A Pinch of Lust

The first in a series of what I am presuming will be seven books, one each about various sins. The story revolves around the summer escapades of Sandhya who has recently turned eighteen and is exploring the world through Facebook, Whatsapp and Tinder! The plot revolves around sibling rivalry, inter generational gap, discord in the family, and yes the world of romance and sex! Much of the book is a description of her engagement with the boy next door and her first intimate experiences with him. The book ends, albeit abruptly, like and with the end of summer vacations.

The title of the book is also intriguing though it would leave you wondering if this is actually sinful to lust. Lust is also understood in a narrow sense of being restricted to sexuality and there is barely guilt experienced by the protagonist in being lustful or in lying to her parents.

In the ever growing line up of Indian writers in English, targeting the late teens and early adult population, Komarraju is refreshing in at least being grammatically correct and not bringing in unnecessary drama. The flow is smooth and it is a quick and easy read. Having said that, let me add, there is no story. You don’t have to wonder about what is happening next in the protagonist’s life because there is nothing that is going to happen and you know it from the start. So it isn’t the story that would make you want to read it. But teenagers may identify with her and enjoy the read. It is also suitable for beginning readers. And while it is a man’s somewhat cliched description of what a young girl might feel in moments of physical intimacy, not many parents would be happy about their sons and daughters reading it.

Every Book Has a Story
This book reached me through a promotional venture and I thought I am happy to read anything free. I thank Ashmeet and the author/publisher for such reading opportunities. However, I am not sure how much of free reading I am going to carry on with. This isn’t my reading genre and it is a bit irritating to read things you would rather not read. Having said that, I think it does help me to understand what my students are reading.