Yakshini - Neil D'Silva - Book Review

                    I have been a long time fan of horror literature right from the day I read 'Dracula'. After that I have been ardently following Stephen King and Shirley Jackson. When I was searching for some horror reads of Indian writers; I came across the name Neil D' Silva. I read Pishacha & Maya's new husband few years back and that was a pretty good read. When I came across this book in the library, the blurb sparked my interest and I went for the read.

                    Fifteen year old Meenakshi is the youngest daughter in a family of seven daughters. From the start we can see that she is not normal. There is something happening inside her that even she is not aware of. She sees the apparition of a naked man and spends a lot of time with a tree that grows in their courtyard as if they are talking to each other. She has the body of an adult lady and so many men lust after her. While things go like this, a person comes to her house to talk about marrying her elder sister. On seeing Meenakshi, he changes his mind and is hell bent on marrying her. Around this time, they get to know that a Yakshini is trapped inside Meenakshi due to a curse. So they try to marry her off to that guy who takes her to Mumbai. What happened at the village that made them take this decision? How does her secret hold out in the company of her husband? How it affects her married life and how safe the husband is and what transpires ahead forms the remaining story.

                    The story seemed pretty interesting. It starts off well and goes on pretty decently. The characterization of Meenakshi as well as her husband was interesting. The author does try to bring in the life in a village, the superstitions and practices that are followed there and also he tries to show how some men lust after women and how such crimes do happen which is even relevant in our current times. The backstory of Yakshini seemed interesting. On the downside, I felt like there was not much depth to the story. Halfway into the book, it suddenly seemed to lose steam as if fast forwarding the story to finish it quickly. The rush did hinder the book towards the last. I hoped Meenakshi will come out as a very strong character in the end but it did not. I mean; we wont get such a feel once you are done with the book. Horror literature followers will be easily able to deduce what is going to happen mostly. So you cant expect something like a suspense or edge of seat thrills reading this.

                    I feel this can be made as an Indian soap opera and will not stand if taken as a movie in case we go for a screen adaptation. Considering my previous reads of Neil D' Silva; like Pishacha and Maya's New Husband; I was bit disappointed with this outing. Overall, a quick read for horror lovers. Don't expect thrills as in his previous works but this can engage you as a good one time read.