Tag Archives: bookreview

March 3, 2019 · 10:14 pm

Good Potential, Weak Implementation: A Review of Done With Her by Chirasree Bose

A big thanks to the author who reached out and asked me to review her work! I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the debut novella (wouldn’t call it a novel at 73 pages) of techie turned content writer turned creative writer, Chirasree Bose.

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Source: Goodreads

Genre: Romantic thriller

Length: 73 pages

Blurb: Aveesh Mathur is shocked when he lays eyes on Spreeha, the new girl in his office whom everyone is lusting after. He cannot deny that she’s desirable, but she resembles someone from Aveesh’s past, a past he doesn’t want uncovered. Spreeha, who lives near Aveesh, already has a man in her life but is attracted to Aveesh because he resembles someone from her own past. As they are pulled inexplicably toward each other, Aveesh and Spreeha’s actions set off a chain of events that threaten all their relationships, and even their lives.

Overall Rating: 1.5 out of 10

Plot: 4 out of 10

Characterization: 1.5 out of 10

Primary Element: 6 out of 10 for its mystery/suspense

Writing Style: 1 out of 10

Part of a Series: No

Highlighted Takeaway:

The social element that the book touches upon.

What I Liked:

Nothing specific.

What I Didn’t Like:

  • The characterization was very weak and the characters lacked depth.
  • Too much abstract prose where it wasn’t required; it didn’t add the depth that may have been the aim.
  • A good basic story, but very weak implementation; it seemed like I was reading a long essay rather than a fleshed out story. And the basic premise did have enough depth for the story to have been more fleshed out.
  • Felt more like a work-in-progress story than an actual, completed book.
  • It also needs a lot of work on the POV; it’s written in the first person and the sudden changes across abrupt chapters made it difficult to follow the character from whose perspective the section was written.

Who Should Read It:

I wouldn’t actively recommend this book until it was further worked upon to flow better, be more complete, and went through a thorough, professional edit.

Who Should Avoid:

Anyone who likes stories that are complete and rounded, and does not like abrupt chapters strung together.

Read It For:

If at all, then for the social message that’s at the root of the book.

Overall, I think Bose has good vision and creativity. Translating it into a complete book (as all aspiring and existing authors have admitted) is about much more than just having a story idea. A good amount of time and effort investment could take Bose’s vision into a complete book that far surpasses Done With Her.

– Rishika

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August 31, 2018 · 2:25 pm

Review: Micro (By Michael Crichton and Richard Preston)

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Source: Goodreads

Length: 540 pages

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Eric Hansen works at Nanigen Micro-technologies, a company whose operations and products are shrouded in secrecy. But Nanigen is huge and stands at the cutting edge of science and technology. Eric, his girlfriend and company CFO, Alyson, and Nanigen CEO, Vincent Drake, travel across the country looking for new recruits who would want to take advantage of the technology and equipment at Nanigen, tools that could help them shape the future. Eric’s brother, Peter, and his six colleagues accept an offer to visit Nanigen before deciding whether they want to be employed by the company.

But the day before the visit, Peter gets a message from Eric telling him not to come. Before he can decipher the short and abrupt message, he gets a call from Alyson. His brother, Eric, died in a boating accident. Shocked and confused, Peter travels to Hawai, where Nanigen is located, a day before his colleagues. He is barely able to digest the information he receives over the next twenty-four hours. And decides to confront the people he believes are responsible for Eric’s death. But things don’t go as planned. Peter and his friends are exposed to the bizarre technology that Nanigen has perfected, and tossed into the rainforest. Now, it is up to these seven young individuals to find a way back home before nature defeats their survival instinct. In the wild, you don’t get points for trying. It’s either win or lose for Peter and his friends. And the only thing at stake, is their lives.

The Bottom Line:

An interesting but too fantastic premise, which lays the groundwork for a fast-paced thriller that falls short of being truly Crichton-esque.

My take:

Micro received a lot of flak for being very un-Crichton-like. One of the main problems that readers have been vocal about is that the language isn’t Crichton’s style, and the disparity too obvious and, consequently, unpleasant.

But, given that it was supposed to be his last (unfinished) work, I didn’t go in expecting too much, which is probably why that disparity (which really is obvious) didn’t bother me too much. I did draw parallels to Crichton’s other work, although that was more on the things that I really like about his work, and not as much on style.

