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The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories
A classical musician finds a prince in a chat room. Three dancers in Kochi mastermind their sex lives over email. A young wife in Mumbai becomes obsessed with a dead woman’s online relics. Strange (and familiar) troll wars drag at a writer’s peace of mind. Her daughter’s cellphone conversations deeply worry a cook in Delhi. A young mother finds a job monitoring disturbing content for a social media company.
The stories in this dazzling debut collection tap into the rich vein of love, violence and intimacy that technology, particularly the Internet, has brought to the lives of Indians over the last two decades. Two decades that transformed India’s digital landscape, where would-be lovers went from cooing into cordless phones to swiping right on cellphones.
Whimsical in its telling and brutal in its probing of the human mind, these stories breathe unexpected life into the dark and joyful corners of a country learning to relish and resist globalisation.
The stories in this dazzling debut collection tap into the rich vein of love, violence and intimacy that technology, particularly the Internet, has brought to the lives of Indians over the last two decades. Two decades that transformed India’s digital landscape, where would-be lovers went from cooing into cordless phones to swiping right on cellphones.
Whimsical in its telling and brutal in its probing of the human mind, these stories breathe unexpected life into the dark and joyful corners of a country learning to relish and resist globalisation.
217 pages, Hardcover
Published August 10, 2020
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1198 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
March 11, 2024
DNF @ story 3.
None of the stories up until this point have impressed me, and this felt really surreal.
The women who forgot to invent Facebook :- 1 star
-Oh my god, what choppy writing! I read the first story which is the the title story. I'm literally questioning if I should keep going with this.
Trinity :- 3 star
-Wow, that really hit you in the gut. In comparison to the previous story, it was good and provided me with some insightful information.
Teresa :- 2.5 star
-These are relatively simple stories with little to interest the reader. In terms of writing, they do quite well, but nothing else.
None of the stories up until this point have impressed me, and this felt really surreal.
The women who forgot to invent Facebook :- 1 star
-Oh my god, what choppy writing! I read the first story which is the the title story. I'm literally questioning if I should keep going with this.
Trinity :- 3 star
-Wow, that really hit you in the gut. In comparison to the previous story, it was good and provided me with some insightful information.
Teresa :- 2.5 star
-These are relatively simple stories with little to interest the reader. In terms of writing, they do quite well, but nothing else.
October 19, 2020
Really enjoyed these stories. Original, contemporary and badass.
The title story The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook is about casual hook ups and a map of sexual partners. Two personal favourites in the collection are Teresa—a second wife discovers her husband’s first wife’s secret blogs and try to understand her (inspired by Rebecca) and The Trinity—three fun loving women who dance, flirt with IIT boys and make eyes roll with fashionable (and sleeveless) blouses from Cochin’s best tailor Blouse Mohan (best because of his designs; but also the secret to his perfect measurements is that he ‘looks’ at your chest without measuring with a tape but at the end of the story they might not be as bold as they seem at first). I should add here that I did raise my eyebrows slightly ‘really?’ on first read because the geeky IIT girls mentioned in the story is a popular stereotype and I disagree. But on further thinking, if I read it as an opinion of the three high-headed women from Cochin in the story, it kind of makes sense. Another story I loved—How Andrew Wylie Broke my Heart—begins with the heroine Dakshayini thinking that her friend Anita—a rum-and-coke drinking maniac who swears like a Telugu cowboy—who was a competition 'was really out of the market' after her 'strange, bloody, marriage' and babies. Later Dakshayani is involved in a sex chat with a literary agent and things go wrong. The unreliability and open ending was just perfect.
Some stories, as is common in collections, fail to make an impact. Snarky, witty, entertaining.
