A review by siobhanward
Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti

emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 It felt like this book was trying to do a lot of things but didn't succeed at any of them. For a book about death, there was no emotional punch - the characters were unlikeable and hard to relate to. It felt like there was next to no character development of any characters other than Dava. Until the last 50 pages or so when Dava tells her grandkids about their parents/aunts/uncles, I couldn't even tell the kids apart. And Dava's development doesn't do her any favours - if anything, the more I read about her, the less I liked her.

I'm also not sure why Ramisetti opted to set the book in 2044? I think more will change in the next 20 years that Ramisetti reflected since she writes 2044 as if it's 2022. Other than having the book not take place in the pandemic, I'm not sure what this achieved (and simply pushing the date back so that the book takes place pre-covid would not have changed anything about the story). If you're writing a book that takes place 20 years from now you need to be prepared to write as though it's the future and not the exact same as now... 
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