Thoughts and review on - The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena

 "Nothing lasts forever," I Say. " Not this snowflake.Not our homes, not our families. But it doesn't mean you can't live in the beauty of the moment."

 "A girl like that" was a hauntingly sad, beautiful debut by Tanaz Bhathena, so when i got the opportunity to read "The beauty of the moment " almost a year later, I knew i wouldn't be disappointed.

 The book begins with Susan Thomas, recent immigrant to Mississuaga , Canada with her mother Aruna from Jeddah. Susan Thomas's father Rensil is in Jeddah, who keeps on promising the family, that he will soon leave Jeddah and join them.

Susan Thomas is an intelligent , focused student, who joins Arthur Elsridge school, where she struggles initially to make friends . She pines for her old life and friends in Jeddah. In between the heart murmurings and the longings, we are also shown Susan, who is also a quiet rebel and a brilliant artist.

At her new school, Susan meets Malcolm Vakil, a Parsi Canadian resident who is known for his rebellious ways . They are drawn towards each other and finally they start dating. Amongst their love story, we are shown a glimpse into their families. 

 Susan Thomas's parents Aruna and Rensil, are on the verge of a separation and Malcolm's relationship with his father and step mother is not exactly a walk in the park. Through their rough ups and downs, their relationship moves forward . Susan's turbulent storm mixed with her parents separation brings her own dreams of becoming a artist to a standstill temporarily and while Malcolm's destructive ways with his father are brought to a halt, where he slowly , grudgingly comes to a truce with his step mom and his father. 

 Susan Thomas towards the end transforms into a girl who doesn't conform blindly to her parents wishes of becoming a doctor or a engineer and finally stands up to her dreams of becoming an artist and Malcolm in turns becomes a responsible son who finds his niche in accounting. 

 Their one major hiccup in the love story creates a crack in their relationship, yet indirectly they don't ever stop looking out for each other. Towards the end, when all is almost well, Susan and Malcolm grow up in the story and with them their relationship grows up too.

 Its this, the snippets from real life, written by Tanaz Bhathena makes the book a more memorable read. The main characters Susan and Malcolm, don't exactly have a rosy time always, but their little stolen kisses, lovey dovey moments, fights makes us feel warm, mushy right to our little hearts. Imagine a warm brownie with hot fudge chocolate sauce topped with ice cream. 

 So I kiss Susan every chance i get. I kiss her until her lips are swollen and pink. I pour everything into our kisses; anger, frustration, longing and something else, something that skips and pushes under my ribs whenever I See Susan waiting for me by our lockers or giving me a shy smile. 

 Tanaz Bhathena hits all the right notes, although comparison with "a girl like that"is inevitable, this YA novel has its own x factor. 

 "Vodka, Justin said, was mother of grief. "when love leaves, she takes over."

 "maybe. But then, what's the point of being human, if you can't do stupid things every once in a while ?" 

 The supporting, yet pivotal cast of this story- Susan Thomas's parents, Her friend Alisha and Malcolm's father Tehtumun, her sister Mahtab, his friends Steve and Ahmed, his cunning ex-Afrin, are penned quite skillfully in this story. 

 This one is a quick, weekend read, hitting all the right notes in the love story without being overtly cheesy , corny or cliched. 

 Looking forward to read more books by Tanaz Bhathena, hopefully a one based in India. 
Name of the book :- The beauty of the moment 
Author :- Tanaz Bhathena
Genre :-Fiction\Young Adult
No.of Pages-354
Publisher :- Penguin Random House India
ISBN- 9780143447160
You can buy the book from :- Flipkart | Amazon 
PS- while writing this review, i was listening to Spotify and what amazing play lists the app has ! 

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