to join the Vargola. But it also reveals secrets about Kavithri that many wish would stay buried, putting her in the crosshairs of an entirely new enemy.

Kavithri is an enthralling, brutal, bloody book that is absolutely perfect for fans of The Rage of Dragons. I want to be clear up front, this book is as grim as can be. It is graphically violent and bleak; to be frank, I had to skim a few pages. The world constantly punches down on Kavithri. Every time she gets ahead, a new bit of misery comes to club her over the head.

This honestly pushed the boundaries of the kind of grimdark I tolerate. How many times can things go from bad to worse? (Seriously, how many times?) Despite that, the author has an undeniably captivating writing style that hooked me from the beginning.From the first chapter, the author proves his skill at giving you a sense of place, grounding you instantly in his land inspired by turn of the 20th century India and South Asia. That includes a society with a caste system. Any who are Taemu (marked by their red eyes), are considered the lowest of the low, the remnants of a berserker people; many people believe the Taemu should just be erased from the world entirely.

Kavithri (or Kavi) is a Taemu orphan, one who has survived by “knowing her place,” always taking beatings without a fight, always taking the last scraps available. But no matter how many beatings she takes, she still has a stubborn core of tenacity. It’s that tenacity that propels her on her journey to attain her dream of one day entering a prestigious magic academy.It’s Kavithri’s heart that kept me invested in the story. Despite all the bad things that happen, she’s the kind of person who cannot watch an injustice happen in front of her without trying to do something about it - especially if everyone else in the area is refusing to intervene. Her stubborn heart also propels the plot forward. Every time the world slams a door on her, she finds a grate to crawl through.

One of the few hopeful themes of this story is the healing power of community. While Kavithri has spent most of her life as the only Taemu she knows, she does eventually run into others. They accept her and remind her that she is not alone, that she always has a place. Finding a community gives Kavithri the added drive she needs to achieve her goals. She no longer fights for just herself, but for an entire people oppressed by society.

A quick shout out to the magic in Kavithri. Magic in this world comes at cost. Healers have to drain the life of a non-human creature. Warlocks are paralyzed while they use their attack magic. Artificers give up a memory every time they cast. It’s a magic system that’s right at home in this brutal setting, and great for those who like harder magic systems.

The one thing (aside from the unrelenting bleakness) that threw me off a little were the interludes sprinkled throughout the book. Without getting into spoilers, they definitely gave me whiplash in terms of content, and their purpose isn't fully explained by the end of the book. While I'm sure the author has plans for these sequences over the course of the trilogy, I found them a bit jarring and at odds with the rest of the story.

CONCLUSION: Kavithri is not my usual cup of tea. I frankly like my books to have more hope and not to be drowning in the cruelty of a world. (That’s why this isn’t a five-star book for me personally). So it’s a testament to the writing that I still couldn’t put this book down. In fact, I was constantly looking for an excuse to pick it up. Despite this pushing my boundaries, I'm surprised to find I have no hesitation about coming back for the sequel. Those of you who revel in grim tales are absolutely going to love KAVITHRI, and I highly recommend you go pick it up now.