REVIEW: My Absolute Darling

Book: My Absolute Darling
Publisher: 4th Estate Books
Genre: Fiction, Yong Adult
Rating: 4.5/5
Source: Publisher



Damn! This book is a masterpiece.
The writing is some of the finest I've ever come across in modern literature, and I dare say it actually got me out of the book rut I was in. 


At the start of "My Absolute Darling", it's clear by the descriptions--that Author Gabriel Tallent wasn't painting us a rosy picture of Turtle's home life --no matter how gorgeous the beach was. The old house up on the hill…with peeling white paint, boarded windows, an unfinished back deck, grainy redwood kitchen counters, and *Turtle*, 14 years old, has been sleeping on a plywood bed, with an army surplus bag pulled over her since she was 6 years old. 
She goes to sleep at night listening to rats eating off the dirty dishes in the kitchen. She wakes up in the mornings- going into that kitchen - getting a can of beer to toss to her dad grabs eggs for herself that she cracks right into her mouth. 

As I was reading throughout this story --there are so many situations where we see how the 'daddy' manipulates Turtle's thoughts - and is so clever at it. What Martin did next with the knife boggled my mind. He turned Turtle's thinking around- ( while still controlling and abusive) - to where she surrendered inward -- in the same way a turtle retreats it's head into its shell. 

The one thing that truly bothers me is hard to quantify here, but it has to do with the way it's written. It almost feels as if there's a deliberate attempt to stir adrenaline in the reader or even to reap enjoyment from reading about the graphic sexual abuse. I've seen this in some horror movies as well, where the creator appears to want the viewer to enjoy what they're seeing...

If I had to guess I'd say that this is the root cause of why so many of us feel uncomfortable, unsettled, or downright disturbed with this book. It isn't the story line per se, but the way that it's presented to the reader.

The prose is excellent. Gabriel Tallent writes in a measured, unmelodramatic but rather lyrical style, which brings the people, especially Turtle, wonderfully to life. Just as a tiny example, we get sentences like this: "She waits there in the grass, feeling her every thought stored up and inarticulate within her," and this sort of brilliant distillation of internal experience shines through the book. The sense of place is excellent and dialogue is completely convincing; I especially liked some wonderful episodes of the jokey, wordy, literate chatter of two High School boys as it contrasted with Turtle's near-silent inarticulacy. 

I find it hard to express quite how good I thought this book was. It is a rare combination of an utterly gripping story, excellent writing and genuine depth of content. 

Highly recommended.

REVIEW: All the Wicked Girls

Book: All the Wicked Girls
Author: Chris Whitaker
Genre: Mystery, fiction, crime
Source: BonnierZaffre
Rating: 5/5












I highly enjoyed this book, I was drawn into the story immediately and it never let go, keeping me gripped to the very end. 
Everyone loves model student Summer Ryan, she's a ray of light in the struggling small town of Grace, Alabama, especially compared to her troubled sister Raine. Then Summer goes missing, after several girls also went missing in Briar County and never found the residents aren't sure whether the same person nicknamed "The Bird" is responsible for Summer's disappearance. Her sister throws herself into finding her, supported by a most unlikely ally. But maybe there was more to Summer than meets the eye.....





"Raine sometimes complains that nothing exciting is ever gonna happen in Grace again. Daddy told her careful what you wish for." 



I found myself reading this book so slowly as I was savouring each page/chapter and character instead of my usual rapid read and that is because each page is a literal work of art.

This is a crime story with a difference, a beautifully plotted, genuinely absorbing set of character studies, worked into a wider story of missing girls and religious fervour. If you try to put All the Wicked Girls into a genre box you’ll fail miserably because there isn’t one. I guess crime novel suits it as much as anything else would but when I was attempting to describe it to someone at work the other day I ended up tongue tied. It is deliciously dark but so intensely traumatic I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. Maybe Chris won’t either but I hope so because seriously he needs to write forever. Tall Oaks was amazing, add to that quality x 1000 with what is sure to become a trademark touch of insanely creative genius and you’ll be close to All the Wicked Girls.







All The Wicked Girls might sound like a book that is just about one girl’s search for her missing sister, but it is not. As I read many pages I was quoting sentences aloud to anyone who would listen. There is a very distinct style to Chris Whitaker’s writing. He has captured the essence of this small Southern town with all the characters and nuances you would expect to find.

All The Wicked Girls is a novel that you will become one with. The characters’ emotions will become your emotions ; Tragedy, grief, sorrow, regret, yet also, hope, self-discovery and atonement.

REVIEW: Home Fire

Book: Home Fire
Published: 15th August
Published by: Bloomsbury
Genre: Modern Literature
Rating: 5/5
Source: Bloomsbury India

Home Fire is the candidate I support to win the Booker Prize. 
The novel is divided in 5 sections, each focusing on the experience of one character. At its core, it is the story of a British family of Pakistani origin and their struggle to live in their adoptive country in the shadow of the terrorist threat, especially because of their troubled history. 

I thought the beginning to be a bit shaky but please persevere. The writing gets much better after 30 pages or so. It becomes a powerful, emotional and important novel for our times. 

We learn about the methods used to recruit young people, usually 18 or 19, to the Islamic terrorist cause. The novel is narrated in alternating chapters by the five main characters. Each succeeding chapter is more intense, and by the time we hear from Aneeka, this story had radically changed, become super charged, very intense. The novel displays a confidence not only in prose but in how the story is related, which I found extremely effective.Complex issues. Love of family, youthful mistakes, how much can be forgiven. Government stances versus family, fear versus love, and the difficulties of Muslims, how they must act to fit in with society. 