Much thanks to Westland for an e- copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
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The title story The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook is about casual hook ups and a map of sexual partners. Two personal favourites in the collection are Teresa—a second wife discovers her husband’s first wife’s secret blogs and try to understand her (inspired by Rebecca) and The Trinity—three fun loving women who dance, flirt with IIT boys and make eyes roll with fashionable (and sleeveless) blouses from Cochin’s best tailor Blouse Mohan (best because of his designs; but also the secret to his perfect measurements is that he ‘looks’ at your chest without measuring with a tape but at the end of the story they might not be as bold as they seem at first). I should add here that I did raise my eyebrows slightly ‘really?’ on first read because the geeky IIT girls mentioned in the story is a popular stereotype and I disagree. But on further thinking, if I read it as an opinion of the three high-headed women from Cochin in the story, it kind of makes sense. Another story I loved—How Andrew Wylie Broke my Heart—begins with the heroine Dakshayini thinking that her friend Anita—a rum-and-coke drinking maniac who swears like a Telugu cowboy—who was a competition 'was really out of the market' after her 'strange, bloody, marriage' and babies. Later Dakshayani is involved in a sex chat with a literary agent and things go wrong. The unreliability and open ending was just perfect.
Some stories, as is common in collections, fail to make an impact. Snarky, witty, entertaining.
Much thanks to Westland for an e- copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
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January 1, 2021
Short story collections are usually a mixed bag - there are usually a couple of good stories, many average ones and some stories whose only function is to act as fillers. I had high hopes of this collection though, because the reviews I'd read were so good. Unfortunately, the reviewers seem to have written based more on Nisha Susan's potential as a writer rather than the stories themselves.
The thing is, Susan has a great writing 'voice' - she's funny, she's able to draw you into the world she wants to show you, she really makes you care. What I felt most of the stories lacked was a plot - whether it's the title story (I really had second thoughts about continuing with the collection after reading it) or Teresa (a spin on Rebecca, which fizzles out halfway through) or Triangle which wasn't even a story really. In most cases, she is able to get us involved in some really interesting characters, but then she doesn't seem to quite know what to do with them.
I liked the stories that do have some semblance of plot going on (in order of how much I liked them):
- Missed Call, about a mother who is worried about her daughter
- No Filter - a man is still obsessed with his ex
- The Trinity about three Malayali college girls who create a ripple wherever they go and what happens to them (I realized as I was reading it that I had read it before somewhere online - one bit about women who pack their husbands' suitcases is something I've kept remembering over the years)
Another story that left me wanting to know more was All Girls Together about a woman who is back after a childcare break and is staffed on a top-secret project where she and her all-women team have to look at pics of naked women all day so as to develop an AI anti-revenge-porn app - great set-up, but nothing really happens in the end.
So yeah - this is a collection that could have been really great, but leaves the reader feeling dissatisfied.
The thing is, Susan has a great writing 'voice' - she's funny, she's able to draw you into the world she wants to show you, she really makes you care. What I felt most of the stories lacked was a plot - whether it's the title story (I really had second thoughts about continuing with the collection after reading it) or Teresa (a spin on Rebecca, which fizzles out halfway through) or Triangle which wasn't even a story really. In most cases, she is able to get us involved in some really interesting characters, but then she doesn't seem to quite know what to do with them.
I liked the stories that do have some semblance of plot going on (in order of how much I liked them):
- Missed Call, about a mother who is worried about her daughter
- No Filter - a man is still obsessed with his ex
- The Trinity about three Malayali college girls who create a ripple wherever they go and what happens to them (I realized as I was reading it that I had read it before somewhere online - one bit about women who pack their husbands' suitcases is something I've kept remembering over the years)
Another story that left me wanting to know more was All Girls Together about a woman who is back after a childcare break and is staffed on a top-secret project where she and her all-women team have to look at pics of naked women all day so as to develop an AI anti-revenge-porn app - great set-up, but nothing really happens in the end.
So yeah - this is a collection that could have been really great, but leaves the reader feeling dissatisfied.
December 20, 2020
4.5*
Oh, what an absolute delight of a book! I will never stop rooting for women telling women's stories. As a reader, I experience an inexplicable joy when this is done well. Bonus points if as an Indian woman, I relate to the book. The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories does not disappoint on both these fronts!
