What do you think?
Rate this book


728 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2014
This book is Saad Sultan’s and his alone. Speaking of, helloooooo, Mr. Perfection:


It looks so much better in slow motion, tho. *sheepish face emoji*
So our Hero of Hearts and Dude of Damsels is a very restless and conflicted soul. He seeks answers about his past, about his mother and what happened to her but his ever so elusive and charming father has been avoiding these mysteries since forever. The father and son share a loving, yet tentative relationship where they’re always trying to outsmart each other in a battle of wits and double-meaning conversations. Saad changes appearances and wanders from place to place believing that one day he’ll discover the secrets his father is so determined to keep.
During one such sojourn of his, where he’s pretending to be a monkey trainer at a village festival, he comes across Mahnoor, a girl visiting the festival while staying at her chacha’s. They meet again and again and every time Mahnoor recognizes him in disguise. Saad comes clean and thus starts their friendship.
The use of Punjabi in this book is splendid. I loved reading Punjabi sentences and how beautiful and funny the conversations sounded. It’s a lot harder to read I’ll tell you that. The book is at its heart, a mystery book, but you don’t feel as if it’s a mystery book if you know what I mean? Like, you aren’t constantly taunted with the promise of things you don’t yet know. Yes, at times it becomes frustrating and you want all the answers but the book doesn’t make you restless to know everything at once. You’re able to let things unfold patiently while you enjoy it.

The mystery at the core of the book is a compelling one and it’s fascinating how all characters are related in one way or another. You don’t go, “oh, that guy is useless, he shouldn’t have been in the book.” They all have a purpose in the story and their existence does not feel forced.
Rabia bibi and Siraj Sarfaraz are two people who are extremely layered. From pity, loathing, sympathy to a mild likeability, I went through a lot of feelings regarding them. Then there was Sara Khan. I low-key shipped her with Saad and in all honesty, she had a lot more going on than Mahnoor. Saadia, likewise, was someone I couldn’t make up my mind about. These people were really complex and thought-through.
