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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Losing My Religion by Vishwas Mudagal: A Review



BOOK TITLE: Losing My Religion
ISBN: 9788172344931
AUTHOR: Vishwas Mudagal
GENRE: Fiction
NUMBER OF PAGES: 350
FORMAT: Paperback
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: The author sent me a review copy when contacted via Goodreads.
SUMMARY:
          Racy, unpredictable, romantic, and inspiring, this is a novel that is bound to get you addicted and stay with you forever.
          When gamer and entrepreneur Rishi Rai sets out to revolutionize the gaming industry, something somewhere goes terribly wrong and, like dominoes, the blocks of his life fall down one after the other.
          An unexpected meeting with Alex, an unpredictable, crazy American hippie, changes his life forever, as he decides to quit everything and join him on an unplanned, uncharted journey across India.
          From getting irrepressibly high in the mysterious Malana Valley in the Himalayas to starting a shack on the bewitching Om Beach on the West Coast, they do it all. But their adrenaline-charged adventure takes a turn when Rishi meets Kyra, a beautiful and enigmatic gamer. As passions surge and sparks fly, Rishi gets drawn to Kyra . . . unaware of who she is and where she comes from.
          What follows next is something nobody could have ever dreamed of . . .
          Who is Kyra and why are the paparazzi after her? Can Rishi connect the dots in his life to protect the love of his life? While the world becomes a spectator, can he mastermind the fall of a ruthless giant to become a global icon or will he become the biggest loser?
REVIEW:
          Losing my religion
Ø Has nothing to do with religion.
Ø Does not preach like a self help book.
Ø Strikes the chord with many youngsters of the day.
          Rishi Rai is a gamer, an entrepreneur who had built a company out of his sweat and blood. When that is dissolved, he is faced by a serious case of crisis. He abandons his former life, and takes his car to a long drive. On the way he meets hippie Alex, who is everything he is not, and changes his life. The journey that takes Rishi through hillside villages and lesser known places, and each new moment is a new experience.
          Without preamble, Rishi meets Kyra, a beautiful woman who poses as an enigma to him. He is hopelessly drawn to her and falls in love with her. But Kyra’s past and present entwines, and she leaves him. The part of the book where Rishi gets back with Kyra is an unexpected overdose of clichéd moments. The rest of the story where Rishi goes on to become a reality show star and travels from India to NYC, does not suffer from the clichés or predictable twists. Revealing more of the story will ruin the suspense.
          The plus points and the minus points of the book are clearly panned. The plot is beautifully crafted, the story unravels in a coherent format. The characters of all the three protagonists are well written, each being given the importance and the depth that they require to make an impression. The language is really good, even the inclusion of vernacular words.
          The events are also unpredictable mostly, surprising even a seasoned reader. The story feels the pulse of today’s youth and also reflects the thoughts of the author himself, an entrepreneur who seems to know what he is writing about. The summary is enticing and so is the cover. There are some noteworthy quotes in the book, reflecting the mindset and ideas of today’s gen x.
          The minus points are not dampeners, though writing a perfect 5/5 book would be a difficult feat. What did affect me was, the story is just that. A story. Not something that happens everyday. The book drags in some places, though we have to agree that the author has really cut back on geographical descriptions of places that are mentioned. Given that, it would extend the book by another 50 pages from its current length of 350 pages, which by itself is long.
WHAT I LIKED: The story, concept of burnout, relatable, strong characters
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: The length could have been slightly less. Some clichés could be avoided.
VERDICT: Go for it. This one is a sure thrill ride. And also don’t miss the fingerprint diaries, the ‘appendix’ of the book.
RATING: 4.2/5 (Points taken for the length and some improbable situations)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
          Vishwas Mudagal is a serial entrepreneur and a CEO with a history of building innovative technology brands and companies. An alumnus of RV College of Engineering, Bangalore, he started his first company at the age of eighteen to educate students in rural Karnataka. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of GoodWorkLabs, one of the hottest technology firms.

          Writing is his passion, and he has embraced storytelling as his parallel career. Losing My Religion is his debut novel.

He blogs at: www.vishwasmudagal.com
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback.
PRICE: Rs. 185 for Paperback
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