Book Review - The Girl in My Dream by Uma Lalitha

I saw author Uma's message in my Goodreads DM that her book "The Girl in My Dream" was available for free just for a day. So I grabbed the copy. I had received my Amazon Kindle device just a week before that message, I wanted to read a book on the device, so "The Girl in My Dream" became my first Kindle Device Read. Frankly speaking, I was not aware of the book so it was a complete surprise for me.

Book Blurb

In the 1940s, famine swept Kunnuruthy town and a young boy named Jagan teamed up with the tribals and revolted against the British for the collection of taxes, but he got fatally injured in the end. In the present, Jagan is old and is running an orphanage and Maya, a young girl who arrives at his orphanage constantly dreams of a strange girl who leads her to a door through a secret tunnel. Maya finds that the girl's name was Nila and sixty years ago, the girl had lived at the same mansion which was now the orphanage. She was in love with Jagan and something terrible had happened to her, which Maya have to find out. Told in two-time lines, 1940s during the British rule in India and 2005, this book is about how the lives of the two girls are intertwined together and how Maya and her friends eventually discover the chilling dark secrets buried years ago.

"The Girl in My Dream" is the story of two girls Maya (2005) & Nila (the 1940s - British era) The story is written for a location/tribal town called Kunnuruthy. Maya's parents died when she was 3-4 years old. Her grandmother had raised her since then. But she also died and eventually Maya ended up in an orphanage called Amarnath Mansion. That orphanage had historical importance for local people. Later on, Maya came to know that the main trustee of the orphanage, Jagan, was somehow linked to Maya's strange dreams that she started getting after her Grandmother's death. One by one mystery started appearing in front of Maya, which was related to Nila. Maya felt that there was something between her dreams, Nila's life, and mansion. Read out the book to know how she unraveled things.

Uma has used simple language to keep readers stick to the book. There are multiple POVs but major ones are from Maya & Nila. In Maya's life apart from mystery, orphanage and related narration were provided. Their struggle was heart touching. Same way in Nila's part, famine impact was also equally emotional. Through the struggle of characters, Uma has shown that we are lucky to have plenty.

Though the book is a self-published, I found professional touch. I didn't find any major flow. Good points about the book

1. Characterization
2. Detailing of plot and places
3. Light read
4. Suspense and thrill
5. Unexpected and welcoming climax

Overall a worth reading book. Recommended for trips and vacation. Talking about ratings

1. Cover - 4/5
2. Concept - 3.5/5
3. Characters - 3.75/5
4. Overall - 3.75/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads