Slow Burn - Amal Singh - ★★.½

AUTHOR: Amal Singh

GENRE: Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: August 18, 2026

RATING: 2.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary fantasy set in Mumbai. More focused on the characters than on the location, much to my disappointment. Nice little glimpses of two versions of Mumbai. Decent character sketching. Underdeveloped fantasy elements. Abrupt ending. Doesn't realise its potential to the fullest. A mixed bag for me.

Plot Preview:

Rishi Tripathi is an aspiring actor with no success so far. But when he falls through a mirror and lands in a different version of Mumbai, he finds himself a renowned and wealthy superstar. As he reconciles himself to his new status, he realises that this successful version of himself comes with some burdens and costs. He wants to return to the Mumbai he left behind. The only way back seems to be through the mirror, but it no longer allows him to pass through. Can Rishi find the unknown mirror-maker and find his way home before things turn too drastic in his new world?

The story comes to us through the third-person perspective of Rishi and his doppelganger Rrish – who swapped places with Rishi when the latter entered his world.

Bookish Yays:

👨🏻‍🤝‍👨🏻 A rare fantasy story set in my beloved Mumbai. Liked the little glimpses of the city (both "Mumbai Left" and "Mumbai Right") and of Bollywood.

Bookish Okays:

🎭 Rishi vs. Rrish. Rishi's turnaround time in his new world is almost instant, which is tough to believe. Still, his story gets at least a decent representation. Rrish's arc feels half-baked in comparison, with several gaps in his experiences.

🎭 The names get a tad confusing at times to remember. There’s just a tiny phonetic difference between Rishi and Rrish, and the presence of both names in both POVs doesn’t help matters. Having the POVs in third person helps somewhat.

🎭 The depiction of how a person might change with a turnaround in their circumstances. Somewhat straightforward and predictable, but still serves as a good reminder of what really counts in life.

🎭 The pacing. Not *slow burn*, but not fast either.

🎭 The infodump in between, coming from another character's perspective. A really interesting story but too lengthy for one go. It should have been presented as interludes in between the Rishi/Rrish chapters.

🎭 Plenty of local words in *Bambaiya Hindi*. Perfectly fine for me as I speak the language. But outsiders might struggle to get the contextual meanings. I hope the final version of the book contains a glossary.

Bookish Nays:

⚔ The fantasy elements. There was so much potential with the concept of doppelganger persons as well as doppelganger cities. But the execution doesn't quite match up as it focuses more on the characters than on the magic. The end result feels like a general fiction novel with some inexplicable bits instead of like a proper portal fantasy. There was also a good potential for suspense, but even this isn't capitalised on.

⚔ The final few chapters. Almost like an unhinged fever dream.

⚔ The ending. Feels like an incomplete cut-off because of how abrupt it is.

Overall, this book has many good ingredients, but something went wrong in the recipe. It could have done so much more as the fantasy, especially given the teeny peeks we get at the magic of the mirror world. Sadly, by trying to stay focussed on the humans, the fantasy itself gets very diluted. It's not a bad book, but it isn't what it could have been. Regardless, fantasy is a relatively unexplored genre by Indian writers, so even seeing a fantasy set in my city is a happy occurrence.

Recommended to readers interested in checking out a doppelganger story set in an atypical location.

My thanks to Flame Tree Press for providing the DRC of “Slow Burn” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.