“How can you love a person to an extent where you no longer differentiate between yourself and the one you love?”
When the blurb of a book asks a question that I had, at one time in my past, asked to myself, the book already has an appeal to it. Reading on, the plot was also intriguing.
When it comes to choosing between the friend and the warrior, who would you choose? If it was me, I’d have chosen the friend, but not all have that choice. Some choices are pushed by circumstances, by an inner rage that cannot be quelled. One such choice, put on her by her father, makes Mithraveera, daughter of Agneyastra lose the Mithra from her name. She’s trained to be a warrior, the first woman of the dynasty to do so. When her father dies, she’s chosen to be the next Guru, another first for a woman. She accepts that choice too, even though the conditions for her to accept the position are atrocious and egotistical on the part of the King. Standing by her side is Dhruva, chosen and trained by her father as well, and appointed guardian. Her talent and beauty is such, that even the enemy prince Shaurya, the third main character of this book, falls in love at first sight.
Simple tales told well make for wonderful reading. That’s the case with this book. Sahana’s narration, reflecting that simplicity, kept me engaged from first to last. The characters, their emotions, interactions, their quirks, be it adamancy or ego, all are done justice. Mithraveera proves to be as adamant as her father too, when she accepts the conditions even though Dhruva objects. The male-centered attitude that continues to this day is reflected well in the tale. The character of Mithraveera, I felt was a good answer to that. The descriptions, be it of love or battle was vivid even with the simplicity. There are a few editing issues, I feel, like paragraphs that have repeated what had been said just in the previous page, a typo here and there (though not many, and ones that don’t affect the read). Not many flipsides to mention, actually.
A lovely book this was, and I thank the author for sending me the signed copy which I received for this review, part of the Reviewers’ Program on The Tales Pensieve. I also owe them an apology, as just after this book was read, I got caught in a review rut, and what I wrote started to make no sense. I have delayed the review only so that my thoughts make some sense.
| Book Details | |
|---|---|
| Title: Mithra | |
| Author(s): Sahana L | Genre: Romance |
| ISBN/ASIN: 9781482841763 | Publisher: Partridge Publishing |
| No. of Pages: 370 | Price: INR 550 |
(© 4th June 2015)
A Bookworm's Musing 
Good review 🙂
Thanks!