WRITTEN IN BLOOD

 : Written In Blood

 : Ankita

 : 160

 : #religiousfiction

 : /5

TW: Religion, socio-political conflicts

 Have you ever read a book that delves too much into religious politics without amole research? Well, there are overtly religious people and then there are people who just follow the religion they’re born into. As humans, when born, we follow our family’s religion and caste, we are bound to practice religious rituals, and so on. But when we begin to consider religion as our core existence, that my dear becomes a totally different issue altogether.

 This story is set predominantly in Kashmir and Delhi. It begins with the forced fleeing of Kashmiri pandits, where they had to abandon everything and flee for their lives. Sana, a Kashmiri, makes a life for herself as a reporter in Delhi. We are introduced to the two main characters — Shezi, a brilliant architecture student, and Aliya, daughter of celebrity reporter Sana.

The lives of Shezi and Aliya get entwined and we witness a multitude of religious and socio-political conflicts that affect them. The plot traverses between the past where Sana had undergone immense agony which affects Aliya’s life and the Tel-Aviv incident that traumatizes Shezi to their present scenario in their lives. The Indian armed forces get information of an upcoming terror attack by an international terror organization and a sense that the sleeper cells have been activated in India. Who really is Aliya? Can Shezi save Aliya from herself?

To be honest, I couldn’t bring myself to complete this book. I’m not a religious fanatic, but there were too many religious conflicts and terrorism mentioned that I couldn’t digest all the info. Though this is purely a work of fiction, I’m not sure how well this book sits with its readers. I might applaud the author for writing bravely on a sensitive topic, while I cannot confirm how much research has gone into writing this book!

If you’re looking for a good suspense thriller, without diving too much into its other aspects, I would suggest you give this a read!