The Ten Incarnations of Rebellion
By Vaishnavi Patel
Pub Date: June 3, 2025

Imagine for a moment, how India would be if they had not gained their freedom from Britain in August 1947. Would a 1984-like alternate tale be told? Would their lives be controlled by imperial rule, constant surveillance, language erasure, and cultural suppression? Would they all lose hope for their ‘Independence’? As a challenge to this life, a small group of women come together to re-initiate a rebellion their fathers and grandfathers had started. A rebellion against the most powerful military entity in the world.

Vaishnavi Patel elegantly weaves this alternate-tale of Indian life in 1960’s Kingston (Mumbai) with carefully aligned lessons from Vishnu and the ten major avatars of the Hindu texts. These lessons, learned by Kalki Divekar at each key moment of the rebellion, mirror the long-honored Hindu religion of India. She must sacrifice, break her own moral values, and betray those she loves to survive to fight and to gain enlightenment for the rebellion.

The bravery of Kalki, Yashu, and Fauzia allow this rebellion to even happen. There are no young men left to rise and fight. They have all been drafted to war, on the side of Britain, to never return. The women of the Kingston cell must fight alone with the elderly and the hidden support from a few British allies on the inside.

These young women use their education, their skills, and even their feminine wiles to obtain jobs and access within the British offices and take the empire down from the inside. They must take risks no young adults should ever do and their losses are enormous.

I love the chapters where Kalki steels the print copy of the Indian National Anthem (Vande Mataram) and posts the lyrics all over Kingston and then later when the song is sung as a battle cry to Independence at the hanging of one of the heroes.

I love the descriptions of the city of Kingston. I could visualize the ‘Queens Necklace’ of lights connecting one end of Back Bay to the other side as Kalki rides in the rickshaw on her way to her first crime of the rebellion.

Kalki is the ultimate hero as the survival of the team and the success of the rebellion are more important than her own life and freedom.

Five Stars! Available June 3rd!

Net Galley and Ballatine Books have provided me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ten Incarnations of Rebellion started out very strong and compelling, but it quickly lost steam after the first chapter. Everything about this seemed to hit the mark—unique alternate history, rich world building, fantastic side characters, good balance of action—but the main character falls flat. So much of the story is spent in her head as she has vivid flashbacks of her father that it’s hard to feel grounded in the present conflict. I would have liked to see Kalki make more decisions for herself, and not just because it’s what her father would have wanted.

This fabulous and gritty novel about a world in which the British stayed in power in India until the 1960s is a brilliant examination of colonization, creating a resistance movement, and the costs that go along with doing so. Kalki's father is hauled away by the Brits for "treason"--agitating against the British rule in India, and as she grows up, Kalki herself is gently groomed and follows her own path to becoming the leader of the Kingston (Bombay/Mumbai) guerilla cell against them. Hers is a harrowing life, albeit studded with moments of joy and triumph, and Patel doesn't hold back on the dangers and consequences of Kalki's actions or those of her comrades. There are a few unexpected twists, and a few spots and ideas that could have sued some fleshing out, but overall, this is a book I want to give to everyone to read.

Instantly went and pre-ordered my copy after finishing. I cannot wait to re-read this book. I expected nothing less but it was absolutely amazing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ten Incarnations of Rebellion is a powerful and daring reimagining of history—set in an alternate 1962 where India never gained independence from British rule. For fans of historical fiction with a speculative twist, this is an undeniably compelling read. But a word of caution: if you’re unfamiliar with India’s history, this book offers little hand-holding. In this world, history has been quite literally rewritten.

Vaishnavi Patel imagines a hauntingly plausible version of Mumbai—violent, surveilled, and buried under layers of British imperialist control. At the center of it all is Kalki Divekar, a young woman navigating both personal trauma and political resistance. Her journey intertwines with mythological retellings of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, which serve as both metaphor and meditation on rebellion, violence, and sacrifice.

The themes Patel explores—imperialism, classism, moral ambiguity—are ambitious and timely, and she handles them with care. The way the book weaves mythology into revolution is both creative and intellectually rich. That said, the execution doesn’t always live up to the strength of the concept. At times, the writing feels overly simplistic or stiff, particularly in emotionally intense scenes where characters pivot to mythological monologues that strain believability. It’s a stylistic choice, but one that pulled me out of the story more than once.

Additionally, the book feels like it needed more space to breathe. The pacing is brisk—almost too brisk for the weight of the story it’s trying to tell. The rebels' backstories, the political context, and Kalki’s emotional arc would all have benefitted from more development. It often felt like the book was trying to do more than its page count allowed.

