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| Book Cover via Amazon.com |
Opinion
Full disclosure, Eva contacted me for an honest review, and I couldn’t have been more honored. No joke guys, Eva is a big deal in my little circle of the world, or so I’m seeing. I had heard about her book a few times on Goodreads recommends, and some of the other folks I know have read this book. So for her to ask me to read, and review this book, well I was truly humbled. However, that doesn’t change the fact that this is an honest review and I’m going to give my real opinion. She asked me for such, and I will not disappoint.
Oh, but what an opinion. This book initially lost me, before I realized I had to read it differently than I have to read traditional romances. This isn’t a book about flutters, or deep feelings of desire, or lustily thoughts. This isn’t a Fabio cover romance; this is so different. I’m not going to say better or worse either; I’m going to say different. I like both types of romance, this type, and the other type have their place. Structurally, if you are expecting a romance that does something at the 15% mark, and another thing by 25% in, etc., well throw that out of the window. This book is beyond any expectations when it comes to conventional romance story structure, and as a reader, it’s a better experience to have such things subverted. I am a big fan of having subverted expectations when they are subverted beautifully and done with precision.
"Keep Ithika Always in your Mind" is written in a first-person narrative. The choice of this narrative for the story takes the reader on a sway of circles of thoughts, feelings, emotions and some randomness. The central story plot circles back and forth, woven like a thread in a pattern that is a complicated tapestry of a story. Yes, that’s a mouthful of a metaphor, but it fits this book. Once I realized that I had to read this book differently, I started it over and was captivated.
I am a science geek in a way, but I am also spiritual in my ways as well. To have a book that stimulates mind, spirit, and logic, while weaving romance in and out of it, is beautiful to me. You have to have a certain kind of thinking to understand this novel; I’m not going to lie. You have to think into it thoroughly to truly appreciate the subtle bits and pieces that are fused through it.
Now for some critiques, and these first two falls under my “Lost in Translation” category of my scoring system. Initially, I had to start over on the book because I didn’t realize what I was walking in on. I am bringing it up in case someone jumps into this thinking they are getting a typical romance. Moreover, yes, before you say “Wow that’s hypocritical considering what you said about it earlier” understand that the surprise is the critique, not the structure. Do not walk in the door thinking you will appreciate the structure of this book. In the book, there is a long discussion about the myth of Daedalus and the Labyrinth, and I believe that was the point in the structure.
My next critique, I had to do my fair share of remembering and referencing historical or mythological things, such as Daedalus. Some stuff I get, like the parallel dimensional stuff, string theory, black holes and some of the myths. However, other references I had to look up to stay on the same wavelengths. That’s not a bad thing, I get curious and want to look stuff up if I’m not familiar with it or need a refresher. The good thing about this story, you can even bring up Google Maps and see what places are being described. That helped me a lot with figuring out where she was referring.
Next, this one is odd. For most of the book, lines and the formatting is very consistent. The margins are justified from what it looks like, and the narrative is written in the same constant way. Moreover, some of the book is written with triple spacing between lines, and other times not. These are generally differentiations between monologue and narrative, but it’s rare because so rarely does it pop out of the monologue. Just be aware of it.
Allow me to rave about some positive notes about “Keep Ithika Always in your mind”. The love plot of this story builds so beautifully and flows in its crescendo to the end. If this were spicy food, this would be that back of the throat burn that creeps up on you kind of build up. I love that kind of build up. It’s good heat, it gets your heart pounding, and you become invested in the plot-line more and more as things are revealed. The beauty, tragedy, and fate that is slowly brought up did a lot to my emotions. It’s poetic in a way, without becoming a poem.
The other beautiful thing about the story, it has a full beginning, middle and ending, even though it’s woven in a tapestry of words. This is a beautiful tale. I honestly would love to see this as a movie. If they could do it with “The Notebook” or, as a monologue-heavy book such as “Fight Club” worked in a film, they can make a movie of this. I wish that someone would consider it.
Score
Ah, but how does one score an expectation subverting romance, that weaves a plot between string theory and myths? I’m giving this beautiful story a 91/100. Such a score makes it a 5-Star review on Goodreads and Amazon.
If you have an afternoon in the cold winter, a good cup of strong Greek styled coffee, read this book. Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to see what I can do to budget me a briki coffee pot!
