BOOK REVIEWS: WE OF THE FORSAKEN WORLD BY KIRAN BRAH AND HEART OF THE MATTER BY EMILY GIFFIN

Hello there! Today I'm back with another reading update. We'll start with an author that is new to me: Kiran Brah. This writer actually reached out to me on Goodreads, offering to send me a free book in exchange for a review. I declined his offer and said I will buy his book myself- and I did that. While on the subject and before sharing my new book reviews, I'd like to say that I planned to write a bit about my experience with writers approaching me for a review but decided to write a separate article about it some time in the future. Long story short, I prefer to buy my own books for a variety of reasons, so I rejected the free book offer but still bought and reviewed this book because it sounded interesting. When it comes to Emily's book, I just borrowed it from the library. 

The two novels I will reviewing today are by Kiran Brah and Emily Griffin. If you want to keep up with my reading, I also have a Goodreads account  (Ivana Books are Magic) where I upload most of my book reviews. Not that I'm advertising this reading social site in anyways. Like with all social media (expect blogging for some reason), I have some issues with it. Anyhow, scroll down to read my reviews!

WE OF THE FORSAKEN WORLD, A NOVEL BY KIRAN BRAH 4/5

As I already said, this was my first novel by this author. We Of the Forsaken World can be read both as a novel and a collection of stories. There are several different locations in this book and about sixteen protagonists. As you can imagine with sixteen protagonists, there is a lot of narrative switching with different points of views and locations. Many protagonists inhabit the same location. Within every story there is one principal characters perhaps, while the other minor protagonists of episodes and stories offer addition points of view. On overall, I found all the characters (both the ones telling the stories and those appearing in them quite interesting).

The characters in this novel belong to different nations and live in different countries/continents, but their lives are often similar. The stories are typically set in smaller communities and thus often interconnected. The struggles these characters deal with are often universal, proving that humans aren't that different no matter where they live. I quite liked that human aspect of the book. When you look at it, all the characters struggle with  finding their place in the world and within their families (communities). Moreover, their problems they face are often the same. Sometimes the problem they are facing is an ecological or social one, but most often the issue at hand are the human relationships themselves. Much of the novel focuses on family relationships and dynamics. The author sometimes asks interesting questions and examines the true meaning of friendship and love. The dialogues are mostly well written, some better than others but on the whole quite satisfying. I can honestly say that this book made me think about what connects us as humans. I wonder whether it is not the need to give and receive love that bonds us most strongly as human beings. 

At first, I found the way chapters merge one into another confusing, but soon I got used to the fragmented story telling and the book started to make sense. As I explained, the narrative structure takes some adjusting to, but once you adjust to it, the book becomes fascinating- at least it did in my case. Once I got into the story, I was curious to learn more of all the characters' faiths. Besides an ecological theme that popped up in most stories, there is also the recurring theme of abuse. Several characters have been abused (some mentally, some physically) and two of them are victims of trafficking. Most of the stories are quite dark. There is both violence and death in this book, incest, rape and abuse, so this is not a light reading but it does make one think. There is also some light in these stories, as depressive as they are at times. The stories, if somewhat unfinished, are quite memorable. My personal favourite was the story about the jungle people, I was really intrigued by the tribe's destiny and touched by the fates of most characters. I especially liked the depiction of the bond between the shaman woman and her husband. Another story I liked was about a young milking maid who falls victim to village gossip and bullying that ruins her life. That one carried a warning about the real danger of gossip- sometimes it can literally ruin a person's life. Another story I found quite touching was about a woman writer suffering from depression and the one about a now famous (possibly Bollywood?) actress that was a victim of trafficking  and still lives in fear of her influential and wealthy abuser. 

Was there anything I didn't like about this book? Well, there were some writing flaws. Some characters  and plot developments felt a bit cartoonish, hurried  and dramatic at times. This book has a lot to offer, but the writing itself isn't consistent.  I would say that the writing seems a bit unpolished. Moreover, the writing is not stylistically consistent. Sometimes the narrative voices aren't distinct and naturally sounding. Most dialogues are pretty good, but not all of them are naturally sounding. In addition, I would preferred quotations to the overuse of the word 'like', it felt a bit lazy and repetitive at times and made things harder to follow. Nevertheless, this book is a very interesting and quite an engaging read for most part. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author and I might even reread this book some day. To conclude, I quite enjoyed reading We of the Forsaken World. I would recommend it to everyone but very sensible readers (because it does get quite dark). If you dislike  books that talk about difficult subjects and abuse, this is not a novel for you. If you are open to reading about both the dark and the light that is in all of us and don't mind the sometimes chaotic narrative, then you'll probably enjoy this original novel. 

HEART OF THE MATTER BY EMILY GIFFIN 3/5

This was my first novel by Emily Giffin. I found a rather nice edition of this book in a local library and decided to give it a try. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this novel.  On one hand, Heart of the Matter is an interesting novel about married life and infidelity. On the other, I could not (for the life of me) comprehend why these two women Tess and Valerie, were so head over heels with  Nick.  Honestly, he didn't seem worth the fuss. The ladies  both fascinated and confused me at times, as both  Valerie and Tess often seemed intelligent and brave in their own way, but also incredibly needy and self-conscious at other times. I know it is human to act like that sometimes, but I think they both needed to demand more respect for themselves.