Coming to the review of Micro…

The story itself is good, even if it’s a bit on the fantastic side. I mean, re-engineering dinosaurs through fossilized mosquitoes and frog DNA is actually more believable than the scientific premise of Micro. The lack of scientific explanation may be the reason, but the entire premise is sort of a given, and you’re just supposed to believe it. There is no moral discussion on it, there is no skepticism, and there’s very little time (in the story arc) to even understand the tech (for characters or readers). That makes the entire sci-fi angle, which could have been pretty great, fall a bit flat.

The rest of the story is interesting though. You get a detailed look into how dangerous nature can be, and the character arcs move along pretty well. There is an expected bit of violence, but the extent of its graphic nature can catch you a bit off-guard. The story moves along smoothly, and is fast-paced. The plot twists aren’t really surprising, but do add interesting dimensions to the story.

What I really missed in Micro, though, was the detail to human nature.

Crichton’s work has a very unique perspective on human nature, and the many good and bad things it makes people do. It’s not explicitly described, but can be gleaned from his choice of dialog and character development. And it’s always instrumental in the way the story progresses. That is something that I’ve always loved about his work and really missed in Micro.

The lack of that touch is also probably what makes Micro move along like an interesting sci-fi, mystery read, but doesn’t leave an incredible impression like many of his other books. The style of the book is also more mystery-like than sci-fi, something that will strike (and has struck) a lot of Crichton fans as odd and unpleasant.

All in all, Micro is an interesting read for many reasons (general story, pace, thrill), and so makes for an enjoyable experience (minus some aspects). But it isn’t really Crichton-esque. So, I’d recommend the book to those who enjoy all types of sci-fi; but if you’re a hard-core Crichton fan, only pick this book up if you can do so with no expectations.

Read Micro? Share your thoughts on the book and what you liked/disliked about it in the comments section below!

– Rishika

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June 18, 2018 · 7:28 am

Review: Fahrenheit 451 (By Ray Bradbury)

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Source: Goodreads

Length: 194 pages

My rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Guy Montag is a fireman in a futuristic, dystopian world. Books are illegal in this world, and the only job that Guy and other firemen have is to burn books hoarded or read by rebels. It’s the only life Guy knows, the only one he believes to be right and true. Until he meets a strange young woman, Clarisse, who speaks of sharing ideas, of living a life beyond the television-addicted one that most people live, of a life before books were banned. And Guy begins to question everything he’s ever known. Attracted to the very books he’d spent most of his life destroying, he begins to read in secret. But little does he know that books have the power to change thought and life. While Guy struggles to understand the new emotions and unrest he’s experiencing, Clarisse disappears. And Guy is thrust into his worst nightmare – fighting the very people and system of which he was an integral part. Will his new-found ability to see the world differently than others save him? Or is he doomed to the fate he brought upon so many others – death by fire or life in prison?

The Bottom Line:

Fahrenheit 451 tries very hard to be thought-provoking, intense, and visionary but falls short on most of it, managing to become little more than a narrative that’s too abstract, broken, and choppy.

My take:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury has a reputation. Published in 1953, the book was visionary in its take on a dystopian, television-focused future. It was also raw and sort of in-your-face regarding a lot of the ‘given aspects’ of life. Consequently, the book was republished (infamously) with a cleaner, less abusive version, and was also (ironically) banned from schools’ reading lists. Yet, it received many accolades for its story and stand, becoming a beloved classic for many reader groups, and being touted as Bradbury’s best work ever.

Which is why I get that I may not be in the majority when I say that I did not like this book.

The book definitely has some aspects that were visionary. The dystopian future, the technology-addiction, and the heightened sensitivity to anything and everything – all of this adds really interesting elements to the feel and setting of the book. It also has aspects that are thought-provoking – what happens when people stop thinking for themselves, what happens to compassion and society when we only become involved in thrills and getting that next high, what happens when free speech is no longer a thing, and what happens when people believe nothing but that which they’re trained to know, see, hear, and accept. These points paint the picture of a harsh world which, to be honest, doesn’t seem that far-fetched now. And the fact that our world may not be too far from becoming that which the book depicts really makes you think about just where people – rather, humanity –  is going.

The sad part though is that the book doesn’t do a great job of successfully evoking these thoughts to the extent that it can. Fahrenheit 451 has a lot of potential, but I found it really failing on implementation.

