Author: Lalitha Venkatraman
Release Date: 10th September 2016
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Edition: E-book
Pages: 131
Publisher: –

Rating: ★

Blurb:

Christopher is a handsome and brilliant businessman. His business empire had sprawled across several countries and he could have any woman he wants. His is a loving and caring nature and people adore him for his sterling qualities. For the outside world, Christopher has it all, did he really?
Preeti is an intelligent, savvy professional who has spent her life consumed with work. She lived the life of a Saint, happy to bask in the glory of her parents’ love.
Pulled together by peculiar circumstances, Christopher and Preeti quickly tear down each other’s barriers, bonding over a deep passion for their loving families as they explore the vibrant cities and rich, exotic culture of India. They grew quite close.
Preeti makes a startling discovery in Christopher’s house and to a certain extent, about the man himself. Suspicions run wild. Inexplicably, Preeti becomes the centre of accusations herself when a mysterious man with a traumatic past questions whether her love is truly for Christopher or his incredible wealth. Will Preeti be able to prove her good intentions, or will she have to make the ultimate sacrifice for the man she loves?
And then there is a jungle and people say that it is cursed. The forest is alive and breathing; from time to time, one could hear a huge rumbling noise from within. The trees shed millions of leaves. The hills move a few miles from their places. The river water rises to form solid arches. The forest dazzles the surroundings with its own magical light show. People are terrified of the living, breathing woodland and keep their distance from it.
De Silva lives all alone in the cursed jungle and he rushes to meet total strangers, Christopher and Preeti in the middle of the night…

Review

I tried really hard to not give up on this book and have faith that it will get better as the story progressed, but it just wasn’t for me.

The plot wasn’t entirely original and my main problem with the book was the writing and narration. The narration lacked cohesion with weird time jumps and the pacing was erratic. The book also had too many metaphoric descriptions for mundane aspects and didn’t spend enough time explaining the actual plot.

There was a subplot plot with references to slightly supernatural elements. But it was never properly explained or explored and it just existed to tie up loose ends of the main story. The characters and dialogues were unrealistic and flat.

The book had a decent build up, but around 40% I started to lose interest and ended up skimming over the rest of it. The ending was rushed and predictable with too much exposition crammed into the last few pages.

I feel that strong editing and a better plot structure would have helped this book, but right now, it just didn’t work for me.

Goodreads and Amazon