18 August, 2017

#BookReview :: The One from the Stars by Keshav Aneel

“The cost of not following your heart is
spending the rest of your life wishing you had.”

Vishesh is a dreamer, who is driven by his passion for writing and words. But like most Indian middle class families, his parents are impatient to see him settled in a government job. Despite all obstacles, making no complaints, he continues to follow the hard path, holding up the promise he had made to himself, trying to fulfil his father's wishes, and failing over and over.

Almost everyone – his parents, friends, and the love of his life – leaves his side in the middle of his journey. To worsen things, he is diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the seriousness of which nobody could decipher before it was too late.

Will a dreamer be sacrificed for social standing? Will a heart be crushed to uphold a hollow image?

Left alone and misunderstood by everyone he knew, this is Vishesh's intense story of repeatedly falling down and trying to get up on his own, to prove that everyone who dares to follow their heart is not a commoner; he is The One From The Stars.


Welcome to Vishesh’s story which will sound familiar to many. Being born to a middle-class family, Vishesh has very little chance of living out his unconventional dream. Being influenced and driven by his family to pursue his chances of a government job, Vishesh tries to live up to their dreams. But it is not easy for him and his support system slowly breaks down. Furthermore, he is diagnosed with OCD.

I have to acknowledge at the very beginning that this was a total roller coaster ride. It is easy to relate to Vishesh. We all know at least one person like him – a simple guy who just wants to live out his dream. Instead he is stuck trying to accomplish what his parents want. But when there is a will, there is a way and as Vishesh struggles in his journey, he never gives up his dream. Even when he had no one by his side. It is impossible not to like him.

The author has done a great job of building up Vishesh’s character and describing his struggles. The supporting characters were given enough depth and bytes, but no one else particularly stood out. In a way, it was a good thing as we needed the spotlight to be solely focused on Vishesh for the story to really develop. I felt that the pace lagged just a bit at one or two places where not much was happening. Otherwise with a fluid narrative and lucid language the book is quite a fast read.


Review Copy received from Srishti Publishers



1 comment:

  1. A nice review as usual. Vishesh is such a wonderful character.. Keshav has done a great job.. :)

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