In Home Fire, we get the story of Isma and her twin, younger siblings Aneeka and Parvaiz. Since their mother died, Isma has raised the two younger children. The story starts when Isma gets the opportunity to travel to America to resume her interrupted studies (the other children now being old enough to not need her around). Her journey to America quickly reveals some of the key themes that will develop. At the airport, she is detained for questioning purely, it seems, because she is a Muslim. Once in America, she continues to worry about her brother and sister and it soon becomes clear that something has gone seriously wrong with Parvaiz. Then Isma meets someone whose father is an influential politician back in England. 

Long listed for the Booker, I find tis a very worthy addition. Unforgettable, some of the visuals displaying a sister's love I don't think I will forget.

I have not read any of Shamsie’s previous novels, so this was new territory for me. It’s a good sign, I guess, that I have immediately added two other books to my “to read” list to try some more. 


No doubt, its a very strong book. And ending was quite unexpected for me.
Home Fires poses some complex questions about race and does answer them.

So yes, I thought this book was excellent. It piles on some heavy themes but is readable, and let's face it: a well constructed novel.


Thank you Bloomsbury India for sending this book to me for review !

REVIEW: Dunkirk

Book: Dunkirk
Author: Joshua Levine
Publisher: 4th Estate Books
Rating: 4/5
Source: 4th Estate Books
Genre: History, Non-fiction




The Dunkirk evacuation is such a remarkable story of survival and the sheer courage humans have, when tested to the absolute limit.
The narrative begins a tad slow, and it did take me a couple of chapters to really be pulled in to the book completely. By the time the actual stages of the evacuation of Dunkirk were being described, I was completely in deep. 

Levine has personal accounts in this book of soldiers on the ground, as well as higher ranks. It was interesting to read the different perspectives from individuals.
An amazing, inspirational story that changed the fate of the world! I thought I knew about Dunkirk from history classes but I learned so much more about the defeat/success that occurred there from this book. This made the action real and personal. This was a treat to read.


"When you're in the middle of what turns out to be history, you don't know it's history. It's not history to you. It's another day for you, it might be a more dangerous day than usual, but it's a day. And then you hear Winston Churchill talking about you and your life. Turns out you were present at the beginning of something" 

Dunkirk is a fascinating look at a historical event that many people don't know about. While some people felt that this event was a story of a failed battle, Levine looks at it as an incredible story of survival. The goal was to save 40,000 troops, and the reality was that over 260,000 troops were rescued from the shores of Dunkirk, an astonishing number.

England used Dunkirk as a rallying cry and people in England today still speak of the "Dunkirk Spirit" when talking about bucking up and working together to achieve a goal that seems unattainable.

This book was an interesting read. I appreciated the fact that it not only held to what the British and French, but also the German and American viewpoints. It is quite simply, unlike most books ever written. While this is now a motion picture 
 The history and the time that this book encompasses shows the authors attention to detail, details that we do not find together. Take the young German girl who laughed at the ideals that were set forth during their education and had a Jewish friend, but refused to think anything about the treatement that was being meted out to Jews all over Germany. I feel as though this book (and the movie) will appeal to many. It is a simple timeline, but begins a chain of events which will, quite literally, change the world.



Thank you 4th Estate books for sending this over !
Highly recommended book. 

REVIEW: The Footprints Of Partition

Book: The Footprints Of Partition
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Rating: 5/5



A book with different windows opening up at the generations of two countries; always at tryst. 
The narratives included in the book leave behind nostalgic notes of memories deeply held.
A book both heartening and distressing (specially towards the end).... the author has done a good job in collecting some valuable memories before they're lost and their counter-intuitive implications but the account of poisoned young minds is most disheartening...


I saw this book on Harper360 twitter page and I wanted to read this as I am from Pakistan. So I  ordered myself a copy of this book.
This book  is precious because it holds memories of partition of many people.
So many people share their stories and each story is heart wrenching. I became so emotional while reading the book.

   '' PARTITION CREATED A TURMOIL IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE"

We have always heard stories from our grand parents about partition, how it all happened.
People sacrificed so much for Pakistan. They had to leave their everything for Pakistan.
For the people who left their homes in India and came to Pakistan  to live, India is as much as their home as Pakistan is.
This book does not spreads negativity . It tells us how Indians felt when they lost half of their land to Pakistan at the time of partition and then same how Pakistanis felt when in 1971 we lost East Pakistan.
How people who migrated from India to Pakistan fellt when they had to leave their homes back. How they feel now when they look across the border, how they cannot visit those places where they spent their childhood due to strict visa policies.

At the time of partition people thought everything will be ok after a couple of days but everything worsened and they had to leave their friends, family, properties back.
It isn't easy to leave things back.




Written in simple language, the book is full of hope and heart. Unlikely that the indo pak equation can be done justice through an anthology of short interviews, but the objective set out by the author to record and share micro narratives that have been pushed to the back burner by state controlled meta narratives, is achieved. Her particular references to concepts by Ashish Nandy and treatment of school history text books being colored to propagate the dominant view of criminalizing the other drives home the point effectively. Must read for all in the subcontinent to tone down tempers and assuage baseless hatred towards the other. Happy to have read it and recommend it strongly to the mainstream consumers of partition narrative.



I don't think so that I did justice with the review of this book. All the emotions, feelings I felt while reading this I just cannot express them in writing.
Thank you Anam for writing this book. You did a great job.


I would recommend this book to every Pakistani and Indian out there to READ this wonderful book.