Book review - In Our Stories, We Live

11th Dec 2024

"In Our Stories, We Live" is Nikita Shah's second book, however seems to be way more promising than that. In this book, she takes her readers through the journey of Freya, who is in a love marriage but is not happy. She has two kids, writing is her solace and her only escape from the terrible reality. She comes across an online acquaintance, their relationship turns out to be more than "just friends."
After reading this book, there is an avalanche of questions that I am sinking in. How many daughters keep their marriage just because they are not financially independent? How many daughters keep making babies hoping that it may save their marriage? How many daughters tolerate violence and toxicity because they have been programmed to adjust and compromise? How many daughters live with a feeling that neither their parent's home nor their husband's home is a place they can call their own? How many daughters fear opening up and sharing their pain with their parents because they have been proven wrong and manipulated? How many daughters seek love outside their marriage because they got hooked on an emotionally unavailable partner? There are many more, but I will stop myself from this now.

The plot does flow very smoothly. There is an honesty in Nikita's writing that makes you feel like this is not fiction, you are easily convinced this may have happened for real. The scenes have been so aptly described that you feel the pain. In some incidents, the repetition of words does thin the gravity of the situation however it does not distract you from the whole plot. Occasional poems portray Freya's love for writing. The conversation between heart and mind reminded me of the Chika-Pika analogy from "Two Inches Taller" by Nandita Warrier. The climax is path-breaking and the way it happens is unexpected. Not everyone dares to do that and that's why hats off to Freya for choosing an inconvenient way. And let us not miss appreciating the cover! Only the ones who finish reading the book will understand it's essence, brilliantly done.

Below are a few statements that I found notable and hence I marked them up when I read the book:



1) I knew my thought was wrong, but I was programmed to feel guilty.

2) I knew I had told him half the truth but I also felt that there was no need to open up so much.

3) I prayed every night that I wouldn't wake up the next morning so that I don't have to kill myself.

4) He proved me a slut because I wrote about love, passion and relationships.

5) Is that really enough?

6) We never realize how much we have gotten deep into our own cocoon when we are in a toxic relationship.

7) People say a father is important, I agree a father is really important but a father who is present for his family is needed, present physically, mentally, and emotionally.

8) The feeling of homelessness is the worst in the world.

9) Sometimes one avoids facing the truth because the truth is so dark and painful.

10) I have come to a point where I will have to stand up and choose a better life for my children and also my self-respect.

This book stands true to it's virtues mentioned in the blurb: A Journey Through Love, Loss, and Resilience.

This book review is a part of Blogchatter #TBRchallenge