I am Life | Shraddha Soni | Book Review

PLOT: 2/5
CHARACTERS: 2/5
WRITING STYLE: 2/5
CLIMAX: 2.5/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 1/5

For some people, it might have been the “it” book. But sadly, it was just not the case with me.

‘I am life’ by Shraddha Soni, starts on an interesting note at a New York street when Siddhartha, and his friend Andrea, are out on a fun night together.

The two are having fun together and their conversations seem like a gateway to an interesting story.

As the scene advances, the readers get acquainted with the fact that Siddhartha is anguished because of a painful separation from his wife, and after having lost his job too has no place to call home.

As Siddhartha’s troubles come to the forefront, the readers also discover that Siddhartha was once an aspiring pilot whose dreams were shattered because of his father’s firm stance about not giving any money towards his job’s security bond amount.

Hurt and wounded, Siddhartha flies to America where he meets Rhea. As fate would have it, Rhea soon discovers she is pregnant with Siddhartha’s child and he finds himself in a situation where he lands up accepting an uncalled for and unwelcome marriage for a want of job in Rhea’s fathers’ business.

A few years down the line, trapped in an unemotional marriage, Siddhartha is now a careless father, and an indifferent husband, but soon things change when Rhea announces her plans to divorce Siddhartha and dismiss him from her father’s business.

With hardly any money and nowhere to go, Siddhartha crashes at Andrea’s, who suggests he go to India to discover his inner peace in the pristine land of the Himalayas.

Siddhartha agrees and soon finds himself in Rishikesh, a land known for its spirituality and its picturesque landscape.

Migrating from one Ashram to another in search of his true existence, Siddhartha comes across a girl called Myhrra who helps and guides him in his quest for spiritual knowledge. The story goes on and ends with Siddhartha ultimately discovering the true meaning of his life.

While the theme is quite new, the plot of the book is too dull and slow to impress the readers. The story, in the end, seems nothing but preaching and teachings about the value of life, true meaning of spirituality and the importance of the need to discover oneself.

‘I am life’ was definitely a big no for me because it did not deliver anything which is expected of a decent novel.

The characters too were dull and insipid and reading about them was not interesting. The climax was the only thing which saved the book, for it came as a little surprise to me.

That being said, the book was a below-average read for me and I would surely not recommend it to my readers.

For those of you, who are interested in spirituality and have a thing for spiritual wisdom, ‘I am life’ book may prove its worth to you.