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Book Review: The Deliberate Sinner

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Title: The Deliberate Sinner
Author: Bhaavna Arora
Publisher: Srishti Publishers
Genre: Fiction/ Drama
Price: Rs 120
Pages: 165

"Is there an acid test to gauge the success of a relationship? Is it right to carry on in an unhealthy relationship with no conjugal bliss, or look for an alternate path?" These are the questions this book raises.

I received an autographed copy of the book for my review which said "Hate the sin, not the sinner". I disagreed right there. Shouldn't the sinner be blamed for committing the sin? I then looked forward to read the book.

This story revolves around three main protagonists. Rihana, her husband Veer and her best friend Raj. Rihana is the spoilt and pampered only daughter of a rich business man. On a trip to Thailand alone, she meet Veer on the plane and befriends him. He on the other hand, has ideas of his own. Once back from the trip, he tries to woo her and finally succeeds by swimming hundred laps in one go. His parents meet hers and soon they are engaged. But Rihana is not sure if this is exactly what she wants. In a moment of confusion she ends up sleeping with her best friend Raj, who like all the other stories and all the bollywood movies is madly in love with her. After that encounter, Rihana realizes that she is in love with Raj and not Veer and decides to elope with him. But her friend dearest develops cold feet and leaves her in the lurch. So, she has no other choice but to marry Veer.

Soon after marriage, troubles in their paradise start. Veer is a sexually active person, who only cares about himself and his orgasms. Rihana on the other hand does not orgasm the normal way and needs foreplay to get there. Veer doesn't understand that but tries nevertheless, giving her just three orgasms in three months. Rihana proudly shares this news with her aunt. No kidding. So Rihana is deprived of conjugal bliss and Veer soon turns into an alcoholic who is extremely insecure about his wife. Rihana is struggling to live with him, but yet her parents and in-laws urge her to do so. Being the perfect daughter that she always was, she continues to live with him, until she finds out that he has been having an affair with a girl he met on Facebook. What happens next? Does she get back with Raj? Does she forgive Veer?

The Deliberate Sinner has a wonderful cover that screams for attention and gets it. The story raises some important questions, but slowly the steam dies down. It points a finger at the male dominated society, but not in a right way. The protagonist, Rihana, disappointed me to no end. She is supposed to be highly educated, a passionate swimmer and independent. Yet she succumbs easily when caught in the shackles of society. She does fight for herself, only in the last few chapters of the book. I did not understand why she went back to Veer after finding out about his affair. And why she decided to stay even after he rapes her one night. That issue is not spoken about at all in the book. If it was just because of her parents and society, then she should not have left him at all in the first place. 

Raj was an important character in the first half, but soon disappears only to come back later to disappoint. Rihana continues to stay confused, Veer continues to dominate and her parents continue to force her to stay with her husband. At one point of time I felt that I was watching an Ekta Kapoor serial, instead of reading a book. The book tries to incorporate other emotions as well, like the death of a pet, an ill father-in-law and a humorous take on dark skin. But all of it falls flat on the weak story line. Then ending of the book is what disappoints the most. If she wanted Veer to catch her in bed with another man, just so that he understands what she felt, she could have slept with Raj again. Or should have told Veer about their one night stand that happened when she was engaged to him. But instead she decides on staging a act with a random friend of hers who conveniently agrees to be a part of this mindless drama. Why the book gets its title is explained in the last line of the story and it made no sense to me at all.

Now coming to the sex part of the book, the sex scenes are written pretty well when compared to 'Sita's Curse'. But descriptions like elephantine hardness was out rightly hilarious. A certain kind of class is required while talking about sex. I am not expecting a Harold Robbins kinda description, but atleast some kind of finesse. Sadly, this book does not have it. The book tries to cover a whole lot of emotions and questions at one go, but ends up feeling too rushed. Thankfully it did not take too much of my time, because it is a small book and I finished it in two hours.


Verdict: Tired of watching soaps on TV? Then pick this up.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Comments

  1. I AM SORRY BUT ELEPHANTINE HARDNESS? WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN.
    Yes in Caps Lock.

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  2. Looks like people think if a book contains enough references and descriptions revolving about sex, it's enough to get the book going. Sadly, we all don't go by that :D

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  3. Lol at 'elephantine hardness'. I wouldn't want that!! :P This is what disappoints me about so many Indian books --- they start out promising you the woman is going to be rebellious and stand up against patriarchy but somehow, they always disappoint. They always eventually give in and 'settle'. Even if raped apparently.

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    1. I agree a 100%. Its really sad.

      Like a friend of mine once told, "Indian authors make you feel like anyone can become a author."

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    2. sometimes I feel it's a good thing for me :p When they can become even I can become :D :D :D

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    3. Hahaha, you sure that's why you want to become one? ;)

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  4. What I like most about the way you write reviews is you don't care to sugar coat your words. What we see is what we get. And that is one thing which makes you stand out from the crowd. There are so many books which are coming out, of poor quality. When I saw the title and the cover, it looked interesting enough. But I think I'll pass after reading your review!

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  5. I wish I had read this sooner. I wasted three hours of my life and I am thoroughly disappointed with Goodreads for giving this a 3 rating.

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    Replies
    1. 3 rating for thoroughly disappointed?? You're very kind :P

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  6. The blurb looked interesting. But then your views say otherwise. I am going to skip this book. And you finished it in two hours?? Wow !!!

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    Replies
    1. Its really a small book. You can finish it too, but do not waste those two hours!

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  7. For God's sake, don't give away the plot of the book while reviewing it.

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  8. May be you should also wish for some writing skills too :P

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    Replies
    1. Envious sloths like you make me feel more than awesome about my writing skills. However it is, if it hits the right spot of people like you, I know it sure is worth it!

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  9. Imagine if you wrote a suspense novel, and someone else gave away its ending in his/her blog. Admittedly, with your writing skills, your novel will probably be worse than the book you just reviewed, but such mediocrity shouldn't be an excuse for giving away spoilers.

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    Replies
    1. However worse it is, I'm sure you will be picking it up. For the very same reason you keep coming here, even when you know that your worth here is less than the price of the bull shit you spoke about. Be a man, grow some balls and leave your name along with a pic here. If you are sure of your ugliness, then a name will do. Its very easy to hide under the tag of anonymity and spew venom. To do it in the open, takes a lot of guts which I'm sure you haven't heard about. Try this: www.google.com. Learn about it and come back.

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  10. Till now I loved elephants, but now I love them even more :D
    Elephantine hardness it seems :D How can we even think of that in the context of sex.... I mean its really funny :P
    I guess I should get this book for a bit of humour as well :D

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