28 September, 2015

#BookReview :: I Don't Wear Sunscreen by Kavipriya Moorthy

For Laksha, life is a gift wrapped in red ribbon. But that’s all shattered when she falls for the misogamist. His ambivalence and vacillation always keeps her at bay, turning her into a neurotic. She gets betrayed by the most credible, loses her job, feels devastated and dejected as incidents crowd upon her corrupting her naiveté.
Enigmas unfold revealing every glitch. Who will clear her blurred skies? What invigorates her career and life? Will she ever forgive her beloved? And how will Laksha survive?
The story also revolves around her rapport with Pallavi, a childhood friend and the relationship she has with her silver-tongued mom. Focusing on how experiences change perception of little things, this contemporary tale gives a better meaning to friendships, relationships, solitude, pain, compassion and success.
More often than not, Life drags you down to the adversities and thrusts outward to shine. It is your grit that truly matters when you reach rock bottom, and left with no choice other than to pick yourself up and leap forward, however arduous it may be!

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The blurb of the book really caught my attention as it gives off the impression that the book has something ‘real’ to offer to its reader.

This is essentially the story of an ordinary and middle class girl called Laksha. At the beginning, Laksha seems to have everything that one could possibly ask for with her life set on a track that made her happy. She had friends, dreams, aspirations and a spring in her steps. But an unexpected and appalling experience leaves her almost broken and threatens the core of her life. Will she be able to recover from it? How will her friends and family react? What will she choose – to give up or to fight on?

The plot is the real star in this book. I loved the way the plot was set up and followed through. I admit that I didn’t always agree with the way things took shape, but in the end, that did not matter. The author seemed to have a clear vision about how she wanted the plot to unfold and I respect that. The second thing that shined its light throughout the book was realism. Even though this is a work of fiction, there were so many things that reflected our real lives that it was easy to relate to them. For instance, the friendship between Laksha and Pallavi – the way they were while growing up and the phase where they drift apart for a time while trying to settle in with the changes in their respective lives. It felt very real as I have experienced the same thing. The characterization was done well, especially with Laksha, her mother and Pallavi. They are easy to relate to and feel very real. I enjoyed the fact that the author has taken care to portray ‘strong women’. She shows us that it is not so easy to break down women and that they have the strength to fight back and move on from no matter what life throws at them.

Once again, my only problem with the book lies with its language. The blurb of the book and the actual book feel like they have been written by two different people. The language used in the book is plain and by plain I mean it is like the common lingo used by early teens when they ‘hangout’. While I do understand that simplicity means a lot to this generation, I just do not understand the riff-raff conversation language featuring in a book. It is possible to keep it simple yet sound a bit refined without using big words or pretentious language. Call me old fashioned, but I expect a book to enchant me not only with its plot and characters but also its language. 


To round up, the book certainly stands out from the crowd and is a short and light read.


Review Copy received from the Author

1 comment:

  1. I love this book... kavipriya ji take me away through this book

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