Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel is a brilliant alternative history that is a sweeping speculative fiction novel that reflects empowerment, friendship, sacrifice and the true meaning of freedom. In the novel, set against the backdrop of oppression in India and speculating on a history in which India was not freed in 1947, the author raises questions about morality and the price of freedom, the cost of rebellion but also the need to fight against one’s oppressors. She weaves in true details of history amongst speculative questions, seamlessly writing about India’s path to independence and the anguish of British colonization.
One of the aspects I liked that simply the structure of the novel, told as ten moments in Kalki’s life, mirroring Dashavatara, the ten avatars of Vishnu. The author incorporates the stories of her culture into the novel, allowing the reader to see the depth of Indian culture and how much the British stole from the people. She also does an incredible job with the character of Kalki as we empathize with Kalki’s rage and pain and learns how to be a leader. It is a love letter to the strength of those who rebel and continue fighting their oppressors.
If you like speculative fiction and want to see more about the price of rebellion, the moral costs and strength of those fighting, I recommend this novel become the first book on your list to read. The brilliance of Vaishnavi Patel’s details woven into the fabric of an alternative history that still asks questions that forces the reader to re-evaluate everything they think they know about India is too fantastic not to read. The characters are engaging but more importantly, the history that you learn is fascinating. This is a powerful and emotional book that is unforgettable.

What if Britain had never left India and continued to colonize it to this day? Kalki is living in India where the British still occupy and brutally hunt down rebels, rebels who want to liberate themselves and reclaim their traditions and freedom. With her heritage being erased, where even songs are censored, where her father is taken away for being involved in the independence movement, Kalki decides to secretly band together the women left in the city to destroy the empire from the inside.

I loved Kaikeyi and was so excited to read another book by the same author. This book was a massive undertaking by Patel, and you can tell just how much research she put into it, even though it is an alternate version of history. What I enjoyed the most was the quiet strength and bravery of the women and how they could come together to bring about such change, especially in contrast to when the men visited and critiqued their non-violent efforts. Not only that, but the solid friendships and loyalty depicted were heartwarming in the midst of such hardship and horror. The main women brought together had so many differences with social castes and religions, and yet they had the fiercest and most caring bond with one another. Also, Kalki and the others are not perfect leaders, they are flawed and vulnerable, and they make mistakes that affect others and have to come to terms with that. This makes them so much more relatable as characters. I also like how the story is broken up into ten moments, each relating to the ten avatars of Vishnu. The mythology complemented the struggles and themes very well.

There are a lot of politics, philosophical debates about sacrifices and how to live with the consequences of decisions, and it is a very heavy book. However, it's well written and emotionally beautiful. If you like historical fiction and rebellions definitely give this a try. I continue to love and recommend books by Vaishnavi Patel and look forward to the next one. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions.

I'm wary of any Indian historical fiction written by diaspora, simply because the onus of revolution can easily be watered down by a life lived in the Imperial Core. This proves correct in my reading of Ten Incarnations of Rebellion, as the plot and characters are entertaining but I missed the actual representation of of what an organized rebellion against the ruling classes is truly fueled by.

Was there class warfare? Yes. Acknowledgement of White Supremacy as the driving force and subsequent hegemony of imperialism? Yes. But I still didn't feel as though organizing was represented authentically enough in this story. Our characters had basic motivations but these were not explored heavily enough, especially to reflect a fiction revolution of one that has already taken place IRL. Most folks in the West don't understand how long it took organizers in India to finally drive the British out, and Gandhi was not the key figure folks think he was.

Overall, an entertaining read but I think the subject matter deserved so much more.

This book is an alternate history where the Indian independence movement failed, and Britain still controls India as of the 1960s. However, the desire for independence is still present, though repressed. Kalki, one of the main characters, wants to advocate for independence, especially as British suppression of any signs of dissent caused her father to leave. Yet not all Indians want independence. Some are collaborators and benefit from British control. Others are not particularly enamored of the British government but believe their situation is better than if India was independent. Kalki’s friend, Yashu, falls into this latter category. She is from the Dalit caste and her and her family experience discrimination by members of “higher” castes. Yet, despite its flaws, the British government condemned the caste system and provided some legal protection to those of lower castes. So, for Yashu, rebellion is harder to embrace, as she fears that a free India will mean more caste-based discrimination.