Still, even with its unevenness, Ten Incarnations of Rebellion is an inventive, urgent novel with a truly unique premise. Patel deserves credit for taking big swings and raising big questions, even if every moment doesn’t land perfectly. I’d absolutely recommend it to readers who enjoy mythologically grounded fiction, alternate histories, or bold political storytelling that pushes the boundaries of the genre.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for the ARC!

This alternative history is set in a fictional India that never gained independence from Britain, this story follows Kalki, a young woman who becomes the leader of a rebel group and is told through ten instances in Kalki's life which mirror the Dashavatara, or the ten avatars of Vishnu.

This is a fascinating concept and a thoughtful exploration of what bravery and revolution might look like. It's beautiful and sad and so so moving.

This is the third novel I've read of Vaishnavi Patel's - the other two were both feminist retellings of Hindu tales, so it's a bit of a departure. While I will not claim to be highly knowledgable about the base texts of this period of Indian history, Patel's writing and imagination makes all of these novels incredibly readable. I really loved this and am already anxiously awaiting Patel's next book!

It was an okay book, but the plot really was not my cup of tea. Maybe I wasn't the target audience. The prose was well-written and some of the characters were interesting.

This is a Historical Fiction work based on the British Rule over India. It is beautiful. It is heart wrenching. I love the prose and character development. It focuses mainly on the themes of rebellion and fighting for freedom. My only gripe is that the chapters are a little long for my preference. I prefer to have a slightly more breaths in the story.

Overall, a fantastic work!

How do I even put to words the way this book made me feel? The fight against tyranny, the rich, and the powerful strikes a chord so familiar these days and all I can say is that this book was exactly as it should be. Each plot point, each character, each relationship and role for all the brave women, it’s exactly as it needed to be. I savored each word all while devouring the years passing through the fictional historical telling of the fight for Indian Independence from the British invaders. Whew. What a beautiful book.

4 stars...first off thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC of the book. I enjoyed it though the chapters were far too long for my liking, it could be broken up a little more. This is a historical fiction based on the British ruling of India. The story itself is beautiful and heartwrenching. The writing was amazing and the storyline and character were well developed. This was a story of revolution, Rebellion, fighting for freedom. I would recommend this if you enjoy a good historical fiction based upon Indian heritage.

Vaishnavi Patel comes again with an amazing, beautiful showstopping book! She never disappoints, and gosh, I can't wait until it is published and I can get a physical copy on my bookshelf. Her writing is beautiful; the characters are deep and have so many layers to them that you are constantly learning, and the plot moves in such a way that keeps you engaged. I cannot praise Patel enough for her work. She is one of my favorite authors and this book is just another beautiful addition to her work.

4⭐️

Once again, Patel’s writing and care shines throughout this novel. I don’t know a lot about the British occupation of India, but this alternate history was incredibly interesting and I want to become more knowledgeable on the subject. Kalki as our main character was a fascinating character study on what someone is willing to do for their independence. The nuanced exploration of rebellion and how it can take different forms was poignant.

I highly recommend if you are interested in the premise of this book!

I received a copy in exchange for my review via the publisher and NetGalley.

Absolutely adored this study in revolution and its cost. Fans of RF Kuang will love this. My first of her novels but not my last!!!

4.5 stars
A lovely and compelling read. I absolutely loved this. I really enjoyed the alternative history mixed with themes of colonial resistance and a strong female protagonist. I thought the writing was fantastic and the pacing was great. I also loved the mythology that was sprinkled throughout the book. I was not a fan of the way the time jumps were done. It was never very clear and felt a little messy.

I started reading this because I was really interested in seeing an alternative history and instead I ended up reading a book about the power of ideas and the necessity for descent in the face of injustice. At times the book kind of meandered, but overall the story was impactful and hopeful.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own..

This is a powerful story, in an alternative timeline, where India remains under the British rule in the 1960s. Our protagonist, Kalki, recruits others to become part of the rebellion. So many themes are explored including friendship, casteism, survival, and the sacrifices made to fight for freedom. An issue I had was that I wish some characters could have been more developed. If we could have been more involved in what was happening, instead of being told about it, it would have helped connect more with the characters. It also seemed when Kalki had to confront tragedies, she recovered almost too easily. The stories about Vishnu at the end of each chapter sometimes connected, and other times did not. Overall I enjoyed the idea and the themes explored, I just wish it was more in depth.

I received a free DRC of this book through Netgalley. It is a version of India still under British rule in the 1960s. The idea that a rebellion is not always immediate, but can take years until the groundswell of people reaches an unstoppable point. It's sometimes slow and sometimes bloody, but it keeps marching forward in a way that cannot be stopped.

