Letters To You

#Insight: Letters to you by Myoho is both, a heartwarming and heart-wrenching story of two girls, Disha and Kiah. The book consists of letters exchanged and journals expressing their inner thoughts and feelings towards each other. The book shows how falling in love can be frightening, confusing and wonderful at the same time.#Review:The story starts with Disha's ordeal of childhood sexual abuse. This is where the author focusses, that it's very important in your life to have the right onset, otherwise, the wrong will become your shadow. At the age of 17, Disha falls in love with a girl and finds it powerful, supreme and healing. She is completely immersed and basking in love until her parents find out and she is humiliated. Still confused and struggling with the emotions and her sexuality, she gets married and shifts to a new place with her husband. She starts her job and it's there, where she meets Kiah. From bonding in a friendly way, to kissing Kiah for the first time, everything just happened naturally. Even Kiah, felt a strange pull towards Disha, which she couldn't understand. But since they were best buddies, they confront and brush it off. But, when one more such incident happens, both are confused. The letters that both have written to each other after admitting their feelings and riding on the journey that was forbidden but heavenly, are heartwarming and emotional. The philosophical doses and the poems in between will leave you contemplating about such kind of love. The book also states the Supreme court verdict of section 377 which was amended in 2018. But then again, the question is, do verdicts like these have ever any difference in the mindset of people.#Lines from the book:Must be I'm empty.Maybe you are void too.These random and erratic notions.If they mess with me they might clutter with you too.Short-lived moments.Everlasting memories.Come back to me in flashes.If they muddle me, they might peater you too.#Strength:Rich language and narration.Realistic characters.Each chapter ends with poetic quotes concluding the theme of the chapter, which is beautifully chosen.Attractive cover page and an apt book name.#Drawbacks: Infidelity, though not deliberate, but morally wrong.#Age group: 18 and above#Genre: Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ#Rating: 4.4

Letters to You by Myoho is a story set around two best friends - Disha and Kiah - who are struggling to come to terms with their sexuality. They are confused and anxious about society. They are hurt. They are shaken. However, love courses through their veins when they are around each other. The question is would they be able to reach each other or be entangled in the web of 'normalcy' forever?This book covers a very sensitive topic of exploring one's sexuality, something that doesn't come up in a lot of books. In fact, it is a subject that more or less remain hidden in a corner for how taboo it is. It essentially picks up the historic decision of the Supreme Court of India, that of section 377. I loved that the author thought of talking about the crucial subject through a relatable story of two best friends. It comes out well as both try to find their true self. Not to mention, the journey is full of hurt, love, passion, confusion, and what not. The idea behind the narrative is surely worth a mention.Despite a wonderful story, the story lacked on the front of execution. I was pulled away by the language that seemed more forced than natural. Probably, if the right selection of words was done, the emotions would have come out in a better manner. Moreover, the narration could have been better with precise expressions and a tightly-knit storyline. I commend the author for her efforts in trying to portray sentiments but they fell short in fulfilling their purpose, fully. Apart from these points, there is a problematic description of extra-marital affairs that didn't sit well with me.I would want to draw your attention to the truly beautiful cover. I loved it for its aesthetic. As a debut book, it's a wonderful attempt but it does need more work on multiple aspects.

This is one such book that actually resembles the secret heart hundreds of people who for the sake of family and society never revealed their choices. Even after introducing many reforms, the courage to come out as someone belonging to the LGBTQIA community is really challenging, and especially in a country like India..'Letters to You' is about two best friends Disha and Kiah who fell in love with each other, aware of the fact of little chance of possibility in their relationship. Disha and Kiah represents all those people who are in search of their self identity, but suppressed by the burden of the society. The guilt that they felt because they fell for each other, the fear that someone might discover their deepest truths were all very carefully written by the author. Society often tries to normalize issues that they shouldn't, and leave the actual issues behind. Our thoughts are often infected by the fear of what others might think and in that process sacrificing our choices is what majority of us opt for. Disha and Kiah considering their love as sin is one such representation of how society's expectations suppress us..The way the book starts actually raised my expectations on it that it will be a thought-provoking read. And undoubtedly it was. The ending where the author talks about the scraping of Section 377 felt like a way to perfectly end this book. The issues that she raised about the LGBTQIA community in India were realistic. But somewhere in between the book felt monotonous. The way the book was executed is a minus point for it. Through most of the pages nothing really happens apart from expressing of feelings through letters. And it became bland because of it. Otherwise, the writing was beautiful and characters were lovely. The friendships that they shared was a fun to read about. Overall it was a nice read.