Anchitaa’s Reviews > The Book of Everlasting Things > Status Update

I am tearing up. This was a well written chapter and such good tension!

Annnddd… we are back to a fated-lovers love story. I dislike that this is the route the novel is going towards the end; it feels strange but I also appreciate that it is akin to a full circle moment. Let’s continue reading!

This book can be divided into three genres: 1. childhood sweethearts love story 2. WW1 historical fiction/soldier’s pov 3. a perfumer’s life quest to bottle home. All three are great but in one novel feels a bit dizzying. I think the 3rd genre is unique and interesting enough on its own.

Samir’s conversations at the Villa deRose is absolutely heartbreaking! I wish I’d gotten more insights from Léa’s or Firdaus’s perspective. The initial shifting perspectives have now become static on one main character — and I am not certain if this will be an exciting choice as I near the end.

Inexplicably, the story has turned into a chronicle of a solider-turned-perfumer’s experiences during the first world war. I wasn’t expecting so many journal entries and accounts in France; not sure how I feel about the subject & tone shift yet.

Léa has my whole heart - she is so sweet and attentive!! Altaf … I do understand why he did what he did but I personally don’t condone it. Samir - I am rooting for you.

Well, that was brutal to read.

I knew going into the book that the chapters involving the Partition would be difficult; but seeing it through Samir’s eyes was absolutely shattering. I could feel his grief as he listlessly wandered through the burned wreckage of Shahalmi Bazaar.

My biggest critique so far: I wish there was a character representing those advocating for a separate land. Without that foil, it feels like an "us vs. them" narrative. The Page 159 description of events in Calcutta reads as one side being wholly wrong and the other wholly innocent; imo more nuance would have elevated the story. Maybe that perspective comes later?

Thank you, Kay, for inspiring me to record my mid-read thoughts.

When my mom bundled this novel in her suitcase, with chikankari kurtis and an embroidered blue purse from Delhi, I didn’t know that I would be actively transported into 1930s Anarkali Bazaar. I feel like I am sipping kulhad chai on the street watching Firdaus & Samir. And, Altaf is one of the sweetest father characters in any book I’ve read!