Kalki, her best friend Fauzia, Yashu and other women will take advantage of the fact that as women they are often overlooked and underestimated to engage in small acts of insurrection, in the hope of triggering a larger movement. However, as time passes and they resort to more involved acts of rebellion and sabotage, they experience the cost of their actions as the British utilize propaganda to inflame religious and class tensions. Independence will eventually be won, but the costs will be high, especially for Kalki. There will be some surprising allies.

I like how the author uses Indian mythology to illustrate the challenges and methods of rebellion. I also thought the author did a good job of displaying the tension, uncertainty and disagreements of the rebels -- who to trust; what acts of rebellion to utilize; nonviolence versus violence; what sacrifices are acceptable and who gets to decide that; when to push forward and when to slow down and wait for a better opportunity; how to live with the negative consequences of actions; etc.

This is a historical fantasy that weaves an alternative world during the 1960s in which India did not become independent from British Colonial rule, leading to a rebellion. The blend of mythology, fantasy, and the exploration of imperialism, classism, and other societal ideologies makes this a unique and intriguing read.
It's dense and slow-moving, but the right audience will find it utterly captivating.

3.5 🌟

Many thanks to my #partner @randomhouse who #gifted me the ebooks via #NetGalley.

This is my favorite book of 2025 so far!! Absolutely a masterpiece. The way we are able to see an imagined India still under England's rule and explore that fictional world and yet still witness horrifying history take place is masterful. Vaishnavi Patel was already one of my favorite authors and this is my favorite book of hers yet! I don't even like historical fiction and I ate up every single page. Our main character Kalki is incredibly real--she makes horrible mistakes, we watch her grow up before our eyes and discover things about her--truly this is a work of art and I will forever recommend it to everyone.

Thank you Ballantine Books and Netgalley for this ARC.

Why aren't more of us talking about this book? It has all the things I love about Babel (anti-colonial themes, rebellion, stories and culture of the marginalized being wove throughout) plus sapphic relationships. I know it is sit an alternative India, but it has made me very interested in learning more about the history of that time and how India obtained their independence. I love how absolutely flawed the main characters are, because rebellion leaders are not perfect and often have to make hard decisions.

Seriously, if you loved Babel you need to pick this one up. (warning: this isn't a dark academia book, it's the themes that makes me recommend this).

Wow. This was a fascinating and thoughtprovoking novel about rebellion in an alternate history India. I definitely will be thinking about this for a long time to come, and of course Vaishnavi Patel remains an author I want to read more from.

I was excited to receive this as a widget!

This reminds me so much of The Lion Women of Tehran, in the most amazing way. I don't know much about the religion in this book; however, I did find this book so inspiring. It is evident this author is very passionate, especially from the author's note.

Read if you enjoy justice, feminine rage, and countercultural themes.

This book pulled me in from the first chapter with its incredibly bold premise: an India that never gained independence, with Mumbai (now Kingston) still under British control. The way Vaishnavi Patel reimagines history is both chilling and captivating, and I couldn’t stop thinking about this world even when I wasn’t reading.

The characters, especially Kalki, Yashu, Fauzia and their friendship was the heartbeat of the story. The way they leaned on each other, pushed one another, and made impossible choices together... it all felt so raw and real. I was completely invested in their journey, and even though the stakes were incredibly high, there were these beautiful moments of softness and loyalty between them that gave the story so much emotional depth.

Kalki, especially, was such a fascinating lead. I loved watching her go from a girl trying to make sense of her world to someone brave enough to risk everything for change. Patel does a great job balancing the weight of rebellion with the vulnerability of youth - how idealism and fear can coexist in someone trying to do what’s right.

I only wished for just a little more depth, more time to sit with the characters, more detail about the world outside Kingston. The setting and politics were so intriguing, I found myself hungry for more texture and context, especially to understand how the rest of the country had been reshaped in this version of history.

Still, this was a powerful, emotional read that left a mark. It’s not just about revolution, it’s about friendship, sacrifice, and the quiet bravery it takes to stand up when everything around you says to sit down. I’m so glad I read it.

My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Ballantine Books for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful concept that would combine two of my favourite things: Indian mythology and the fight for our freedom! I specifically loved how it was going to involve the Dashavatara, featuring Kalki, the last avatar of Vishnu, who will end the Kali Yuga, or this current period of unrighteousness. Kalki is usually thought of as a male figure, but I always liked to think it would be a modern woman, so I was happy to see that Vaishnavi Patel thought the same!

