Book Review
Bittersweet: A Debut Novel by Rajesh Konsam
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| Bittersweet by Rajesh Konsam |
Author: Rajesh Konsam
ISBN: 978-9388424622
Genre: Contemporary
Fiction
Length: 200 Pages
Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/30GvVce
About the author:
Rajesh Konsam is a young software engineer and writer. A
geek at heart, he loves programming and feel-good novels in equal measure. When
not writing poems, he ticks travel destinations off his bucket list. Although
Rajesh hails from Manipur, he works in Chennai after completing his B.E. in
Coimbatore.
Bittersweet is Rajesh’s debut novel, and he is working on his next. Rajesh tweets as @RajeshKonsam, runs a feed on Instagram as @rajeshkonsam, and responds well to feedback at rajeshkonsam@live.com. More at rajeshkonsam.com
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| Rajesh Konsam |
Bittersweet is Rajesh’s debut novel, and he is working on his next. Rajesh tweets as @RajeshKonsam, runs a feed on Instagram as @rajeshkonsam, and responds well to feedback at rajeshkonsam@live.com. More at rajeshkonsam.com
Follow him on Instagram: @rajeshkonsam
REVIEW
Narration
Bittersweet is a piece of art, an art of storytelling
through stirring thoughts, authentic dialogues, songs and a creative plot. Apart
from that, Bittersweet is a work of contemporary fiction following the protagonist
Roshan, who is an artiste with excellent songwriting skills and limited vocal
talent. Bittersweet is narrated in first-person point of view and is narrated
by Roshan only. The book is divided into two parts preceded by epigraphs. The
writing style is really dope and complements the genre and overall theme. The
opening passage is awe-inspiring which makes you dive right into an artiste’s
bittersweet life.
Location and Setting
Bittersweet sets in Mumbai, that means opportunities. As for
any artist, it is not logical to holdback ideas and staying in comfort zone,
author Rajesh Konsam has taken a risk, developing a different theme, setting
which promotes English song composition in the country of Bollywood. But that
is not the issue here because we all love listening to them and for your better experience there are songs written by Roshan tainted with sorrow, heartbreak, and
some nourished by joy warmth and love. Each song holds a different story and
meaning, understanding which would take some time and I tried citing them
rhythmically until I got its meaning otherwise it made no sense to me.
Theme
The novel introduces you to such many characters who are
striving for their choice of career. A vocalist, a painter, an actress, a
composer and a songwriter. These artists are looking for opportunities to
showcase their talent and hope to succeed. Any type of art needs a source of strength
and confidence which come from love, appreciation, & acceptance and if
these sources are crashed it gets just gloomy, it may still be considered as a
craft but there remains no space for improvement thus these sources need to get
refilled time and again. This happens to the protagonist, he is still bound in
chains of heartbreak & anger from past five years and is not able to
forgive or forget. And before he can do any of that, his love of life returns
and that’s where story starts. Author Rajesh Konsam has titled each chapter very correctly
for example this first one ‘Beautiful Disaster’.
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| Order your copy now! |
Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/30GvVce
Plot
Roshan thinks he is the odd one out in every aspect of life
and why not? You’ll discover that in this novel. Besides he’s got this very cool
family (Mom and Dad), a boss like a sister (Sheryl) and a best friend Sunny.
Ragini (ex-girlfriend) is the reason for his devastating condition. And then
comes this girl (Shanaya) into his life who unlike Ragini respects and
appreciates his art and brings sunshine to Roshan’s life. Roshan also reunites
with his old friend Alston and they get along really well despite their past
disputes. The first half depicts how Shanaya helps Roshan emerging from the
dark and cold phase. The second part was totally unexpected, where you ride the
roller coaster and you don’t know where you will end up. There are all sorts of
twists and turns which I would crave for in any contemporary fiction, it just
created a magical reading experience. And finally, the story ends on good terms.
"You can't just get a free ticket to stardom. You have to earn it the hard way, sweat it out every single day, fall time and again, stand on your feet. dust the dirt off and keep moving until you succeed. You need to keep surviving, remind yourself every day that clinging on to hope is the only strategy because hope is all you have when everything else is lost."
My Views
Let’s start from the beginning, as I mentioned above, an
impressive opening is all you need to dive right into a book. It didn’t consume
any time to get along with the narrative, also it is straight forward. Author Rajesh Konsam has made Bittersweet very relatable. Characters are really strong and dialogues
on top of that help connecting us to them at such level that it brings you the same pain as them. I felt every bit of it. At first, I thought of it as an
average read but the second part gave characters and the book itself a new
life. There is not just the struggle one make as an artiste, they take almost
life-changing decisions. And that’s what you learn from this book and for me, there is nothing of more value than these lessons. Roshan didn’t give up and
Shanaya proved to be the best thing happened to his life. Not to forget, the
music aspect of the book, it is the heart of Bittersweet. There are musical
references from across the globe. There are experiences all related to music,
there are failures, and there is romance! Character arcs of Roshan and Shanaya
are way transformative, they grow together throughout the novel.
Closure! I loved how the book is filled with life and reality,
especially the second part. Shanaya and Sheryl are my favorites from
Bittersweet. The way they turn darkness into light every time they appear! The
novel is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness of the same amount, no more no less!
Stay Tuned!! We'll be back with an Author Interview very soon!
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