MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝
𝐁𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐥
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬
𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤: 𝟐𝟔𝟖 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫
𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐


It's the story of Aisha a mental health patient who suffers from anxiety and depression. As the book opens, Heer, Aisha's half-sister, is visiting her mountain home in the midst of a storm. As a result of her visit, things spiral out of control. Aisha, a middle-aged woman who once knew love, now feels unwanted, and unloved, and battles internal demons, tells the story from her point of view in the first half of the book. In an unhealthy home environment, she struggles to stay sane for the sake of her children. Prithvi, her husband who appears to be a villain in the first half, reveals his side of the story in the second.

It was slow to start, with the story picking up only after the first half. After meeting Daljeet, a handsome stranger who fills a void in Aisha's mind and life, things pick up in the aptly named 'Book 2'. It is uncanny how well he understands her. It appears that everything is as it seems, but it isn't.
The story, however, lacked a few crucial elements that made it less impactful. Aisha's and Prithvi's POVs should have been narrated alternately rather than separately in Books 1 and 2. Also, I found some inconsistencies that would act as spoilers, so I won't mention them here. A book with an ambiguous ending may work in some cases, but this one was not one of them and the climax provided no closure. Additionally, I wish there were fewer descriptions in the last 60-70 pages. As a result, they posed more of a hindrance than a benefit.
In some parts, the book is extremely well written and had me completely captivated, but the ineffective execution made it less than a hard-hitting read.

My Rating:

2.5/5

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