THE VERGE OF FEAR: BOOK REVIEW

​Book Title: The Verge of Fear

Author: Praneeth Ravindra

Format: Kindle eBook

Total Number of Pages: 171

Publisher: Educreation Publishers

Publication Date: 22 June 2017

Language: English

Kindle Price: INR 114.46

ASIN: B073567NKG

Blurb: This is a Fiction story and talked about a young man’s life, how it turned later a few astonishing incidents and how he has accomplished his love, family? Infact, it is every person story happening in routine. It will take the readers through family emotions, bondings, love and finally goodness, kind nature. This is one side of the story. Other side of the story is also directly or indirectly related to every human being in this world.

Review by Sohinee Dey

When I was first given this review copy, my instincts told me that this book would be some kind of a mystery thriller but unfortunately, I was quite mistaken on my analysis. This book bordered on more of a spiritual metaphysical level. Sadhu, the protagonist is shown to be frustrated with his life until he is attended by God himself where He reflects all of Sadhu’s past life incidences in a mirror. Sadhu’s life is shown to be filled with tragic and gruesome episodes. Crestfallen by his precarious life, he sets out to seek answers to his problems.

The prologue starts on a mysterious note where Sadhu is shown to have lost his memories. Surrounded by the darkness, and where a hazy vision seems to be his best friend, Sadhu is unable to remember what actually happened to him and where he is now. 

This complete books can be summed up by saying that the plot reflects the story of every person. Remember when we feel dejected in our life and the sufferings doesn’t seem to end any sooner? This work of fiction mainly revolves around that particular part. Loss, love, Death, Reawakening and Rebirth are some of the components of this book. The second half of the book concentrates on rebirth and finding meaning of one’s own life.

Sadhu while facing daunting situations and being a victim of bizarre and unfamiliar circumstances; somehow, his path crosses with a Sage which I believe can be thought of as an avatar of God in this context. Sadhu questions him but his questions remain unanswered. The Sage keeps on leaving hints for Sadhu with his spiritual talks. Finally, Sadhu is taken to a place where the Sage opens up the Pandora’s box. Sadhu finally comes to know that he is no more alive! The mirror reflects his life where Sadhu visits all of his past events once again though his eyes. Later on in the story, the Sage reveals that Sadhu was reborn and sent by God to fulfill a mission. What’s the mission and how he can accomplish it is what is talked about in the later half of the book. Self-realization is what it takes for Sadhu to find the answers to his questions.

The book cover and the title really got me excited for this book but turned out that the faucet for the cold water was turned on! So, it was a cold shower. I had high expectations from this book but I was completely disappointed. Right from the “About the Book” page, the grammar mistakes and the punctuation errors were on the run and didn’t seem to stop any sooner. Moreover, even after reading 30 pages, I couldn’t quite comprehend what the book was all about. Same goes for the narration. There were no dialogues in the entire book. It seemed as if I was reading a really lengthy essay. It was boring and stretched out; 100 pages would have been enough. Now, who likes to read para after para without actually understanding what the fuss is all about?! Ultimately, I lost my inspiration to complete the book and stopped at 80 pages and just sneaked a peek at the end.

My Final Verdict

The story started off nicely but eventually lost the power to captivate me completely. I love books where I just lose the track of time and travel to a place where I can actually “live” the characters. Unfortunately, this was not one of those books. 

The plotline was really good but the narration and the language didn’t do justice to it. I felt it could have been better.

If you are a fan of mystery, thriller and suspense stories then there is no harm in giving this book a try.

Ratings:

Book cover: 4/5

Title: 3.5/5

Narration: 2/5

Plotline: 3/5

Language and Vocabulary: 2/5

Grammar and Punctuation: 2/5

Final Rating: 3/5

The Kindle edition can be bought from here.

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For book reviews, send an email to donadey01@gmail.