I will not go much into the stories, even though I really want to. Because I feel like my thoughts and descriptions of the characters and their actions may be a little spoiler-y. The book has 12 stories that take place in various parts of India. There is Bangalore (majority), Bombay, Delhi, and Cochin! Most of the stories have a woman protagonist/narrator, and even the ones that don't, there are strong women characters.
I mean it with the greatest compliments when I say that it is apparent that this book is written by an Indian. It is a book set in India, written by a person who has actually lived here and gets it. I love how it does not even pretend to pander to the taste of a non-Indian reader. Having said that, I don't mean that non-Indians will not enjoy it. They should because it is a charmingly witty book! What I mean to say is that the book has not compromised on any of the Indian-ness of the characters or the setting to make it more appealing to an international audience. I really, really admire when an author delivers something exactly palatable to their primary audience. And this book nailed it.
I loved how the stories are subtly woven around technology, particularly the change that the internet has brought to Indian lives in the last two decades. I may sound repetitive with this one, but gosh, it is so obvious that a woman created these characters. I do not have a better way to explain it, maybe you will have to read the book to understand it? Special mention to "Workout of the Day" because the author understood my everyday angst just so well! I also appreciate the hidden symbolism in the titles, or was it me just over-analysing it?
Oh, what an absolute delight of a book! I will never stop rooting for women telling women's stories. As a reader, I experience an inexplicable joy when this is done well. Bonus points if as an Indian woman, I relate to the book. The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories does not disappoint on both these fronts!
I will not go much into the stories, even though I really want to. Because I feel like my thoughts and descriptions of the characters and their actions may be a little spoiler-y. The book has 12 stories that take place in various parts of India. There is Bangalore (majority), Bombay, Delhi, and Cochin! Most of the stories have a woman protagonist/narrator, and even the ones that don't, there are strong women characters.
I mean it with the greatest compliments when I say that it is apparent that this book is written by an Indian. It is a book set in India, written by a person who has actually lived here and gets it. I love how it does not even pretend to pander to the taste of a non-Indian reader. Having said that, I don't mean that non-Indians will not enjoy it. They should because it is a charmingly witty book! What I mean to say is that the book has not compromised on any of the Indian-ness of the characters or the setting to make it more appealing to an international audience. I really, really admire when an author delivers something exactly palatable to their primary audience. And this book nailed it.
I loved how the stories are subtly woven around technology, particularly the change that the internet has brought to Indian lives in the last two decades. I may sound repetitive with this one, but gosh, it is so obvious that a woman created these characters. I do not have a better way to explain it, maybe you will have to read the book to understand it? Special mention to "Workout of the Day" because the author understood my everyday angst just so well! I also appreciate the hidden symbolism in the titles, or was it me just over-analysing it?
August 12, 2020
Nisha Susan’s The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories is quite an eclectic range of short stories that have one thing in common: how technology and the lives of Indians are playing out amidst the vagaries of the daily grind of life, relationships or what looks like relationships, career graphs, social and political issues, the push and pull of work spaces and so on.
Each story brings its share of characters and situations that finds its way to your heart: their oddities or familiarity, the crazy tangents that a human mind can take on while aided and equally constrained by technology. Apart from technology, the theme around which the stories are centered, the writing itself is very contemporary - in the word play that her characters converse in and yet, she does not restrict her characters and settings to one socio economic class or one generation.
The female characters in every story in this book will find a way to your mind:there is something about each one of them that will leave you thinking. This is the kind of book I would recommend to fellow readers so I could discuss more about them. There is much that the stories and the characters will leave you with and I have a tough time admitting which one is my favourite from this collection. Read this and you will be enthralled for sure.
Each story brings its share of characters and situations that finds its way to your heart: their oddities or familiarity, the crazy tangents that a human mind can take on while aided and equally constrained by technology. Apart from technology, the theme around which the stories are centered, the writing itself is very contemporary - in the word play that her characters converse in and yet, she does not restrict her characters and settings to one socio economic class or one generation.
