Silent Screams

Saysha is found dead in her apartment. Her husband, Jai, is the prime suspect in the case. Saysha's long time best friend and criminal lawyer, Naseen, is the only one who believes in his innocence and is ready to do anything to prove it to the world. Written from multiple point of views, the book explores the themes of love, family, friendship, and mental health.

The story starts off pretty slow and is initially confusing as the reader is introduced to the lives of each narrator in the book. It picks up speed slowly after Saysha is found dead and the lives of all the narrators gets interwined through this incident. After the first half, the story gets gripping as the drama unholds and the truth is finally revealed.

I specially liked the ending. It was unpredictable and fresh. While the book elaborately discusses love, marriage, family, and friendship, I believe the much subtle theme of mental health is what makes this book unique. At the same time, the book also points out to the pressure faced by women in a patriarchal system, and how their voices are curbed and buried 6 feets deep into the earth.

The only issue was the book was boring and bland in the first half and one has to push through it to get to the interesting parts. Further, I could not really connect with any of the characters, probably because there wasn't much character development. The switching between the years at the beginning of the book didn't help either since it made it even more confusing to read.

Overall, it is worth a shot, thanks to the brilliantly written ending and the second half of the book. Considering it was a debut book, the author did a commendable job in engaging the reader and keeping them on the edge of their seats (or bed, in my case).