The book is written in an extremely abstract manner. That definitely has its appeal as a style; but not when it’s so overdone that you sort of get lost in the abstract prose and can no longer follow the intended meaning. This is especially predominant in Guy Montag’s thoughts and actions. A simple action is exaggerated to give you a real feel of its intensity. But the exaggeration just does not end. It goes on and on to the point that you forget what the action was, and can barely understand the thought it evokes. By the time you’re brought back to the scene, you’ve traversed numerous other, unrelated ones, and completely lost track of where the story was going.

Most of the book is this way – with simple actions and thoughts, and even the settings, made extremely abstract. And while I do enjoy abstract touches in prose, I thought Fahrenheit 451 went so far with it that it moved from being abstract to being downright convoluted. A lot of what the book could have offered as a dystopian environment was lost because it was just so confusing to comprehend. Then there’s the fact that books are burned, but knowledge is passed down. Some books are allowed, but no one is allowed to think for themselves. It seems like all these were brilliant aspects of an idea that somehow just never came together. And, in the end, the reason for books being banned in the way that they were just didn’t make sense. Personally, it made me think that if Bradbury had spent less time on abstract descriptions and more on actually adding to the story and setting instead of leaving it tacit, the book would have been very different.

All in all, Fahrenheit 451 has a very interesting premise (which is why it gets 1.5 stars instead of something much lower) but makes for an unpleasant, slightly cumbersome read (which is a very difficult thing to achieve in a book this short). I heard about the book when its movie adaptation gained popularity. The blurb seemed very exciting, so I wanted to read the book before I watched the movie. Although I didn’t enjoy the book, I do want to watch the film to see its cinematic interpretation (which didn’t do all that well, apparently, but… oh well!).

It may have gone down in history as a cult classic, but I really would not recommend Fahrenheit 451 to anyone. There are better books that fit into the dystopian genre, if that’s what you’re looking for.

Share your thoughts on the movie and the book in the comments below! And thanks for stopping by!

– Rishika

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July 5, 2017 · 5:00 pm

Review: Red Dragon (By Thomas Harris)

 

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Source: Goodreads

Length: 464 pages

My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Will Graham almost lost his life when he apprehended the psychopath and serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Surviving the horrific attack, he retired from the FBI and chose a quieter, more peaceful life. But when another psychopath brutally murders two families over the span of two months, Graham is forced out of retirement. His gift for seeing things that others can’t may have made him great at tracking killers. But it left him chaotic and broken. Now, he needs to embrace that dark part of himself as he goes after the murderer. This time though, even Graham might need some help. But the only one who can help him is Hannibal Lecter. While Graham finds himself trying to understand the mind of two psychopaths, the killer sets his sights on another family. And an innocent woman is pulled into the dangerous game between Graham and the murderer. Will Graham find all the answers in time? Or will his failure claim numerous lives, and his own sanity?

My take:

To begin, let me say that Red Dragon is the book that introduces one of the world’s most infamous psychopaths – Hannibal Lecter. But that’s about as far as Lecter’s involvement in the book goes. He makes a couple of appearances and that gives you decent insight into his scarily calculative and cruel mind. But it does not really instill the fear of Hannibal the Cannibal into the reader.

Coming to the story itself – Red Dragon has a story that has the potential to be absolutely terrifying. It’s insane, psychopathic, cruel, and often very raw. There are scenes that are just so disturbing that they will make you jump. And since they come so unexpectedly, this effect is felt even more so. You will cringe, you will wonder just what the heck happened, and you will be intrigued/grossed out at the same time. These scenes are nothing short of powerful and really bring that ‘crazy’ touch to the book.

The story moves along briskly. It’s a long read, but it does not really slow down at any point. There is something or the other always happening and that keeps you turning the pages briskly.

The characters are believable, sometimes unfortunately. The Dragon himself is a complex person and his personality is depicted well. Graham is a complicated character too, and his constant state of being in an internal battle with himself is nicely presented. Most of the other characters fill their roles out perfectly, and the various relationships add good dimensions to the plot and people. The only part that got really annoying was Graham’s wife, Molly.

I don’t know how marriages used to be in the 1980s. But there existed an odd coolness to Molly and Will’s relationship that seemed very unlike that of two people who were apparently in love. Maybe it was Will’s job that took a toll on the relationship, but that needed to be described more convincingly. Without that, Molly’s character came across as plain annoying.

As far as the writing style is concerned, the only thing that I can say is that Harris’ is freakishly weird. He switches between tenses, writes half sentences, and just has this vague touch to his prose. A lot of the book made me feel like Harris had these disturbing, chaotic images playing out in his mind’s eye and he just wrote furiously, getting it all onto paper, and then just moved on to the next image. And that made the book so darned infuriating to read at times.

