{"id":4079,"date":"2018-08-16T21:03:40","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T15:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=4079"},"modified":"2020-04-05T10:40:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T05:10:15","slug":"book-of-m-suicide-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/book-of-m-suicide-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Debut Novels about Shadowless people and Immortality"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Book of M<\/em> and Suicide Club<\/em> have been noteworthy debuts of 2018. Peng Shepherd explores a real phenomenon called Zero Shadow day in her novel which lead to different readers label it as fantasy, dystopia and magical realism. It is set in our world with an unexpected element of shadows getting stolen from their owners. Suicide Club<\/em> is a futuristic world which reminded me a bit about the movie In Time<\/em> where people do not age after 25 years. In Rachel Heng’s world youth and health are things to aspire for and those who don’t have these qualities are labelled unworthy. It is an interesting take on what life means and also whether death is a choice or something we run away from.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\nNoteworthy debuts of 2018 from @pengshepherd and @rachelhengqp about worlds of  shadowless people and immortal folks who think death is a taboo <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n <\/p>\n

The Book of M<\/h2>\n

slow paced. diverse cast of characters. mythological threads<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

Something strange is happening. People are losing their shadows and soon after, their memories. Then they lose all sense of self \u2013 forget to breathe, forget to eat, forget to open a locked door and finally die. This novel is inspired by Zero Shadow Day, an astronomical phenomenon restricted to a few geographical locations in India where twice a year shadows disappear for a few moments due to an alignment of sun and earth.<\/p>\n

The story is told from the POVs of four people –  Orlando Zhang (Ory), who is in pursuit of his wife who left him after losing her shadow; Max, his wife, who keeps recording herself speaking to her husband as she will lose her memories soon; Mahnaz Ahmadi, an Iranian archer, stuck in Boston; The Amnesiac who lost his memory in an accident. The book also includes Hindu mythology wonderfully incorporated in the narrative as well as mention of several Indian cities (Mumbai, Pune, Trivandrum), gods (Guruvaayoorappan, Sun god) and fairytales (Peter Pan). I was happy that the author gave due time for her research on the Indian bits; there were no stereotypes and there was accurate representation. The characters are of different ethnicities, the setting spans from India to the States and the imagery of this new shadowless world clearly satisfies a global audience. And the climax! OH THE CLIMAX! It broke me, which is why the book is so good.<\/p>\n

The Book of M<\/em> is slow, memorable debut with three dimensional characters and multiple POVs adding  more tension to the narrative. Pick it up if you are looking for a good book with magical realism. I might say you\u2019d love it in audio format more since it is a slow read. This one is guaranteed to haunt you for a long time<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n#TheBookofM is a fabulous read with a diverse cast of well fleshed characters and mythology in a world of shadowless people. The climax will BREAK you and HAUNT you <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author : Peng Shepherd
\nPublisher : Harper Voyager
\nPublication: 2018
\nLanguage : English
\nPages : 496
\nRating : 4\/5<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Book
\n <\/p>\n

Suicide Club<\/h2>\n

future. focus on world building. themes of life and death<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

The Suicide Club<\/em> is set in futuristic NYC where lives last at least 300 years and death is a taboo. When Lifer, Lea who has a perfect life with a great job and a genetically perfect fianc\u00e9 comes across her \u2018unhealthy\u2019 estranged father, she needs to make choices. There is also a club of rebels who cringe at immortality and want to make life and death a personal choice.<\/p>\n

The book explores our obsession with youth and beauty. Burgers, oily food, junk food are all termed as \u2018trad food\u2019 and frowned upon in this world. Fruits and vegetables are not encouraged to be eaten either. The residents survive on a mix of juicing, exercise, closed windows (so that the air does not get inside apartments) and regular maintenance. There is super blood, diamond skin and a long life to revel in. I enjoyed the book and it definitely had my attention from the start to the end. However, I felt it was not conflict driven as I expected it to be. I enjoyed the world building of Lifers, the political hierarchy and the thought process of the rebels. The idea was a brilliant one and I felt it could have been explored in more detail and depth.<\/p>\n

Suicide Club<\/em> is all about the perfection we crave for and how disastrous such a world can be. Rachel Heng is definitely an author to watch out for and I am keen on what she publishes next.
\n#SuicideClub is a look into our obsession with beauty and youth and a debate on whether death is a taboo or a human right <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\nDisclaimer : Much thanks to Harper Collins (The Book of M), Sceptre (The Suicide Club) for the books. All opinions are my own<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Book of M and Suicide Club have been noteworthy debuts of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6307,16],"tags":[462,6369,2309,8596,61,31],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\nDebut Novels about Shadowless people and Immortality | The Book Satchel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/book-of-m-suicide-club\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Debut Novels about Shadowless people and Immortality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Book of M and Suicide Club have been noteworthy debuts of...\" 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