The female characters in every story in this book will find a way to your mind:there is something about each one of them that will leave you thinking. This is the kind of book I would recommend to fellow readers so I could discuss more about them. There is much that the stories and the characters will leave you with and I have a tough time admitting which one is my favourite from this collection. Read this and you will be enthralled for sure.
June 15, 2021
Rating:2.8 - Because I don't want to rate it a full 3, but don't want to rate it as less as 2.
God. Such an elitist, inaccessible collection of short stories where none of the narratives made me feel I lived in the same country as the characters. Reminded me of certain people I met during my master's and bachelor's that made me wonder if I was living under a rock.
God. Such an elitist, inaccessible collection of short stories where none of the narratives made me feel I lived in the same country as the characters. Reminded me of certain people I met during my master's and bachelor's that made me wonder if I was living under a rock.
January 30, 2021
Such a surreal read!
The book contains a set of short stories that are set in the time period from early 2000s to somewhat about 2011 which are about the tabooed lives of various people across India. Love Nisha Susan and her writing!
My favorites were -
No Filter
Missed Call
How Andrew Wylie Broke My heart
The book contains a set of short stories that are set in the time period from early 2000s to somewhat about 2011 which are about the tabooed lives of various people across India. Love Nisha Susan and her writing!
My favorites were -
No Filter
Missed Call
How Andrew Wylie Broke My heart
May 16, 2021
3.5 stars
I have mixed feelings towards this anthology– on one hand, the stories in this collection are refreshingly original, crisscrossing themes of fidelity, cultural shackles, technology, morality and self-identity; on the other hand, some didn't quite cut it for me, it was too abstract for my liking. But I guess there were bound to be hits and misses.
All in all, a really different and bold attempt at fiction writing which I appreciate to the fullest.
My personal favourites: Missed Call, Workout of The Day, How Andrew Wylie Broke my Heart, All Girls Together, The Trinity
I have mixed feelings towards this anthology– on one hand, the stories in this collection are refreshingly original, crisscrossing themes of fidelity, cultural shackles, technology, morality and self-identity; on the other hand, some didn't quite cut it for me, it was too abstract for my liking. But I guess there were bound to be hits and misses.
All in all, a really different and bold attempt at fiction writing which I appreciate to the fullest.
My personal favourites: Missed Call, Workout of The Day, How Andrew Wylie Broke my Heart, All Girls Together, The Trinity
July 7, 2021
2.5 stars
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June 19, 2021Nope
Read
May 8, 2021A small book with 12 short stories. The cover page art is stunning, which encourages you to pick up the book. Most of the characters belong to urban elite class with Kerala origin. Various professional fields like journalism, advertisement, IT have been considered as the backdrop for these stories. I liked 3 stories - "Missed Call", the title story, "The trinity". The story "Missed Call" is a brilliant one. Author brings the complex challenges faced by a widow from her teenage sons and daughter. This specific story has a premise which is very different from rest of the stories. The poverty, relationship crisis, sexual harassment, sibling rivalry, health - various challenges have been highlighted in this story. The story ends in a very subtle way.
"The Trinity" is very cute and deals with 3 innocent girls and their exploration of life. The tile story is enjoyable for its carefree, jolly young characters.
Author has eclectic life experiences and candidly tries to portrait it. However, I felt author lacks the focus in many stories, which results in breaking the narration continuity. Story starts drifting aimlessly.
"The Trinity" is very cute and deals with 3 innocent girls and their exploration of life. The tile story is enjoyable for its carefree, jolly young characters.
Author has eclectic life experiences and candidly tries to portrait it. However, I felt author lacks the focus in many stories, which results in breaking the narration continuity. Story starts drifting aimlessly.
August 19, 2020
It is delightful to have a really Indian English register for telling stories that feels contemporary. And that sly fun at enjoying the Indian Englishness of it all, which seems to be an Indian English condition.