 This novel is written from perspective of two women- both in love with the same guy, one married to him, the other not. Is it the same kind of love? Could it be? What is love? Oddly enough, I could see the way the book is going to turn right from the start, but I still find it interesting to read about lives of Tess and Valerie, one a wife of an esteemed surgeon, the other the single mother falling for him.

Let's talk about the pros of this book and fortunately there are a quite a few of them. I think this book is wonderfully honest in examining the weaknesses and strengths of human relationships. Another thing I appreciate it how it showed the pressure Tess and Valerie were under, each in her own way. Being a woman in the modern world isn't easy. Everyone was blaming Tess for leaving her job and becoming a stay at home mom as if taking care of your own kids is the worst thing to do. No wonder our society is going to the dogs when being a mother is the least respectable job on the planet. Women nowadays get bullied if they want to be stay at home mothers and that's just not normal if you ask me. There is also an issue of guilt a stay at home mom can feel, as it is not something everyone can afford. Valerie for example doesn't have that opinion, she is a single mom. It was interesting that society (at leats the social circles we get to see) often seems to judge Valerie just as much as Tess. 

What is wrong with this society, right? It is also interesting how often women are the ones who bully other women, they are the ones who create this impossible social pressure for other women. At times as a woman (and a man) you feel like you just can't win against these impossible social expectations. Moreover, nobody really has it easy. Everything can be hard at times. For example, even if Valerie gets some respect because of her successful lawyer career, she is still aware of the fact that her son misses a father. It is not a small concern, I'm sure. The children of single mothers are more likely to commit suicide and suffer from mental problems. It seems each of these women is unhappy in her own way, and so is her family- as Tolstoy said, happy families are rare. I felt for both Tess and Valerie, I really did, I think they deserved better- at least more attention from the writer herself. 

So, this novel was in many ways a wonderful read but at times it felt hurried and inconsistent. Indeed, there are definitely things I didn't like about this novel. For example, the object of two women's love- the surgeon Nick. Honestly, I don't see what is so great about him. I also found it hard how he did zero parenting in his own household then bonded so strongly with the son of his patient on the spot.  That's convenient for the plot that makes him fall for the mother of that child, but doesn't make sense for the character. Why was Nick so distant towards his wife Tess at the first place? So, Tess got a little lost under the pressure of every day life, but so did he.  Well, even if we 'forgive' Nick, there is another issue. Why did Nick ignore his own kids if he loves them so much? Nick is described as a child plastic surgeon that choose to earn less so that he could help kids. Shouldn't he be all about the kiddos? Nick from all people should understand how much every child needs a father- including his own kids. It just doesn't make sense.  Nick was not written in a consistent way. Now, comes a spoiler alert. Skip the rest of the review if you don't want to know about the ending of this book.

The ending let me down a little bit, I was expecting something more, especially when it comes to the  dynamics of relationship between Valerie and Nick. I understand why Nick chose his wife over Valerie and it seems Valerie does too or at least comes to piece with it, but I didn't like the way he did it. Nick basically lied Tess about the affair, saying that it didn't mean anything, when it obviously did. That part was very disappointing. I think it would be easier to respect Nick if he showed more respect towards others. For most part, Nick is definitely self -centered. That part was quite disappointing and after the 'affair', I was definitely expecting some soul searching on part of both characters. Tess keeps making excuses for Nick throughout the book and while I can understand her 'don't look back in anger' philosophy, at times I felt Tess went too far. I'm not judging Tess for her decision to forgive her husband, I just think it would be better if Nick actually had more redeeming characteristics. If we as readers could see how Nick was hurt too, and how he understood how his actions had hurt everyone involved then the ending would make more sense. Getting back to Tess, forgiving is wonderful but there has to be  a way of forgiving that doesn't involve making excuses for others. 

What I hoped for was not necessarily a different ending, but a bit more detail on part of how Valerie felt. Towards the end of the novel, the focus is on Tess and Nick and Valerie is left out. I felt it wasn't fair to Valerie, considering she had been such a big part of the novel up to that point. It is almost as if the writer was afraid we won't root for Tess if she gives Valerie more space. On the other hand, I liked how the writer included stories from other family members and their experiences with infidelity in a marriage. There was another thing I did like about the ending and that is the focus on the importance of forgiveness- not just for others, but for ourselves as well. Holding grudges is no way to life. It is better to forgive and move on, as hard as it can be. Moving on doesn't necessarily mean moving on with the marriage or getting back to that person. It is more about not holding grudges against ourselves and allowing ourselves to pick what we know is the right decision for ourselves- as opposed to what society think is best for us. In the end, we make our own decisions. There's no liberty without responsibility. To conclude, this was an interesting read but I did have some issues with the character development and the ending itself. 

Well, that would be all for today. Do you have any reading recommendations to share? As you can see from these photographs, I'm back in my home in Mostar. I'm reunited with my paintings and books, so I feel right at home. I'm wearing a black turtleneck dress gifted to me in some collab ages ago, a pair of black leggings (not branded) and a pair of black stiletto heels (not branded). I'm also wearing a birch tree hair barrette, gifted to be my lovely Natalia from in the Writer's Closet blog. 

As always, thank you for reading and commenting! Have a lovely day everyone!