Book Review by LITEROMA PUBLISHING SERVICES :: "Ballad of a Belle" by Rahul Tushar

** Thanks to the author for sharing a review copy of the book.**

** Thanks to our reviewer Reetwika Banerjee for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. **

Well what to say about this book? Right from the book title, book cover, page quality, print quality, story scene setting, flow of story, characterizations, climax and the finishing - the book left me engrossed in it's totality. After a very long time, I read a novel of this quality. I must congratulate the author for gifting modern Indian literature such a high standard masterpiece. I can see this book making it to the bestseller list of 2019.

Coming to the book's aspects - title 'Ballad of a Belle' the lyrical naming in itself creates an immediate impact on reader's mind. So is the cover image. The designer did a wonderful job in capturing the essence of Aarti and Priya's dual characters through the silhoutte. Though the image looks a little younger than the actual age of the protagonists but it does capture the bubbly 18-year old Aarti Pandit in it.

Next is the scene setting. Being an avid traveller, I could visually relate to all the lovely places touched by the story. It was like a surreal travel experience for me holding the hands of the different characters of the novel. It was awesome to know about the Kashmiri colloquial, "hukus bukus".

The character building of Priya is superbly knitted and the best thing is the clandestine way of masking her true self till the end of the story. The author did a fantastic job here. By reading the blurb it no way exposed the actual roller coaster waiting for me in between the covers. And that's where the success of the book is. It is very difficult to hold back the excitement of a matured reader with a simple thriller plot these days, but Rahul excelled in the art by unfolding the twists at the right moments. Nothing more I would like to say about the story as that will spoil the beauty of its turns and twists.

Overall I will not be able to rate it anything less than 5*/5* and highly recommend to matured readers. It's not a book for social readers who love to decorate their bookshelf like a showcase.

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