Reviews - Dava Shastri's Last Day

775 reviews for:

Dava Shastri's Last Day

Kirthana Ramisetti

3.53 AVERAGE

meghanrherold's review against another edition

2.5

reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

knicho13's review against another edition

I mean they kind of buried the lede

mel_084's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

pianorunner421's review against another edition

3.0

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

outofoffice_reading's review against another edition

4.0

I struggle with my review of Dava Shastri’s Last Day, if I could give half stars it would be 3.5, but leaning on the higher end of the scale.

There is no major storyline throughout this book, the books itself it’s mostly about the personal development of each family member as they grapple with the impending death of their mother and past secrets are revealed.

At times I found the pace slow, but it is a beautifully written novel and I’ve saved countless quotes from it.

I found it interesting to see how the 4 siblings had differing relationships and opinions of their amma and how they all struggled to reconcile their childhoods. I found I resonated with Sita and Arvie the most, the older children who were both disillusioned by their upbringing but dealt with it in entirely different ways. A quote from Sita sat with me heavily “she wished their relationship could exist outside of her mothers ambition”, and that was ultimately my problem with this book, I hated the protagonist.

Dava Shastri was a complex and deeply flawed character, I applaud the author for taking such an approach, I am sure some people will have felt empathy or awe for Dava, but I found her self-serving, arrogant and conceited.

While I badly wanted to applaud such a strong female business woman, I couldn’t put aside the impact her ambition had on her family. All of her regrets in life seemed to come back to her public legacy, the words that meant the most to her in her final hours were praise about her work. She seemed to realise she failed her family but I don’t think she cared.

As much as I’m grappling with how I feel, I think this is a book that will stay with me for a long time.