Poignant, almost poetic with a certain metrical rhythm of its own, this book is a catchy, one of its kind dramatic novel. It is a coming of age novel in which the protagonist who happens to be a devot music lover and fanboy comes across a golden opportunity to meet his favourite pop singer. While the deep seated desire of the protagonist and his aspiration to meet his celebrity singer remains the basic plot line of this book, the major twist and turn in the plot is revealed through the downs and dark chapter that his family has to go through which affects him to a large extent. Yet, as they say, one needs to know darkness to be able to see the light and this is exactly the theme of this novel. The plot allows the reader to soak in the emotions of dramatic importance such as shock, fear, angst and restlessness to convey the moot idea that there is light out there provided one is willing to patiently bear through the hardships, overcome them with a positive mindset and keep a balanced outlook towards life at all times. This is juxtaposed with the crucial issues of the plot that combine trust, faith, hope and family bonding to usher a plot that is fresh and unconventional. However, exceeding 450 pages, the book is rather lengthy and requires attentive reading. Individual chapters are also quite long though that does not in any way affect the core ideas of the plot from being upheld. The plot retains the mix of tension and drama at every turning point and with each juncture there is new information that is released and brought before the reader to keep in mind. This makes the plot rather happening and exciting though the loose ends and questions cropping up are eventually tied up in the end to provide a closure to the reader that solves the issues raised and gives a cyclic structure to the plot. Additionally, the title of the book can be slightly difficult to decipher as readers may be expecting a collection of inspirational quotes in book form though it is a full- length novel. The overall reading experience is full of entertainment mainly due to the emotional quotient of the book. It engages the reader with a myriad of emotions such as pain, grief, faith, courage, hope and instils a positivity that is a welcome change to the otherwise didactic fiction that is full of moralising and value -based education. This book, however, acknowledges the different and difficult facets of life that make readers plunge headlong into life’s darkest corners from where it is difficult to come out at times. The plot does not instruct but it shows and reflects the core ideas that the author wishes to convey which is eaily deducible.
Apart from an interesting plot, the writing style is the icing on the cake. It touches the reader with a sense of sensitivity that goes beyond sentimental evoking of emotions and provides a rationale to feelings and thoughts that not only helps build the characters up but also allows readers to learn resilience and strength from these characters. The language used is simple and easy to read and understand. The vocabulary is not difficult either though it has apt usage of words that allow the core ideas to be constructed and upheld which increases the unique selling point of the plot. There is a softness to the manner of expression and while the author is deeply expressive through the characters and their dialogues, he never exceeds the mark of emotional appeal. It is this sense of balance that makes the dialogues more appealing and the characters more relatable. There is ample amount of dialogue exchanges which is interspersed with narration that makes the novel very akin to a play or can be easily remodelled into a film’s script.
The plot has several major and minor characters scattered throughout and there is a tendency towards Americanisation not only of names but also of expressions, both verbal and in terms of gesture, behaviour and practices. This does not hinder the reading experience into becoming more foreign because the emotional appeal of these characters maintains a universality that goes beyond territorial and national borders to encompass a sense of mutual understanding between what is said, what is kept unsaid and what is anticipated in the novel. However, regardless of all the reading between the lines that can be done in this novel to decipher the inner emotional tensions and intentions of characters, there is a roundedness to these characters that makes them relatable, mature and sensitive to change. The book is indispensable to any book and in this case the book cover is done really well, very representative of the main themes of the plot and portrays the core ideas well. The first page of individual chapters come with a free hand sketch of a guitar while the typographical creativity is endearing and variations in font size and font type helps to make the reading experience more engaging.
Reviewed By: Tasnima Yasmin