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A review by charvi_not_just_fiction
The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya
5.0
Unlike many artists, she had never considered herself a mere vessel for the muse, or a medium, or even a parent. Her songs weren't her "babies". Her songs were her.
This book spins a beautiful narrative of friendships, trust, brown women and music that simply pulls you in. The writing is so fluid and easy to follow that it took every ounce of my will power to put this book down even for a second. Vivek Shraya's writing is so powerful, I can almost feel the music radiating off the pages in waves.
I went into this book a bit unsure of what to expect and I came out of it so overwhelmed. The story is told by two completely different protagonists, Neela and Rukmini. Neela is closed off, wary of the world and somewhat of a perfectionist while Rukmini is bold, experimental, tech-savvy and a friendly personality in general. Both of them formed such an uncanny duo but one I was immediately rooting was. It was beautiful to watch their friendship florish despite the unbalanced dynamics with Rukmini seeking Neela's respect as an artist and Neela feeling that the world appreciated her art only in Rukmini's hands.
More than their differences, their own anxieties and mistakes caused the cracks in their friendships and it was heartbreaking and yet enchanting to watch. I feel that everything in this book hit me to my core and reflected aspects of our lives, especially my life as a brown woman more than I ever expected it to.
It were the smaller instances and feelings that this book beautiful portrayed that made this story so memorable and relatable for me. And this book does something that few others do, it raises so many important questions and leaves your mind churning. Questions revolving around the topics of artists and music and brown people leaning into their ethnicity or appeasing white-people, it all left my mind reeling.
I think in certain parts the narrative was a mess of thoughts but I really and truly loved that the most. Also that ending came out of nowhere and left everything up in the air and I'm sort of mad that I don't get to know what happens next.
Basically, this book had a huge impact on me so please do give this a shot!
This book spins a beautiful narrative of friendships, trust, brown women and music that simply pulls you in. The writing is so fluid and easy to follow that it took every ounce of my will power to put this book down even for a second. Vivek Shraya's writing is so powerful, I can almost feel the music radiating off the pages in waves.
I went into this book a bit unsure of what to expect and I came out of it so overwhelmed. The story is told by two completely different protagonists, Neela and Rukmini. Neela is closed off, wary of the world and somewhat of a perfectionist while Rukmini is bold, experimental, tech-savvy and a friendly personality in general. Both of them formed such an uncanny duo but one I was immediately rooting was. It was beautiful to watch their friendship florish despite the unbalanced dynamics with Rukmini seeking Neela's respect as an artist and Neela feeling that the world appreciated her art only in Rukmini's hands.
More than their differences, their own anxieties and mistakes caused the cracks in their friendships and it was heartbreaking and yet enchanting to watch. I feel that everything in this book hit me to my core and reflected aspects of our lives, especially my life as a brown woman more than I ever expected it to.
It were the smaller instances and feelings that this book beautiful portrayed that made this story so memorable and relatable for me. And this book does something that few others do, it raises so many important questions and leaves your mind churning. Questions revolving around the topics of artists and music and brown people leaning into their ethnicity or appeasing white-people, it all left my mind reeling.
I think in certain parts the narrative was a mess of thoughts but I really and truly loved that the most. Also that ending came out of nowhere and left everything up in the air and I'm sort of mad that I don't get to know what happens next.
Basically, this book had a huge impact on me so please do give this a shot!