It sort of brought down the entire quality of a story that could have been absolutely amazing in its chaos. It seems to just miss that mark where abstract turns into discernible image. As a result, for me, the book had a lot of potential that remained unrealized.

I wouldn’t say that everyone needs to read Red Dragon. I’m sure you can follow the Hannibal Lecter series even without reading this as he isn’t really the main part. But I’d definitely recommend the book to:

  • people who love serial killer and psychopathic themed books (this is one of the craziest!)
  • people who enjoy dark mysteries
  • people who want to learn what psychopaths can truly be like (it’s got an oddly realistic sense about it)

Let us know what you thought of Red Dragon and/or this review. Drop us a comment below.

– Rishika

 

 

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April 14, 2017 · 1:17 pm

Review: The Lucky Ones (By Mark Edwards)

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Source: Goodreads

Length: 380 pages

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Fiona had never been happier. In fact, today was the happiest day of her life. The only thing she didn’t know was that it was also the last day of her life.

Ben Hofland moves from London back to his small hometown of Shropshire after the discovery of his wife’s infidelity. Along with him is his eleven-year-old son who is struggling to come to terms with the separation and fit into this new life. Ben believes that the quietness of the town that had driven him away years ago is the very thing he needs to heal and build a new life for his son and himself.

Detective Inspector Imogen Evans had similar expectations when she left London, the city she’d grown up in, and its painful memories behind to move to Shropshire. The last thing she’d expected from the sleepy town was murder. But when another body turns up, Evans realizes that she’s dealing not only with murder but with a serial killer. And one who has already left three victims in picturesque locations with their eyes open and lips turned into frozen smiles of deadly bliss.

When Ben finds work and learns that his son’s bullies have decided to leave him alone, he finally feels like his bad luck has ended. That it’s finally time for him to have the happiness he deserves. But Ben has no idea that someone is watching him – someone who wants him to have much more than happiness. Someone who wants him to have eternal bliss. Will DI Evans be able to understand what drives the killer before he claims another life? Or will Ben pay the ultimate price for his happiness?

My take:

First off, I’d like to give a big ‘Thank You’ to NetGalley for a copy of this book and the opportunity to read (and review) it.

Now, to the book itself.

The Lucky Ones has all the right elements for a serial killer themed psychological thriller, and they’re all executed really well. It’s got great suspense with the end being quite unexpected. Even if you have figured out a part of it, there’s a whole lot more to the conclusion that you will not see coming. It’s got the right amount of gore, disturbing descriptions, and suspicious characters. And it’s got a relentless pace with something interesting happening on almost every page.

What I liked most about the book was the depth with which it went into the antagonist’s point of view. Many novels tend to have more implied explanations of why people do the things they do. But Edwards leaves nothing to your guessing capabilities. He lays it all out clearly, and that gives the story this rounded feel that I have always enjoyed. At the same time, it gives you insight into some seriously twisted ideologies that act as motivation for the antagonist’s actions. In fact, Edwards even goes on to say that the inspiration for this book was a conversation he’d overheard at a café. And this leaves you wondering just what people of our the world may be capable of thinking and doing.

All the characters are well-defined and you get a very real view of their struggles. Although protagonists, Ben and Evans have their own demons. Their decisions and emotions aren’t clearly segregated into black and white. Much like with most people in real life, they fall in a gray area. This realistic take on his characters adds good value to the book and allows you to relate with it on a much stronger level.

There were two aspects, though, that I thought could have been done better. There should have been more detail about how Ben and Imogen felt about their own emotional lives individually before that aspect abruptly appears in the latter part of the book (I would’ve called this a spoiler but c’mon… like you hadn’t already expected this angle to be present!). The second is that there were some parts, although not exclusively evident, that seemed to be missing depth. This was more of a feeling than a line or paragraph that I could point out – but the result was that it made certain parts of the story, and hence the book, stay just below the ‘this is brilliant’ line.

In spite of those problems, I would highly recommend The Lucky Ones to:

  • fans of thrillers, serial killer stories, crime fiction, and psychological thrillers
  • people interested in trying out a new author – Mark Edwards does not disappoint
  • people wanting to add a new author to their ‘I need to read all his books’ list

I’m definitely going to be reading more of Mark Edwards’ work. In fact, I’d had another of his books on my TBR pile for a while. Which is why I was even more excited when I got this book from NetGalley.

