Linda F

Gowda delivers a tightly written story. There are no overwrought descriptions used as filler. She keeps the story moving forward without going down meaningless rabbit holes. The ending was not apparent until the very end so that keeps the reader turning the pages. Each major character is adequately presented which allows an easy to follow flow of unfolding events. I appreciated the ending. With the above being said, I garnered no new insights nor have the desire to pursue the topic further. This novel portrays events that happen around the globe every day. Some stories are less traumatic and many more are much worse.

While the premise of this book sparked my interest I found it to be an uphill slog for the most part. The writing at the very beginning and end was sharp and concise. The entire middle of the book was spent with the main characters excessively sharing their overwrought thought processes. It was tiring and repetitive. The main characters were not fully developed. I never felt invested in them. The female character was better developed than the male character. The author did a very good job of describing the various settings, the food, the notable sites, and the overall feel of the places she takes the reader. A few of the additions of other characters just seemed to be thrown into the plot and did not hold a lot of interest for me. The few surprises were expected. I could see that with some changes this book could become an entertaining movie though.