I love the real playful form of the stories, and affection Nisha has for the worlds she writes.
I love the real playful form of the stories, and affection Nisha has for the worlds she writes.
January 7, 2021
Started my year with Nisha Susan’s book of short stories titled ‘The Woman Who Forgot To Invent Facebook and Other Stories’. As the book’s inner jacket says, “The stories in this dazzling debut collection tap into the rich vein of love, violence and intimacy that technology, particularly the Internet, has brought into the lives of Indians over the last two decades”.
While all 12 are written extremely well written, a few standout ones for me are The Trinity (about three college-going dancers from Kochi), No Filter (an extramarital affair gone.. crazy) Missed Call (an injured cook in Delhi worries about her daughter’s behaviour) & How Andrew Wylie Broke My Heart (invoking a dating site for intelligent people).
The author has a wonderfully contemporary style of writing that is easy to read but is far from being too simplistic or stilted. She captures facets of everyday life with so much ease - and I really enjoyed the occasional Bangalore references in one or two stories.
If you’re looking to start your year with some fiction that is thought provoking yet not too overwhelming, I would totally recommend this. I treated it like dessert in a sense that I was supposed to portion out a piece or two over many days but ended up binge gobbling the whole thing in less than two days while on vacation!
While all 12 are written extremely well written, a few standout ones for me are The Trinity (about three college-going dancers from Kochi), No Filter (an extramarital affair gone.. crazy) Missed Call (an injured cook in Delhi worries about her daughter’s behaviour) & How Andrew Wylie Broke My Heart (invoking a dating site for intelligent people).
The author has a wonderfully contemporary style of writing that is easy to read but is far from being too simplistic or stilted. She captures facets of everyday life with so much ease - and I really enjoyed the occasional Bangalore references in one or two stories.
If you’re looking to start your year with some fiction that is thought provoking yet not too overwhelming, I would totally recommend this. I treated it like dessert in a sense that I was supposed to portion out a piece or two over many days but ended up binge gobbling the whole thing in less than two days while on vacation!
March 14, 2021
The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories by Nisha Susan is a collection of short stories about women. It's very diverse in nature and the use of casual lingo in the stories elevates them to a higher level. The stories are very forthright and fun to read. I like how the author has not tried to translate certain phrases to English because the nuance would be totally lost.
The stories are whimsical with savage humor embedded in them which makes them an enjoyable read. They are also woven around the concept of technology. Each story has it's share of complex characters and most of them are really unlikeable. However, there is something that leaves us thinking about them.
All the stories are well written. The standouts for me were The Trinity and Missed Call. This book is a good break from serious books.
The stories are whimsical with savage humor embedded in them which makes them an enjoyable read. They are also woven around the concept of technology. Each story has it's share of complex characters and most of them are really unlikeable. However, there is something that leaves us thinking about them.
All the stories are well written. The standouts for me were The Trinity and Missed Call. This book is a good break from serious books.
December 22, 2021
I picked up the book because of the fabulous cover. Someone had posted reading this book on a Goa beach and I couldn't stop myself from zooming in the book, googling whatever little info was visible ...
The book starts with an interesting quote and an interesting premise in the very first story. However, by the end of the first story, I was wondering about the whole point of it. The second story also started on a captivating note but I couldn't bring myself to give my full attention to it. The same experience in most of the stories - fascinating start but then drift to a vacuum.
Perhaps, it was the short sentences, perhaps the fact that it read like a Dear Diary or more like gossip in a teenager's kitty party, but I couldn't connect with either the plot or the characters.
Some of the phrases were surprisingly fresh but after reading the stories they feel like bold colors in an otherwise dull rangoli.
I still give kudos for the cover design and an extra star just for it. Still, a one-line summary would be - Never judge a book by its cover.
The book starts with an interesting quote and an interesting premise in the very first story. However, by the end of the first story, I was wondering about the whole point of it. The second story also started on a captivating note but I couldn't bring myself to give my full attention to it. The same experience in most of the stories - fascinating start but then drift to a vacuum.
