Book Review: Vivid by Niraj Babu

VIVID
Author: Niraj Babu:
Rating: 3/5

Our mind is an extensive labyrinth that has the calibre of making hell out of heaven and heaven out of hell. Dealing with the matters of the mind is not always easy. Thus, it is all the more important to gauge and understand its functioning and think twice before drawing any conclusions. Based on this theory, VIVID is a short novella that highlights how the mind plays games with us when it is caught amidst the pathos associated with love and loss.

The story narrates how a forlorn father, Hari, struggles to come to grips with the fact that his daughter hallucinates and ventures into the world of her desires and denies accepting reality. Hari, a doting father and a good-natured human being, struggles in accepting the truth that his daughter is suffering from a deadly disease as well. To top it all up, his daughter starts taking the fairy tales quite literally and begins seeing ‘apsara’ in her very own house. After befriending Mandira, the apsara, the daughter seems happier and more active. But she is unaware of the emotional turmoil her father goes through every day. Well, that’s not all because this is just the beginning of a mystery, the climax of which will send chills down your spine.

Woven intricately, each event in the story holds much importance. However, I wasn’t able to establish a connection with the protagonists because of the lack of description of their characters. The language is impressive yet it could have been better with another round of proofreading. The title of the story is quite catchy, for the vivid descriptions suit the storyline. The use of imagery is immense and that makes the writing appealing. The story has a limited number of character and hence, the author had enough opportunity to avoid leaving the protagonists as mere caricatures. Nevertheless, the taut plot doesn’t fail to stay with you even after you finish reading.

Best wishes to the author.

Link to buy: Amazon