BOTM for January is Warned

[Rebecca]

I’m helping Jemima out while she has no internet access. I used a random-number generator to select the book for the January BOTM read: WARNED : The Astrologer's Prophecy. by Mahtab Narsimhan.

Please leave your comments and discussions here, and remember the code: respect, tolerance and good vibes :) Also, if you are going to reveal a plot point, include the information in spoiler tags do as not to spoil it for people who may not have read that far!

[Timothy]

What drew me to this book was the exotic location - relative to where I live, that is. It didn't disappoint. I enjoyed reading about life in rural India. The author included local words and terms, which had me looking them up. I wonder if kids here in Canada would mind that? I certainly didn't. It was part of the charm. I think a reader could understand the story fine without knowing those meanings.

Mahtab does a good job (view spoiler)[getting the parents out of the way, so the child protagonist can take centre stage. And the setting also allowed her to eliminate the main character's cell phone. (hide spoiler)] The creepy astrologer sets up the stakes well, and early. Nothing spoiled here; that's on the back jacket. I liked (view spoiler)[the supernatural element woven in. She sets the story up to make us think everything will have a logical explanation. So when the supernatural shows up near the end, it comes a surprise. (hide spoiler)]

Lalita, the "social outcast" character was my favourite. She's compelling, because (view spoiler)[she's a survivor and a powerful person, in spite of the limitations imposed on her. (hide spoiler)] There's good character craft here. (view spoiler)[We learn more about Avi through his interactions with Lalita. For example, how she brought out a protective side in him that he didn't know he had. (hide spoiler)]

Mahtab Marsimhan has several traditionally published novels. I would like to know what made her decide to self-publish her Eerie Tales from the East series.

[Jennifer]

I finished reading WARNED: The Astrologer's Prophecy last night and really enjoyed it. Prior to reading it, I had heard of the caste system in India and was aware of the oppression involved with it, but I didn't really know any details. That changed with this novel; once I finished reading, I was quickly searching the caste system and may or may not have lost several hours to my internet searching. LOL.

What set this book apart for me were the characters. Narsimhan did a great job with her character development, and Lalita in particular was a very compelling character. Her status as an untouchable and her refusal to succumb to the status quo quickly made her my favorite character. The added supernatural element was awesome, though I will admit that the mental picture of (view spoiler)[ Nana sitting in the cellar room surrounded by all the different radios waiting for his dead wife to speak to him (hide spoiler)] was a bit on the creepy end. I could kind of understand it given his grief, but there's something about the location of the room that raised it to a whole other level of creepy. Then, when you add in Das' behavior - that scene when he sharpens the knife while staring at Avi? Chills! - the characters made this novel.

Indeed, I enjoyed the book and its characters so much that I bought the other two books in the series immediately after finishing this one, and I look forward to reading them as well.