The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

What if we get a chance to revisit the regrets of our life? To go down the path that we discarded ages go and see where it lead to?

Matt Haig's latest novel is a heartwarming read about second chances and opportunities in a well packaged narrative.

Gist:

Nora is unhappy, she sees her life as a big dump of poor choices and one day she chooses to end it all. Interestingly that is when her life actually begins. She finds herself in a library where she picks up the book of Regrets and gets the chance to revisit her choices and to do things differently. The result is a startling revelation about the concept of a perfect life.

My review:

• I absolutely loved the book. Nora Seed's character is endearing, her misery and unhappiness is relatable. Matt tells her story by counting down the hours to the point when she decides to end her life, a great way of revealing her present and the circumstances that lead to it. I was hooked from the beginning.

• This could have easily been a preachy, self help kind of a narrative but the concept of examining regrets and exploring outcomes is very beautifully packaged in a story. The framework of a library, the idea of sifting through options is done very well. I couldn't wait to see how Nora fared in each of those lives and what she would choose. 

• It was a pleasant surprise to see how the story steered to the resolution, did not see that coming at all. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it but the real reason why I liked it is that I often think back to what ifs and this spoke to me in many ways.

One of the best life affirming reads I have read in a while.

Aarti and the Blue Gods - Jasbinder Bilan

This is the third book that I have picked up by this author and I have grown to love her style now. Bilan's books are a beautiful mix of magic realism interspersed with cultural references. This one is no different.

Gist:

Aarti has always lived with her temperamental aunt on this island for as long as she can remember. They live off the land alone and Aarti has never known anything different. However, she keeps getting these flashback images about a living a different life lived elsewhere. One day when she gets into a locked room, and stumbles on certain things that make her question her present and delve into her past.

My review:

• Bilan's forte is magic realism and this story brims with it. 

• The amalgamation of cultures into her story - in this case Indian and the Druid cultures - makes for an interesting reading experience.

• Her stories now are beginning to have a set pattern and it is easier to predict how the story is going to flow. Although the familiarity feels great, perhaps a bit more exploration in terms of style and themes will sustain that "wow" factor that drew the reader to the first two books. 

• Bilan is good at handling senstive subjects like grief, acceptance in her stories for the young reader. It is for this reason alone, that I am confident about gifting a Bilan book to a young reader, knowing well that she will be in good hands. 

If you have read her other books this one may not be up to the mark, but if you haven't read her before, this standalone book is a good introduction to her writing.