30#REVIEW

BOOK TITLE: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

AUTHOR: RATNA VIRA

GENRE: CONTEMPORARY FICTION,FAMILY

STARS: ***

It’s not about you is Ratna Vira’s second novel. The story is about the single mother Samaira aka Sammy. She lives with her 16 year old son Aksh. Her daughter Tara is studying her undergraduate studies in London and lives with her father, Sammy’s ex husband Rishi. Sammy is a working woman so it’s not possible for her to check on her teenage son all the time but she think that her little Aksh is very happy and doesn’t have any adolescent problems. But her belief cracks when she gets a phone call from Aksh’s school saying that her son was bitten up. Aksh was a student of a famous school in Delhi. No details on the bullying event was given from the school. They got Aksh admitted in a hospital in Delhi. Sammy was really worried as Aksh remained in critical stage unconscious for few days. Rishi and Tara came from London. They were equally worried. Sammy couldn’t believe her good boy could actually got all mixed up with the bad lot. No well wishers from school came or showed interest about the matter. They mostly remained reluctant. Sammy didn’t expect such conduct from the school. on the other hand after Aksh got his consciousness back, he was found suffering from temporary amnesia so he could not remember whatever happened to him or who had beaten him up. Sammy finally decided to contact the school. But no hope in that. They were acting as if it was Aksh’s fault and her fault. She also began self loathing and questioned her duty as a mother. She tried to contact her friend Monica and Aksh’s tution teacher Mrs Khanna. They told him that lately Aksh was not putting enough concentration as if he was staring into the space lost in his own world. In the mean time when Rishi and Sammy searched Aksh’s ipad they found some poems written by Aksh on unusual subjects. Sammy couldn’t believe that she didn’t even know her son properly. All in despair , not getting a proper answer from the school about who bullied her son, she contacted her childhood aunty Maasi ji. There she came to know about the boy Kushal with whom Aksh got into a fight. As she got into the matter, she realised that her Aksh has got tangled himself in a web of political corruption. Now, it’s all upto Samaira to dig out the true facts and put up the truth to the society saving her son, her family.
The story line is no doubt an unique one. The author has dealt with the matters of real corrupted world. Things that don’t get out to the common people yet they only get suffered for some rich, powerful men. But I some how found certain parts boring and dragging. There were some parts where I had difficulty in getting into the story. But it’s definitely the kind of story that describes the darkness of the present day world. Another most important feature of this book is that it’s every chapter has a quote in the beginning.That I found very unique and interesting

Here’s  another shot of one of the inspiring quotes.

.Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.