Book Review: Young Blood by Chandrima Das

 

Name of the Book: Young Blood

Name of the Author: Chandrima Das

Publisher: Harper Collins India

Genre: Horror 

Pages: 307

Price: ₹236 (Paperback) on Amazon

About the book:

I read ghost stories after a LONG time. Young Blood is a collection of 10 terrifying tales, all set in college campuses across the country. The setting is similar and yet the stories are so different from each other.

About the author:

Chandrima Das has a B. Tech in Computer Science from NIT Durgapur and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. Her digital debut, The Talking Dead was a bestseller in the horror category. Chandrima Das tells stories that live in the strange territory between truth and fear.

'I challenge you to spend the evening in a haunted building. I will prove to you that science cannot prove everything in the world.' 

It wasn't a terrifying read for me, to be honest, I mean it's not like I couldn't read it at night, alone (as I read them at night, alone), but they were definitely creepy. So, if you're someone who gets spooked easily, you may find these stories scary. 

And that's mainly because of the descriptions and the storytelling. I must say, the author is a wonderful storyteller. The stories start like any other regular stories but there's something about the storytelling, the eccentric aura they build that I could feel a strange kind of excitement at the back of my mind that 'Oh, it's a horror story, and something very strange is going to happen!'

The writing is beautiful and crisp. Stories are gripping. You would not want to miss a single paragraph. That engaging. 

Every story is intriguing in their own way, so I loved them all, except 2-3 tales. But even though the concept of these 2-3 stories didn't excite me, the writing and storytelling gripped me for sure. 

The stories are set in college campuses/hostels, they are all about young people. And that's why they seem relatable and believable, well, to some extent. I don't think it's necessary to discuss the plot of each and every story. But I'd like to mention my favourites. Challenge Accepted, The Inner Door, Benefits of Doubts, Ghost of a Chance (most favourite). 

Also, most of the stories convey certain messages/address important social issues, in a subtle way, without being preachy.

'A ruined reputation is one of the most effective ways devised by society to control women.'

I recommend it to everyone. Even if you don't like this genre, read it to enjoy the author's writing and storytelling. 

You can buy the book HERE

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