I also enjoyed reading all the stories of the Dashavatara from my childhood, mixed in with the main story, even if it transitioned smoothly in the narration. I thought it was a unique way to tell the story.

But overall, the execution fell flat at times because the characters needed for such a story need to be passionate, but I didn't get that from anyone in the story. The project may feel too ambitious because the stories from the Dashavatara distract from the main storyline, taking attention away from it. I felt characters like Yashu deserved more attention, and I'd have liked to know more about her.

I'll continue to read more from Vaishnavi Patel. Thanks to Netgalley & Ballantine Books for the e-copy!

3.5/5

This alternate-history novel imagines a 1960s India still under British rule. It follows Kalki Divekar over ten years as she matures and joins a female-led resistance against colonial power. I loved the focus on women as the driving force of rebellion, and appreciated that there wasn't much sugar coating here. The book described the messiness, tensions, failures, and successes with an unflinching eye. I didn't fully connect with the protagonist and in some parts the storyline dragged too long, but I appreciated the book for its bold concept.

An amazing historical fiction with a strong female character and incredible world building. You can aboslutely tell that a lot of thought and detail was put into this book to make sure that everything was accurate and could really showcase the amount of effort put into this book. My only problem is that I wish the writing was more detailed in some places. In most of the book, everything is so thorough and the writing is strong. However, in other places, it seems as though there wasn't as much time spent on perfecting it and proofreading it to make sure that the pacing was even throughout the story and it all made sense, and the pacing was a lot slower. Those points did tend to lose me more than the other fast paced sections.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Vaishnavi Patel, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

How old were you when you learned to hope? For Kalki, a young woman growing up in India under British rule, the answer is 19. Her father, a freedom fighter himself, taught her the songs and myths that would help her believe.

“I did not realize it then,” she reflects as she recalls a memory of her father telling her the story of Manu and Matsya. “But it was a call to believe, to have faith, to hope that a small action now would one day bring salvation, though that day might be distant or impossible to fathom.”

It’s this hope that drives her to commit her first act of rebellion.

Vaishnavi Patel’s “Ten Incarnations of Rebellion” speculates what might have happened if India never broke free from colonial rule in 1947. The book’s historic timeline diverges from ours in the 1910s. In this version of events, most of India’s foremost freedom fighters have died, and the book is set in a still-colonized version of Mumbai (renamed Kingston) which only vaguely resembles the city we know today.

It’s a place that’s missing its men and its older generation — either disappeared in the struggle for freedom or drafted into the war.

In 1960s Kingston, the freedom-suppressing tactics such as militarized restrictions, punitive camps and long-term curfews are commonplace. In our timeline, the British Empire used these tactics to suppress independence in other countries after learning from their failures on the Indian subcontinent, but Patel imagines what India would have been like if those strategies had been deployed there.

The novel follows Kalki year after year as she transforms from a naive teenager to a leader of the local Indian Liberation Movement, which is spearheaded by young women.

For readers of “Babel,” “Our Missing Hearts” or the young adult dystopian novels of the early 2010s, “Ten Incarnations of Rebellion” dares to ask the hard questions that are fundamental to the genres of dystopian/speculative fiction while also delivering an epic historical saga. What tragedies are justifiable for the greater good? To what extent can things be changed while working within a system? What are the alternatives to the oppression of the status quo?

This layered novel masterfully weaves a compelling original story with the 10 incarnations of Vishnu the Hindu god of Preservation who appears in various incarnations called the Dashavatara. Each chapter is titled with an incarnation, and the protagonist’s character arc roughly matches up to the spirit of said incarnation.

In some chapters, readers even get the story behind the myth.

Patel, who has published two other novels — both mythic retellings — shines in her attention to detail and the way she draws parallels between the myth and the tale she is weaving. Kalki learns to hope through the story of Vishnu’s first incarnation, Matsya, and is named after the final and promised final incarnation of Vishnu who has yet to appear.

The research and love that went into this endeavor is evident and pays off. “Ten Incarnations of Rebellion” is the kind of story that only grows richer with more knowledge of Indian history and thought, but beyond that, it’s a universal tale highlighting those doing what they can for change even while entrenched in a broken system.

