The Beauty Of The Moment by Tanaz Bhathena
Book – The Beauty Of The Moment
Author – Tanaz Bhathena
Publisher – Penguin India
No. of pages – 360
Genre – Young Adult
Stars – 3.75/5
About the book –
Susan is the new girl-she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy-he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since.
Susan’s parents are on the verge of divorce. Malcolm’s dad is a known adulterer. Susan hasn’t told anyone, but she wants to be an artist. Malcolm doesn’t know what he wants-until he meets her.
Love is messy and families are messier, but in spite of their burdens, Susan and Malcolm fall for each other. The ways they drift apart and come back together are the picture of being true to oneself.
Review –
This is a story about a girl who had to move from Saudi Arabia to Canada where she has to start everything from the scratch.
And Malcolm who studies in the same high school is fighting his own emotions, past memories and his reputation along with his supportive sister who always has his back when things go down.
The chapters are arranged and written in alternative order with Susan and Malcolm’s point of view. The book gave me a world to live in. The character development is brilliant and very realistic. I loved how the character of Susan of how she evolves and speaks up for herself while she was still adjusting in the new place.
The book talks about teen-love, family relationships, family drama, friendships, high school parties and disasters with a question of what does the future hold for us. The romance and the feeling of love has been narrated in such a simple and beautiful way that it made my heart beat slow.
The plots and parts where Indian culture was being discussed gave me a sense of familiarity which made my heart happy. I really appreciate how Tanaz Bhathena took the opportunity to mention about Syrian Refugees in the book as a human/social cause.
Overall, this is a very light and a quick read. The story is fast paced which will make you laugh by witty dialogues and cry during the emotional and heart touching scenes. The side characters too are perfectly portrayed. Though the end of the book kind of disappointed me. It was not so predictable but after reading the entire book full of happenings, may be I expected a better closure than what it was.
However, I would recommend this book to every YA lover and also to people who are not much into reading but are wanting to start. The book made me feel calm and relaxed. And of course, it does give a beautiful message to live and acknowledge the beauty of the moment.
You can buy the book from here.
