Starry Starry Night - Nandita Basu - ★★

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Nandita Basu

GENRE: Graphic Novel.

RATING: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: From the gorgeous cover and title and the intriguing premise, I expected much more. Liked the story okay, but couldn’t connect with the graphics. Might work better for those with a preference for more abstract topics.

Story Synopsis:

After the sudden death of his mother, teenaged Kunal has been sent to a boarding school in the hills. Until the hostel situation is settled, he needs to stay with his distant aunt Tara, who is a music teacher in the same school.  Kunal has yet to come to terms with his grief, and the change in location isn't helping.

Tara herself is battling grief over the death of a close friend many years ago. While music has helped her to a certain extent, what's affecting her mind is that she can always see a strange figure known as 'Death'. 

Though both Tara and Kunal aren't comfortable talking about their grief, they realise that the journey ahead will be better if they share their pain with each other.

I've been a fan of graphic novels for many years now, but not once had I read an Indian graphic novel. So when the opportunity to read this offering came up, I was thrilled. The cover graphics were very soothing, and the prominent place that music has in the art made me expect a strong story where music helps process grief – a theme that’s much appealing to my music-loving heart. To a certain extent, this particular expectation was met.

I loved the concept of the story - a young boy who feels lost after his world turned upside down and a woman who feels like she is surrounded by Death, literally. The book tackles well the idea of how it takes time to heal from grief, how the healing isn't necessarily complete healing, how different people process loss differently, and how long-term pain can affect mental well-being. The story also highlights the pressure of expectations on young minds, and the role of art in alleviating suffering. One thing I found interesting was how the book used the stages of grief to depict the changes in the lives and thinking of Tara and Kunal.

Beyond this, I couldn’t really vibe with this book. The writing feels disjointed across topics, with grief playing the role of a backing track. The secondary plots of drug and cigarette smoking habit in teens, the rich father using his status and wealth to secure his intentions for his son, the backstory of Tara's friend - all of these felt more like distractions than value additions to the core plot. 

The interactions between Death and Tara were introspective. Truth be told, I did like some of their conversations about the circle of life. But much of their talk is abstruse and somewhat repetitive. So, as someone who isn't too fond of philosophy and the 'meaning of life' kind of discussions, I kept zoning out during their scenes. This aspect might work better for readers who enjoy deeper philosophical topics.

I could still have rated this higher had I liked the art. This is a graphic novel, after all! Readers of this format don't pick up books only for the plot but also for the illustrations. But I'm sorry to say, the sketches just didn’t work for me. Seeing that the content had only B&W illustrations was the first step towards disappointment. There are too many onomatopoeic words in the graphics, most of which are distracting. The human figures are too stiff, having very rigid poses. In many panels, there is the same blank expression on their faces, no matter what the words in the text bubbles say. I also wasn’t a fan of the way the characters’ hair was drawn, especially for those sketched without black hair. Contemporary Tara is a brunette, but in the backstory, she was blonde (or some light hair shade?), so it took me long to understand that they were the same person, so dissimilar were the two depictions. Kunal’s hair made him look like a franciscan monk. Basically, I liked nothing about the graphics. Then again, art is a subjective preference, so what didn’t click for me might just work for you. 

Overall, the story was just about okay, and while I appreciate the content related to grief and healing, the rest was not my cup of tea. The artwork didn't satisfy me at any level. Hence, this graphic novel and this reader weren’t a match made in the starry starry heavens.

I suppose the book might work better for someone who has a more philosophical bent of mind and doesn't mind simplistic graphics. 

Do note that despite the presence of a young boy as one of the main characters, I wouldn’t recommend this book to kids because of some of the content. The official target age is readers aged 10+, but I would suggest it only to the 15+ segment.

This review is powered by Blogchatter Book Review Program. My thanks to BlogChatter and author Nandita Basu for a complimentary copy of “Starry Starry Night”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry it didn't work out better.

To buy a copy of 'Starry Starry Night', visit https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0CP2JL8JC/