This book is about the realities of literary prizes. The politics, power struggle, and popularity/eccentricity aspect of it all. The critics (on the first few pages) said that this book’s well-written, no misplaced comma, as they said. However, I didn’t appreciate this book. I didn’t connect with the characters at all and I barely remember who was whom. There were too many of them, and they were interchangeable in my head. I recently took a writing workshop in Coursera, and the professors mentioned the problems that may arise from the surplus of characters. They should drive the whole story and we, as readers are here to be guided, to follow the characters where they go. Sometimes we tend to follow the one we trust the most or the one who seems dangerous. After all, wouldn’t it be fun to follow someone who may or may not burn the whole town?

This book was different. I didn’t trust anyone, and no one was introduced enough to be trusted. No one seemed capable of burning the town, much less their bedroom.

The book was short, and it was not enough to establish the depth of each character in this novel. They weren’t exactly forgettable, but two or more characters blend into each other, or one seemed like a younger version of another. Either way, I didn’t care about learning the motivations behind each one.

I sort of just tried finishing the book because that’s just what I do, no matter how horrible the book is. For a book that was supposed to reveal the world of writers and the literacy circle, this was dull with predictable characters and a shallow plot.