Finished reading Anya's Lyric by Nikhil Kumar. It was a thoughtful, different and engaging read, but for me it was a little difficult too. Why difficult? I'll tell you but before that let's talk about the book.
First of all, the cover of Anya's Lyric is very attractive. The title is intriguing.
The author opens the story wisely, with this line:
"I was born because of one man's inability to read."
It hooks you completely!
Anya's lyric is different - story wise and format wise, and so is the main protagonist, Anya. This book tells about Anya's tough journey in a very different voice.
So, what's different?
The book seems a collection of interlinked and (mostly) standalone short stories or you can say a collection of events that are related to Anya's life. The characters have no names - just identity. Characters are mentioned as "A woman with a mole on her left cheek" "A man with one hand" "The magician" "Ordinary man" etc. This is a style I haven't read before.
Why difficult?
This unconventional format confused me. Names are easier to remember than identities like "The strange man, woman with a mole on her left cheek...etc. Some chapters are randomly placed that affects the continuity of the story. At times, it was exciting but most of the times, I needed to pause and recall what had actually happened previously that is linked to this particular thing I was reading. It was annoying as it disrupted the flow of otherwise interesting story. Honestly, I had to concentrate to connect the dots.
The story is dark, thoughtful, unpredictable and engrossing. Reading this book can be a different experience for a reader. It was a nice read but definitely not a light read!
I received this book from the author for an unbiased review.
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