The Lucky Ones is expected to come out on June 15. Don’t miss this psychological thriller and let us know what you thought of the book and/or this review in the comments below!

– Rishika

 

 

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February 27, 2017 · 10:16 pm

Review: The Circle (By Dave Eggers)

 

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Source: Goodreads

 

Length: 500 pages

My rating: 0 out of 5 stars

At the outset, I’m going to tell you that I didn’t finish this book. In spite of trying my damned hardest, I got only 30% in (150 pages), before I gave up because reading it just made me so, so angry. So, my blurb is going to be based on the author’s itself.

Mae Holland finally gets a break from her dead-end job when she gets a new job at The Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company. The place has around 10,000 employees, and a sprawling campus that gets visits and performances from rock stars, Nobel Prize winners and other such celebrities on a daily basis. She loves her job, loves the campus, loves the company and forgets about the world outside of it for the most part. Some things hit her as strange but she loves everything too much to pay any attention. Then her role becomes highly public and something (apparently) happens, after which she (and I’m assuming some other persons) start questioning the company and its practices that have no respect for privacy and democracy.

Okay so maybe my blurb also includes some ranting on my part. Read on to know why.

My take:

I could do this paragraph-wise, but that’ll be too long. So I’m doing this point wise.

  1. This book has the laziest writing I have ever read. Eggers seems to write whatever he fancies, going into the most mundane and unlikely of conversation and narration, before getting bored himself and just ending it abruptly. Also, it just has bad prose that is lazy, and often redundant.
  2. I have never come across characters more annoying or lost. There is absolutely no depth to any of the characters. And half the time, there is no character to any of the characters. It’s like Eggers forgets who he’s writing about and just adds on aspects that make no sense to their already barely existent personalities.
  3. Mae is one confused character, whose entire life seems to go on with the dead-pan expression made famous by Kristen Stweart in Twilight. She is dull, uninteresting, and just too… non-existent as a character. Oh and she’s also oddly selfish and arrogant, and talks in few-syllabic responses to questions. And did I say annoying as hell? Let’s just tag Annie on at the end of this point – equally annoying, confused, and just rude in conversation while being spoken about in narration as an angel who walks among mortals.
  4. There were actually five entire pages on a discussion between Mae, a colleague she’d never met before, and their senior about how said colleague was hurt (to tears) that Mae hadn’t attended a Portugal-themed brunch to which she’d been invited through their social channel. Some apologizing later, the matter is successfully handled and the HR department is sent a written notice. Because the HR department of a company that large gives a damn about an unseen brunch invite – very busy people, these.
  5. The Circle apparently makes ground-breaking innovations and supports external individuals who do this every single day. Except the innovations are only discussed from one angle – the one that will make them seem like the best ideas in the world, when they’re actually mundane, done-to-death, concepts that are only made to seem awesome by the never-ending applause from the watching audience. It’s like Eggers couldn’t really think of good ideas, so he took dull ones and tossed in social acceptance to make people think they’re amazing.
  6. Apparently, social networking is an extremely important part of Mae’s job (and that of every ‘Circler’)… and everyone in this ‘biggest internet company of the world’ has the time to send hundred of messages to the newbie on the job congratulating her for getting good ratings on her customer interactions. There may have come about (if I’d read on) a reason for this apparent importance of one new person in a company that hires at least ten people daily; but from what was written, this seemed like just something they all did, because it’s a “community”. A community of the most brilliant minds in the world (as Eggers repeatedly reminds the reader), who are working on the next set of amazing tech for the world, and who have altogether too much time on their hands to act like college-kids who thrive on gossip. Man, how I wish this place was real and I got an awesome job like the ones all these people worked so, so hard to get. (Not.)
  7. 30% in meant I was 150 pages in. And there was still no sign of an actual story. Boring, mundane, forcibly-cool things kept happening, people kept acting annoying, and conversations driveled on without any structure or direction. I’m sure there was a story coming up, but if you haven’t bothered with it until 150 pages in, you’re not exactly scoring reader-enjoyment-points.

To be honest, I thought this would be a great book. It had been recommended to me earlier, it’s coming out as a movie starring Emma Watson who’s more or less always taken up sensible roles in her career, and the movie trailer looked good. But the book was a massive disappointment, offering no story, no characters with whom you could associate, no meaningful conversations, and a highly-dramatized, cheesy-film version of one guy’s idea of what a ‘cool tech giant’ would be like.

