The Nine Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat: Book Review

~ Harshita Gupta

Title: The Nine Chambered Heart

Author: Janice Pariat

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Links: Amazon Goodreads Instagram Twitter

“How others see us only in bits and pieces, and how sometimes we tend to become what others perceives us to be”.

This line caught me hold. Doesn’t it the truth or belief altogether? Do we not slowly turn into what others judge us to be?

Well, this book holds nine stories of nine different people recounting their relationship with the same girl. The nine characters narrates their prospects about the same girl’s personality and behaviour.

We get to know the identity of this girl through their eyes and judgement without knowing her views.

Janice Pariat holds the grip of the readers through her impressive narration. I loved her writing style giving out minute descriptions and details of the scenes and places.

What was Good

  • The very first story ‘The Saint’ is very much tempting and there and then you would decide that this book will be going to be a great read.
  • The arrangement of the stories in the order they have been done is befitting.
  • I loved the concept and the idea of the book which is really remarkable.

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What wasn’t Good

  • I was disappointed to learn that all the nine characters were only her lovers except the first story narrated by her teacher. I was expecting narratives from her relatives, cousins or close family members too. How different persons perceive us doesn’t mean to include only the account of lovers.
  • The book was good initially but gets mundane with similar portray of the girl even though the persons narrating were at different stages of their life. Also, the narration mostly includes how they were attracted towards her rather than how they perceive her as a person or human.

Why to read this book

I was really excited to start this book owing to it’s amazing blurb and rare story of its kind. I would recommend this book owing to its unique plot even though it doesn’t meet up to my high expectations after reading the first story.

Have you happened to read this book? or already read it?

Do share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

-Harshita

Published by Harshita Gupta

Hi! I'm Harshita from New Delhi, India. I'm an ambivert, a bibliomaniac who never steps out without a book. Here on my blog, you will get everything bookish! So, do join me here to keep me going! And don't forget to leave your feedback. Your feedback means a lot. Thank you for stopping by. Happy Reading! :) Contact me at themystiquebooks@gmail.com

9 thoughts on “The Nine Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat: Book Review”

      1. it probably would’ve been more interesting if the author let the girl in question share thoughts on all the nine people too. Or she could write a sequel in the girl’s pov next or something.
        Weren’t you curious to know what the girl was really like? it was the first question i thought of while i read your post.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Well!! This is the uniqueness of the book and distinctiveness of plot which grabbed my attention at first!! i.e. without knowing the girl, you got to know her from different perspectives!!

        Like

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