The Psychopath, The Cannibal, The Lover - Tejaswi Priyadarshi - ★★.½

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AUTHOR: Tejaswi Priyadarshi
GENRE: Crime Thriller
PUBLICATION DATE: July 14, 2020
RATING: 2.5 stars.


As the title indicates, there are three main characters in this book: a Psychopath, a Cannibal, and a Lover. 

A major chunk of the book, about 70%, is dedicated to the psychopath, a serial killer who avenges any major or minor wrong done to him by resorting to gruesome murder. Along the way, his path intersects with the cannibal and the lover. I won't reveal too much of the story as I don't want to leak any spoilers. But the psychopath's part of the story is the most interesting, especially his life in the hostel. 

I did enjoy the cannibal's plotline too, especially her back story which is fantabulous. (Yup, the cannibal is a female character!) But I don't think she can really be called a cannibal in the strictest sense of the word. Readers looking for a hardcore cannibalistic story will end up disappointed. Also, there was too little of her in the book. Ye dil maange more female characters!

There are many pop culture references in the book and it was fun to see the India of the 90s through the eyes of a small town boy. The gore, though not something I enjoy in any book, increases the shock value of the murders effectively. The twist towards the end was a nice surprise to me.

For a debut work, the story was surprisingly complicated. Sometimes, the time jumps did cause me to muddle up a bit, especially towards the last few chapters. But overall, it's a pretty decent first book.

Now this is the grammar nazi taking over. There are way too many grammatical and usage-based errors in the book. Additionally, there are sudden shifts from 1st person to 3rd person and back to 1st person in many chapters. While these issues will be overlooked by the typical reader, it is very difficult for me to ignore. Sorry, Tejaswi.

The story was a nice, quick, one-time read for me. If this genre appeals to you, you can definitely check it out.

KU subscribers: The book is available to you for free. 🙂

Trigger warnings: Gore, violent murders, drug abuse.

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