Devi by Nag Mani

 

Genre: Horror

Author: Nag Mani

Pages: 284

I picked this book because I loved another book (The Green Room) by the same author. On the scale of rating for horror, The Green Room was a 5, then Devi is a strong 8! I'll say it straight away that you'll enjoy this book if you are a horror/gore fan.

The book starts off with a ritual sacrifice whose description gave me goosebumps (I'm a faint hearted person but still). Then the next chapter starts off with the horror in the life of Aditi. The first chapter was like a punch in the gut, not gonna lie it was the way the first chapter was written that really sold the book for me. Aditi is the wife of a bank manager, and has to move due to his transfer. On one hand she is happy to move away from the house of her in-laws because they are your run-of-the-mill abusive in-laws. But on the other hand, she finds herself in a remote village in Bihar where nothing is what it seems and is full of dark terrible secrets. Aditi finds out about the temple in the village, a temple dedicated to a Queen who was sacrificed there. It is said the Devi grants wishes, but a huge price needs to paid for it. Aditi makes a wish, now the sacrifice is to be made.

My view:

I love the folktales around the plot, reminds me of the tales around my village too. The abuse - physical, verbal and emotional- faced by Aditi hits a little too deep. It makes it understandable why she would turn to the Devi for her "wish". As always, the way the story unfolds is amazing! The pace is fast enough to keep you turning the pages.

I'm not a huge fan of horror, because most horror books that I read were Western, I could not relate to them culturally and could not understand the element of "horror" in stuff like the pentagon. I loved this book for the same reason! I could relate to it culturally and it makde the punches land effectively.

My rating: 4.5/5

Highly recommend! Also Nag Mani is my favorite author of horror genre as of now.