Book Review – A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

There are many things that one likes about reading. There are some things one loves about the habit. Ask any reader and you will find enough to actually fill out a book. But for sure there will be one or two that will be recurring in every list – the world that a book creates, the emotions it makes the reader feel and finally the feelings that the book leaves you with. Mind, not all books can trigger strong emotions and not every reader feels the same way about a book.

A Girl Like That, surprisingly a debut novel, made me want swing cricket bats (at that Rizvi’s head of course), curl up and cry, and eventually left me with the fuzzy feeling of confused euphoria. From the blurb, one figures it to be a tale of a girl who is a troublemaker. I figured that the story would be about how she dies and then everyone thinks of her and discusses her story from their point of view. But no, that wasn’t all. It was way more complex. The hows and whys and the whatfors are swirling colours in Tanaz Bhathena‘s book, quite like a kaleidoscope on a giant screen.

Zarin is a teenager, an orphan growing up with her aunt and uncle. Her aunt still holds a grudge against her sister, Zarin’s mother and is abusive towards her niece. Zarin’s uncle occasionally, for the lack of a better word, steps in to help stop the madness. Zarin is who she is – a girl on a search. She searches for acceptance and love. She is bullied and gossiped about at school, scolded and pushed around at home. There was a point the book where Zarin sees a bruise on her teacher’s skin and wants to acknowledge that they are kindred spirits. It makes you want to reach out and give her a hug, she a girl who has probably not had a hug since her mother died. Then there is Porus, a little boy who was taught how to love and knows nothing but to share love and smiles. He grows up to be the same as well. He is the one person who reached out to Zarin, not with words but with a secret smile and wave that was cherished for ages, unchanged through the trials of life.

I knew Zarin and Porus die. But Tanaz Bhathena was rather wicked in killing them off at the beginning of the book and then bringing them back to life through the course of it. And then poof! Their death comes with a lighting jolt to the heart. Every time her words manage to soothe a burn & mend a break, one turns a page and there is heartbreak all over again. I was eventually left with an overwhelming urge to cry for Zarin and Porus. There were times when their relationship was warm and fuzzy. Just thinking about it brings a smile and then the same makes me want to weep. I can’t complain about this since a book that moves its reader is a good book. Very like fried ice-cream – it’s fried, it’s ice cream, it’s hot and it’s cold. It is confusing, but it’s good!

Bhathena has managed to include any number of issues like drugs, rape culture, abuse, neglect, mental health, racism, gender bias etc in the book. The issues by themselves are mightily written. They give us an insight into the two sides of the same coin. A Girl Like That shows us a world where girls acknowledge their worth or worthlessness as decided by the society they live in. It also shows us a world where despite all odds Mishal sets off to make her way out of the chains that hold her down. Most of all, it shows us a world eerily similar to one we inhabit or have inhabited. Where school meant being bullied, teachers turning a blind eye, complacent parents. And should one be of an age of sexual awakening then there is the constant abrading and irrespective of your sexual orientation there will be taunts and tantrums, dares and condemnations from all quarters.

Honestly, this was a great read. Fast-paced and packed with a punch, I finished it over a weekend. Highly recommend, pick it up for the writing if not for anything else.

You can find a copy of A Girl Like That here – Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo.

Goodreads

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

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