If you were given the tools to plant seeds of a revolution, what would be the growth? When you look at what oppressed groups do to resist and free themselves, how do you judge them. And if you were in that situation, how different would you be? Is there even a right or wrong way to fight those that oppress you? What is violence as a tool of resistance?

Ten Incarnations of Rebellion seeks to view these questions and much more on the side of the oppressed group. Set in an alternate world where Indian never gained Independence from the British, we follow Kalki Diveka, the daughter of a revolutionary fighter, as she learns what it means to fight for freedom under a rule built on enslavement. At the end of every chapter, we see elements of Hindu mythology that parallel Kalki’s growth and formation throughout the story.

Vaishnavi Patel paints a nuanced picture of revolution and the people within the struggle. We get to hear numerous opinions on how we should fight, the benefits and the consequences, unlike the news we see today though, we are placed directly into the cross fire with our POV character. We are not just spectators, watching politicians or social media influencers debate the lives of the oppressed, we are in the eyes of the oppressed, seeing the viciousness of colonialism bare and unflowery. There is no justifying the cruelty, or who the “bad ones” truly are, not at all. The actual conversation is about how the characters fight and the small fights that need to be done within group. Because how is it freedom if we aren’t all free?

I appreciated these conversations and the boldness in which they are discussed. They aren’t nameless hypotheticals either, we see the consequences both good and horrific and see the characters, who, do due Patel’s care and craft, feel real go through shifts, aches, beginnings and endings. We see all different aspects of struggling and revolution through many different characters and each leave you with different perspectives and considerations.

Honestly, my one complaint is that I just wished there was MORE. There’s so much talked about here and sometimes the writing — as in the literal words used — just felt too simple. Sometimes we get one or two lines for things that could easily span paragraphs without getting boring and descriptions for surroundings and emotions ended up being very flat.

I know people will compare this book to Babel, I’ve seen this happen already so yes, I’m going to say if you’re like me and were itching more for that explicit anti colonialism, revolution story, then yes, Ten Incarnations is for you but I do think Babel goes into depth much more (and you would be able to predict that just by comparing the lengths).

Despite my gripe with the writing, I really did enjoy this book and I hope to see more of its kind out. We know reading this political and art exists in political contexts but it’s extra important to have art that stands firm on its beliefs, embraces the political nature of art, reminds us of our shared struggle and gives us the ability to truly think about our real world political climate.

And if you want one final push for you to read this book: Our main character is a queer woman and the main relationship is a lesbian one. The relationship is central to the story and it’s deep. You feel the pain and joy shared between them.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review! This was my first ARC so it’s extra special <3

I loved this book! It explores the path to freedom and the woes and struggles faced along the way. I have never read a book POV similar to this one either which was a welcome change. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

**Features:**
- Alternate history of India
- Focuses colonization, sacrifice, friendship, and revolution
- Major events in the story cleverly tied to different incarnations of Vishnu

**Synopsis:**

Kalki’s father may have been taken years ago, but his revolutionary spirit still burns within her. The British have an iron grasp on the city that was once Bombay despite attempts to force the colonizers out for good. Working hard through school, Kalki and her friends have now put themselves in position to work closely with those in power. The deeper they ingrain themselves, the better they can push for the change they want to see. However, when tragedy strikes again, the embers of revolution are reignited. But what more will change cost Kalki and her friends?

**Thoughts:**

This is a powerful piece with many layers of meaning in each chapter. At first, I was a little confused by the choice to utilize an alternate history. However, as the story progressed, the lack of a successful, non-violent rebellion made the characters’ choices all the more complicated and opened the door to examine the nature of rebellion and change in a very different way.

The story itself unfolds through snapshots of significant moments in Kalki’s life as she evolves from a naive child with a desire to reignite the rebellious spirit of her community to a leader who truly understands the risks and sacrifices change demands. In addition to moving the story forward, each chapter is cleverly tied to an avatar of Vishnu and Kalki’s personal connection to the story that correlates with this reincarnation. The tie between this mythology into the overarching themes of friendship, loyalty, rebellion, and empowerment as well as Kalki’s memories of her father is where the true beauty and complexity of this story lives. However, despite all of these elements being cleverly related, each feels very separate within the chapter. There isn’t really a clear thread that helps weave the pieces together and it is up to the reader to clearly grasp why these stories are being shared side-by-side.

To me, this book felt more about exploring the themes than the characters themselves. Kalki is a complex but likeable character and her friends offer some interesting perspectives. However, there are some moments that feel slightly contrived in order to make certain points or explore certain ideas. None of these moments reduced the impact this book or its characters had on me, but readers who enjoy more character-oriented stories will probably be more sensitive to these stylistic choices.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!