Book
Review
Author: Rakhi Jayashankar
Publisher: Cyberwit.net
Pages: 215
Waves in the sky narrates the story of six girls who studied together
in the same school and were popularly known as the Canaries. CANARY is an acronym for Charu, Ananya, Neha,
Avantika, Raihana and Yami, the six girls whose story unfolds in the
novel. The girls grow up and go to different
colleges and also learn about some betrayals that had occurred within the group
when they were at school. Not all
friendships are genuine. People have
various motives for being part of a group and some of the motives may lead one
to betray the group or some members of the group for one’s own personal
interests.
Life is full of incidents
that are born of betrayals by friends as well as relatives. The novel explores some such betrayals or
even plain murders. Some of the murders
can shock the male readers. Are women
capable of such cruelty? Can a mother
kill her own offspring?
The back cover blurb
classifies the book as “Fiction: Contemporary Women.” Written by a woman, the novel explores the
psyche of some female characters though not in great depth. The novel can also be classified as mystery or thriller. Thrillers don’t
explore the psyche. They tell a gripping
tale keeping the suspense alive throughout.
The problem, however, is that
Waves in the sky oscillates between
the traditional literary narrative and popular thriller. So it may fail to satisfy both kind of
readers. It fails to present
well-rounded characters. On the other
hand, the mystery is not masterfully controlled. Yet the novelist succeeds in telling a story
that can keep the reader engaged with unflagging interest till the end. Rakhi Jayashankar is a good story-teller.
A little more careful
editing would have been desirable. There
are quite a few unpleasant phrases or sentences. “Death rights” instead of “death rites” and “umpteen
number of times” instead of “umpteen times” are examples.
In spite of the grammatical
and semantic drawbacks, the novel is eminently readable and highly fascinating
because the author has indeed a good story to tell. It presents the real life in a very realistic
narrative. It is light and pleasant
reading.
Buy the book from:
Read
reviews at Goodreads.
That was an honest review. Thanks for sharing it
ReplyDeleteBalanced review..!
ReplyDeleteThank You so much for the review. Your review is detailed and honest to the core
ReplyDelete