I absolutely hate leaving books midway, because often times even bad books get better. And I really did try to keep going on. But it was just painful, boring, and irritating to read. It had no redeeming quality whatsoever.

Book readers always hope that movie adaptations stick to the original stories. I really want to watch and like the upcoming movie because the trailer seemed to signal towards an interesting flick. So I really, really hope that the movie adaptation of The Circle is as far away from the book as it can be except for whatever the crux of this story is. After all, the last movie adaptation that starred Tom Hanks was Inferno. And they sure as heck deviated from the book for that one (check out my book review for Inferno here). Although the deviation didn’t work then (check out my movie review of Inferno here), it may be just what The Circle needs.

Recommended for:

  • nobody
  • seriously, literally, nobody

Tell us what you thought of the book and whether you’re interested in watching the movie. Or tell us anything else you’d like to share too! Just drop us a comment below.

– Rishika

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December 5, 2016 · 5:06 pm

Review: Memory Closet (By Ninie Hammon)

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Source: Goodreads

Length: 337 pages

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Anne Mitchell has no memories of the first 11 years of her life. They vanished into a darkness that was filled with evil, inhabited by her own, personal Boogie Man who watched from the shadows. The fear of facing the Boogie Man kept her from making any attempt to remember. Until she saw the evil hiding behind the repentance in her dying mother’s eyes. Until the Boogie Man made an appearance that put Anne’s career and the little life she had made for herself at risk.

So, Anne moved back to the town of Goshen, back to live with her senile grandmother in the home where she grew up. It was the best place for her to try and remember, to face the memories that had, so far, eluded her. She’d been bullied all her life by the Boogie Man. The only way to get rid of him is to pull him into the light. But, for that, she has to go into the closet first, into the darkness. And as the lines between reality, memory, and imagination begin to blur, Anne realizes that she may never find her way out of the closet – that the Boogie Man has been waiting for her, and after all these years, he may finally win.

My take:

The premise of this story is surely interesting – amnesia triggered by a traumatic event and that plainly protects the protagonist from worse memories. It’s a psychological thriller with immense potential. There are also some characters that you can really associate with, feel bad or good for, and find them to be well-rounded.

But the book falls short on too many aspects to really make for a good read as the psychological thriller it’s supposed to be.

First is the fact that it really just goes on and on. I mean, the book could have been 100 pages less and still gotten the message across just as clearly. Each emotion is experienced to death until you’re just wondering when the scene is going to change, and still have to read about how sad or scared someone is for another four pages.

Then there’s Anne Mitchell herself. The character, meant to be raw, scared yet strong, kind, loving, and just a little confused, comes across as someone who is little more than annoying and a big cry-baby. She spends most of the book being exhausted for one reason or another, and avoiding good ideas that could help her… just because.

Now, I get that she’s meant to be emotional and maybe even a partial wreck, given the horrific things happening. But the resolve with which she’s introduced disappears within pages, and the other, more vulnerable emotions that she does go through just go on and on. That was where shortening the length could have been very effective. All in all, she was a character who was just about there, but forgot who she was a little too often.

Then there’s the excessive graphic nature of some narrative. It makes sense that Hammon was trying to be descriptive; but when it comes to these kinds of books, there is “show, don’t tell”, and then there is “just too gross to read”. At some point, the descriptions go from being necessary-psychological-thriller-disturbing to just plain “not-adding-any-value… move on”.

Another really annoying thing about it was the really long sentences that hit you with so much information that you just had to go back and read them again. Toss in some weird similes in the narrative (that were barely required, in the first place), and at some point, you’re just reading random words until the next sensible part.

Last, the book was, oddly enough, predictable – which is a major disappointment for a thriller. After 337 pages of excessive emotion, unnecessary description, and a lot of droning on, you’d think there was something better coming up in the climax. Instead, you get something predictable, anticlimactic, and extremely abrupt – it was like after all that writing, Hammon got tired and wrapped up the book really fast, without bothering too much on giving the audience an after-event look at the characters.

I had definitely expected much more from Memory Closet, and doubt I’d read more of Ninie Hammon’s work. The only reason it gets a 2-star rating and nothing lower is because the execution could have been worse (there were points where it, thankfully, took a turn off the bad path and back onto the good), but manages to be alright. Also, as a story idea, it wasn’t too bad.

Recommended for:

  • Hardcore psychological thriller fans who could read any story in that genre
  • Thriller fans (if you have nothing else to opt for)
  • Readers who like the very specific category of amnesia related thrillers

– Rishika

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