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A review by maralyons
Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti
5.0
Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti is about an Indian-American billionaire matriarch on the cusp of death. She invites her adult children and their families for a gathering on her own remote private island. News of her death reaches the media right before she plans to end her life due to a terminal diagnosis. Unbeknownst to her family, they are gathering for her final days. Dava made her money by selling a music platform and has devoted her life to her foundation. She was married to a Swedish man who died two decades prior and had four children with.
We meet each of the Shastri-Persson siblings in a different phase of their life, struggling with their own relationships and now the looming end of their mother's life. Family secrets are revealed and we learn more about Dava and the sometimes complicated way she lives her life. She can be controlling and narcissistic, but she was also fascinating and inspiring in her ambition. We learn about her life, while she ponders her past, marriage, children, death, and her larger influence. It's curious to see how her privileged adult children are seemingly immune to the hazards of a precarious outside world in 2045 when the story is set. I loved seeing how family relationships developed in the short amount of time spent on the island. Music provides a textured backdrop to the events of Dava's lives and a playlist would be a perfect accompaniment to this book. This was my favorite part of the book. I listened to the audiobook which is wonderfully narrated by Soneela Nankani. Overall, a very readable and interesting multi-layered family story.
Thank you Hachette Audio and NetGalley for providing this ARC.
We meet each of the Shastri-Persson siblings in a different phase of their life, struggling with their own relationships and now the looming end of their mother's life. Family secrets are revealed and we learn more about Dava and the sometimes complicated way she lives her life. She can be controlling and narcissistic, but she was also fascinating and inspiring in her ambition. We learn about her life, while she ponders her past, marriage, children, death, and her larger influence. It's curious to see how her privileged adult children are seemingly immune to the hazards of a precarious outside world in 2045 when the story is set. I loved seeing how family relationships developed in the short amount of time spent on the island. Music provides a textured backdrop to the events of Dava's lives and a playlist would be a perfect accompaniment to this book. This was my favorite part of the book. I listened to the audiobook which is wonderfully narrated by Soneela Nankani. Overall, a very readable and interesting multi-layered family story.
Thank you Hachette Audio and NetGalley for providing this ARC.