Reviewed by Katie King on
I was completely enthralled in Maya's story. Her, her strength, the plot, the romance, the ending, etc, is ALL wonderful. BUY IT, READ IT, LOVE IT.
So instead I will explain the missing star. Chokshi has such beautiful writing a la Nova Ren Suma. It CAPTIVATES you (just like with Suma). This is also a curse (just like with Suma). Lost in these overwhelming words is any coherency. There is nothing to ground the reader to any description, fact, reality. Yes, you are painted a beautiful, almost dreamlike experience, but the caveat to dreams is that you can never be certain of anything. Did that really happen? Was she asleep? Was she drugged? Is it just her imagination? I can't answer any of these questions re: several important scenes in this book. Because that's where it lets you down the most - during plot-critical scenes where you NEED to know what exactly is going down.
I like concrete truths. I like things I can know. I also like this style of writing. But for MY best enjoyment of a novel, these two things are wholly incompatible. Written with more clarity, I would be a lot happier. But written in a different way, would that cost my rating a different star? Maybe you just can't win like this.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 30 April, 2016: Finished reading
- 30 April, 2016: Reviewed