Perhaps, it was the short sentences, perhaps the fact that it read like a Dear Diary or more like gossip in a teenager's kitty party, but I couldn't connect with either the plot or the characters.
Some of the phrases were surprisingly fresh but after reading the stories they feel like bold colors in an otherwise dull rangoli.
I still give kudos for the cover design and an extra star just for it. Still, a one-line summary would be - Never judge a book by its cover.
January 21, 2021
3.5, really. Some stories would stay with me for very long, some stories- I really did not care for, but I did care a lot for the theme (gender and technology) and I am pleasantly surprised, because I am not the biggest fan of short stories overall. Would wholeheartedly recommend!
October 24, 2021
A gem of book written by a woman to resonate deeply with other women.
My brother in law recommended this book to me which is equally I think a function of the progressive times and his unerring taste for good literature. I picked it up with no expectations, other than to read perhaps a titillating collection of digitally savvy short stories (hey that's the expectation the blurb sets) and was completely surprised by Nisha's deft handling of urban Indian living.
These stories resonate because they could easily be (and probably are) the stories of many women around you in urban centers like Bangalore and Gurgaon. Capable, intelligent, independent and open minded, these women are deeply likable even at their most unlikeable because they are so familiar.
A middle aged woman reflects on the lost glory of her youth as a fusion dancer, discovering unexpected hypocrisy in her dearest friends and a kerchief carrying pragmatism with age. A wonderful retelling of Rebecca strips the story of Du Mauriers' sexism and adds unexpected sisterhood. A poverty ridden cook in Faridabad is determined to break the toxic cycle of family dysfunction even if it means alienating her child. A criminal blames social media while using it to commit acts of surprising heinousness. An anxious twitter hounded writer (was that you Nisha??) rediscovers her reader in an unexpected place. I could go on and on - but basically these stories invert a deeply male lens on urban India : talking lovingly about subjects that frankly never counted as story material to me until seeing them in print made me realize these are my stories!
You could say this book hit a personal vein ! I ll end by saying - I envy the readers in Bangalore. If I were there I would go find Nisha and give her a hug and tell her to keep writing the stories of our lives.
My brother in law recommended this book to me which is equally I think a function of the progressive times and his unerring taste for good literature. I picked it up with no expectations, other than to read perhaps a titillating collection of digitally savvy short stories (hey that's the expectation the blurb sets) and was completely surprised by Nisha's deft handling of urban Indian living.
These stories resonate because they could easily be (and probably are) the stories of many women around you in urban centers like Bangalore and Gurgaon. Capable, intelligent, independent and open minded, these women are deeply likable even at their most unlikeable because they are so familiar.
A middle aged woman reflects on the lost glory of her youth as a fusion dancer, discovering unexpected hypocrisy in her dearest friends and a kerchief carrying pragmatism with age. A wonderful retelling of Rebecca strips the story of Du Mauriers' sexism and adds unexpected sisterhood. A poverty ridden cook in Faridabad is determined to break the toxic cycle of family dysfunction even if it means alienating her child. A criminal blames social media while using it to commit acts of surprising heinousness. An anxious twitter hounded writer (was that you Nisha??) rediscovers her reader in an unexpected place. I could go on and on - but basically these stories invert a deeply male lens on urban India : talking lovingly about subjects that frankly never counted as story material to me until seeing them in print made me realize these are my stories!
You could say this book hit a personal vein ! I ll end by saying - I envy the readers in Bangalore. If I were there I would go find Nisha and give her a hug and tell her to keep writing the stories of our lives.
January 31, 2021
Read this book if you want to take a break from the serious ones. It has stories revolving around the influence of two decades of internet in India. Cool, funny, witty, at times dark but mostly entertaining stories 😊👍
February 26, 2021
A collection of witty short stories. My favourite is 'Trinity', found it to be a very realistic account of women in Kerala.
