Book Review: Not Worth Living For by Shreyan Laha

This book is laced with suspense!

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The Blurb:

Ishita Singh, a student of an esteemed college in Mumbai was living a normal life along with her group of friends, a caring senior and scarily enough, a creep who stalked her.

Shweta wakes up in an unknown planet with an advanced civilisation and sets out with Alexander Ishutin, a former spy of the RSV to discover about the far future.

Underlying the lives of these two girls in different worlds, there lies a dark secret. Will they ever come across this dark secret or will it be so chilling that it won't be worth living for? Prepare yourselves for a psyched, dystopian adventure. Not for the faint hearted.

Excerpt:

As the loud-mouthed rant of Devesh came to an end, Meet and Kunal were palpitating. The temperature soared around the room, and everyone came to know what really happened. Devesh sighed heavily believing that he had just gone over the limit ''I'm sorry, I'm...''

''It's okay, Devesh,'' said Harshit, ''After all we are humans. Superior human. If you throw a stone at a dog, it runs away. If you don't have a quick reflex, the mosquito on your arm flies away. Had we been other animals, we could have acted rationally, but we're far too superior humans- creatures who can willfully camouflage and it is this camouflage which proves our superiority.'' 

The Review:                                                        

''Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at end''  -Robin

The changes we seek and fight for becomes a source of content while unforeseen changes often come with discomfort and disgust. Adaptability becomes the only way to keep afloat and survive in such situations and that's what makes everything alright at the end. The characters in the book 'Not Worth Living For' goes quite exactly by the above quote.  

The Reviewer's Heart…

'Not Worth Living For' by Shreyan Laha is an incredible saga that takes place on the earth and to a planet called Isthenope which seems too good to be real. Both the story on the earth and the Isthenope runs alternatively. The story begins in the unknown land of Isthenope where Shweta finds herself lying comfortably. Bewildered she moves around only to be surprised again and again. She is welcomed by ''Keepers of Isthenope'' named as 54, 64, 74 and 84 who basically helps the new comers to survive on the planet and get habituated to it. She meets Amal and Tanay who were struggling to decipher how come they reached on Isthenope and for what purpose,to their relief they had been told that they would be able to return back on earth after some period. One thing that all of them shared in common is, they had no memory of their pasts and if something they recalled, it was all in bits and pieces, no less than a jigsaw puzzle. Shweta is a keen observant and thus, her incessant quest leads her to Alexander (a former spy of the RSV) during her stroll at Rhinestone. I personally love the Alexander's character in the book because he is wise, a gentleman and kind. He unfolds the beauty and advancement of Isthenope in comparison to the earth majestically be it in terms of technology, innovation, architecture, medicine and judicious planning. While Shweta starts adapting the new environment Alexander falls in love with her and gradually express in one of their light moments only to be loved back. 

On the other hand, the story on the earth, to be more precise, St. Pierce College, Mumbai begins with the admission of Ishita to her dream college. Ishita is an emotional, introvert and thoughtful girl. While her first few hours goes in oddity but soon she gels with her roommate Aakriti and later she befriends with Devesh, Vivek, Preeti and Kevin. Each of them are very different from each other in terms of their family background and habits. During one of their night out on a beach-side, Vivek and Ishita express their juvenile love and promise to be there for each other always. On their way to the college, though half drunken Devesh noticed a car was chasing theirs consistently but all of them chose to ignore but who knew that it would be the last time they were all together? On the same night Ishita's body is found raped and in a half-dead condition in her hostel. Who could have attacked on her? Did Ishita had an enemy from her past or did someone from her college did that to her? Will she recover and get back to fight for herself? Shweta often had cliche' dreams of college, parents and friends, did Ishita and Shweta had something in common? Will Shweta, Amal and Tanay be back on Earth again?

Trust me, there are many more mysteries that are to be answered. I don't want to make this review a spoiler for others and thus I would recommend you to read and discover the beautiful Isthenope and Ishita's culprit yourself.

  

What I liked?

It was quite enthralling to discover the picturesque beauty at Isthenope. I would like to appreciate the extra-ordinary imagination power of the author and diligence to put his ideas in right words. The minute details mentioned in the book is convincing and shows the deep research author has done. The book is attractive and radiant and quite vividly describes the theme. Similarly, the title ''Not Worth Living For'' seems obvious and relatable especially after reading the last page. I would like to acknowledge the writer's effort for carrying out two different stories together and hold of so many characters, how difficult it would have been to juggle in between different emotions.

What I disliked?

Although it was a thrilling read with umpteen suspense throughout the book but there are a few things I wish could have been better.
*The alternate sequence of the two stories seemed more intervening than pleasant because it was too often and somehow broke the connection of the last chapter and the new one.
*Ishita and Vivek's chemistry could have had been described better. Also, it was awkward to believe that Vivek didn't care to visit Ishita at her worst not even once.
*The language used is quite fluid and engaging but a few spelling errors and punctuation mistake here and there was disrupting.

Why should one read this book?

The above suggestions could have definitely made this book a better read but in no way it takes away the credit of well-built plot and author's ability to maintain the suspense throughout the read.

Rating:  

Blurb: 3/5

Description: 4/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Editing: 3.5/5

Book Cover: 4/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 /5

Book Details:

Title:Not Worth Living For

Author: Shreyan Laha

Genre:Science Fiction

Type:Paperback

Publisher:Bigfoot Publication

Language: English

Pages:178

Year of Publication: 2018

Price: 175 INR

Buy: Amazon Paperback | Kindle

Stars… To this tale, a ride full of chills, surprises and chaos, I give a 3.5 star rating. Recommended to all

I am glad to read and review it. The opinions expressed in the review are my own, and remain unbiased and uninfluenced. I have given a 3.5 star rating on Goodreads and Amazon as I felt nothing less than that would be fair.