Characters love each other through impossible situations, navigate uneasy alliances across complicated racial/caste dynamics and get up every day to fight for their freedom. Though the circumstances are different, it’s a needed beacon of hope in modern times that the things we do today to make the world a little bit better might matter too.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
I truly wanted to love this book; it sounded so interesting to me especially with this alternate history! I love historical fiction and this was my first book with an alternate history. I really tried to like it but could not finish it and ended at about 40%. It just wasn't for me. I felt it was confusing and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I am sure others will love it that are into this type of book; for me, I will stay with historical fiction going forward. Great effort though of this author and I highly recommend people read it to build their own opinion if this is for them or not!

yeah this was superb and excellent

ten incarnations of rebellion follows kalki, a young woman, as she lives under british-occupied mumbai. her father, a rebel, has disappeared, and kalki takes after her father in her resistance. while she begins with "small" acts, such as plastering lyrics to a forgotten song in her neighborhood, as she grows older and sees just how badly the british treat her people, she begins to take further action for a free and liberated india. each chapter is tied to one of vishnu's ten avatars. i loved the writing; this book is paced slow at the beginning, before moving quicker as the book progresses.

i thought kalki was just such a good character. she's strong, selfish, brave, caring, loving, and above all, passionate for what she believes in. i also really enjoyed the cast of characters; yashu, who's background as a dalit/untouchable was so well done, fauzia, kalki's friend and later romantic interest (i thought the romance was so well done and organic), kalki's mother, who saw her husband disappear but still stayed strong, and mr. kapadia, who took kalki on as a daughter of his own.

the worldbuilding patel has done is flawless, and you can really tell that she's done her research and thought out each step of this story. this book tackles colonization, the caste system, gender and sexuality, and the violence and oppression that comes with decades of colonization. bold, intense, and not afraid to pull its punches.

ten incarnations of rebellion is a fantastic book, so well-written and constructed. if you're a fan of fantasy or historical fiction, i definitely recommend picking this up. a highlight of my year and it just reinforces that i need to read kaikeyi stat.

thanks to netgalley and random house for the arc!

this was so lovely. the characters were lovely, the world was gorge and the prose was enchanting and felt like a painting before your eyes.

I had a hard time getting into this one at first. It felt slow and I was a little confused at points, but once I got into it it was really good. Patel tells the story of a version of 1960s India that didn’t have independence from Great Britain and the ways in which women fought for independence. I really like thinking about what could have happened and I think the way that Patel organized the book was super cool.

4.25⭐️
This was kind of a heavy read for me. Historical fiction set in a “what if” world where India was not liberated from the British Empire.

If you like Kristen Hannah books-I think this would be a good fit, and this was not as long!

The plot moves pretty quickly and there was something always happening to drive it forward.

I appreciate the author giving extra reading recommendations at the end and her perspective on some of the issues India still faces because of the British rule.

Ten Incarnations of Rebellion is a bold, ambitious work of alternate history that imagines a version of 1960s India that never gained independence from British rule. Vaishnavi Patel crafts a deeply emotional and politically charged story centered on Kalki Divekar, a young woman who transforms from grieving daughter to revolutionary leader. Her journey is powerful and personal, grounded in themes of identity, resistance, and reclaiming one’s voice.

The novel is structured around ten chapters, each loosely tied to one of Vishnu’s ten avatars. As someone unfamiliar with Hindu mythology, it took me a little while to understand the significance of this structure, but it eventually added a compelling symbolic layer. The reincarnation motif speaks not only to Kalki’s growth but to the larger cycles of revolution, loss, and rebirth.

Patel tackles big, complex issues—colonialism, caste oppression, propaganda, and queer identity—through intimate, character-driven storytelling. Her writing is sharp and clear in many moments, though I sometimes wished the book were longer to give more depth to key emotional scenes and relationships. Still, I was moved by the dynamic between Kalki and her close friends, especially the romantic arc with Fauzia, which was beautifully done and never felt forced.

Even though I didn’t come into this with much historical background on India during this time period, the world Patel creates felt so vivid and plausible that I often forgot I was reading fiction. It left me wanting to learn more about the real-life history that inspired it—which, to me, is the mark of a powerful novel.

Overall, Ten Incarnations of Rebellion is a thoughtful, daring, and deeply relevant story. It’s not without its flaws, but its emotional impact and thematic ambition make it well worth reading—especially for fans of speculative fiction, historical reimaginings, and intersectional narratives.