March 14, 2021
Nothing remarkable.
Will post a full review soon.
Will post a full review soon.
September 6, 2020
3.5 stars
This book came highly recommended by a few friends and I quite liked 9 out of 12 stories. The first four stories in particular were so realistic that I felt I knew the people in the story so well. It is great that the author did not make this book about romance or about dysfunctional relationships and made it more about the day to day people and their quirks!
This book came highly recommended by a few friends and I quite liked 9 out of 12 stories. The first four stories in particular were so realistic that I felt I knew the people in the story so well. It is great that the author did not make this book about romance or about dysfunctional relationships and made it more about the day to day people and their quirks!
August 23, 2020
Such a great collection! So funny, self aware and full of characters you know, want to be friends with and think about for ages. Can't wait to discuss this with my book club.
Really hope NS does a Sabbah and writes a full length novel about some of these characters? I really was not ready for some of the stories to end as suddenly as they did. Also there are THRILLERS. What a joy.
Really hope NS does a Sabbah and writes a full length novel about some of these characters? I really was not ready for some of the stories to end as suddenly as they did. Also there are THRILLERS. What a joy.
July 22, 2021
Original, contemporary and brilliant. And such good writing! All stories are interesting and mostly worked very well for me. The nuances of human behaviour have been deftly handled. The cover design is a winner too. All good reasons why this needs to be on your bookshelf.
September 5, 2020
Not sappy. Loved the language and all the references to Bangalore. Humorous, tongue in cheek and raw.
Read
July 27, 2021Interesting premise made more intriguing by the choice of places and settings (all in India). Some stories are a miss for me while some worked really well.
December 9, 2021
I really had high hopes from this book - totally judging the book by it's cover.
Nisha Susan creates some intensely realistic characters - quirky yet believable and relatable to most parts but after setting up the characters she doesn't know what to do with them.
I felt like most of the stories were only about exploring some kind of feelings and had nothing to with the closure a good story brings.
It was and it felt like a collection of blog posts from different people and as in life, not every story really ended, they were mere incidents sometimes lacking beginning, sometimes lacking middle and sometimes lacking the end.
Nisha Susan creates some intensely realistic characters - quirky yet believable and relatable to most parts but after setting up the characters she doesn't know what to do with them.
I felt like most of the stories were only about exploring some kind of feelings and had nothing to with the closure a good story brings.
It was and it felt like a collection of blog posts from different people and as in life, not every story really ended, they were mere incidents sometimes lacking beginning, sometimes lacking middle and sometimes lacking the end.
February 28, 2022
This collection ranks highest on relatability and familiarity, with the characters situated in places, both geographical and figurative, that connected with me at once. The experimental writing style, varying from one story to the next, astutely captures the complex emotions of the character, and wow, what intricate relationships these emotions arise from and how effectively the author pulls you in to the story! The numerous grey shades of the characters and nuances of relationships almost made it feel like reading an assortment of real life diary entries stitched together. My favourites from the collection are The Trinity, Teresa, No Filter, Missed Call and How Andrew Wylie Broke My Heart. And the quirky cover design deserves a special mention.
December 12, 2025
Honestly I didn’t know it was a short story collection until I started reading it.
I really loved the writing . It felt so effortless, unpretentious, and genuinely liberating. It’s the kind of style I’d want to try myself if I weren’t such a prude 😂
Unfortunately 3 stars, coz this being a short story collection, some like “Trinity”, “Teresa” and “Missed call” worked for me, but the others were either average or below average.
Nevertheless, I would love to read more from this author.
I really loved the writing . It felt so effortless, unpretentious, and genuinely liberating. It’s the kind of style I’d want to try myself if I weren’t such a prude 😂
Unfortunately 3 stars, coz this being a short story collection, some like “Trinity”, “Teresa” and “Missed call” worked for me, but the others were either average or below average.
Nevertheless, I would love to read more from this author.
October 11, 2021
Started with a lot of promise but dipped so quickly.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews