The Review Tour for
An Incurable Insanity by Simi K Rao!
An Incurable Insanityby Simi K Rao
Paperback, eBook, 376 pages
Published October 8, 2013 by Tate Publishing
Her heart fluttered when she heard the sound of the key turn in the lock. She quickly adjusted her maroon silk sari with the yellow border, the one that had caught his eye, and waited eagerly for his footsteps.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... Yes, exactly seven steps before he stopped, hesitated for a few moments, then removed his shoes one by one and arranged them neatly side by side on the shoe rack.
She smiled. He had been mindful of taking his shoes off every day now. "I am not used to it, but I will if you want me to. It's probably a good thing to do anyway."
As he settled down, he would pick up the TV remote and, without looking at her, would say in his smooth baritone, "So how did you spend your day, anything interesting?"
Shaan Ahuja found himself bowing to tradition and agreeing to an arranged marriage to the beautiful Ruhi Sharma. He went through the motions but had no intention of carrying through on his vows. His last foray into matters of the heart with an American girl had left him scarred and unwilling to try again. Thoroughly disillusioned and disgruntled he wasted no time in making his intentions clear to Ruhi on their wedding night. But, he was completely unprepared for what his new wife had in mind.
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My Review / Thoughts
Simi K. Rao was born in India and has been living in the United States for several years. The inspiration for An Incurable Insanity came from what she has seen transpire among and within the immigrant community. Some of the experiences included are her own; some have been garnered from friends and casual conversations with acquaintances...
I am a physician–and to many I may appear serious and solitary. But once people get to know me better, they often think that I am frank, down to earth, with quite a quirky sense of humor. And that is what I bring to my writing—read and you shall see.
My Review / Thoughts
I found this book so good and so infuriating at the same time. I am finding it hard to put into words how I feel about the book. I have some very strong opinions about how a marriage should be, and the idea of an arranged marriage is something my mind cannot comprehend, so even though it was an awesome book, I often found myself very frustrated with both of the MC's of this book..
Forced to move to California after getting married to Shaan, Ruhi finds herself in marriage that seems to have no hope, and in a country and city she is unfamiliar with.
Ruhi finds out from the very beginning of the marriage that Shaan never plans to "be" with her because he is in love with another woman. He gave into tradition but had no intention of being with Ruhi. Ruhi on the other hand, had a plan to sort of "woo" her husband into wanting to be in the marriage.
The back and forth between Ruhi and Shaan "in their heads" sometimes made me want to scream. Why couldn't they say what was on their mind out loud? It would have solved a lot of problems right away. Yet, that is what kept me reading. I also found it very funny..I often find myself having a conversation in my head as well, so it was entertaining to me.
Ruhi at times seems a little bi-polar to me. She goes from being "shy, quiet, and easy going", to "bat crazy" in no time at all. One minute she is saying sweet things, and trying to be a good wife, the next minute she is playing games, and flying off the handle. She has a very short temper. She is bullheaded, which I love, but found frustrating at times.
When Shaan realizes the mistake he has made and tries to make up for it, he redeems himself in my eyes. A little. He proves himself to be the most patient man on the planet. I even at times was like "gosh, kick this woman to the curb, all she does is play games". I have to remind myself I am reading a book, not living it. hehe!
The progression of their relationship is sweet, and frustrating. I know that doesn't seem to go together, but read the book and you might understand where I am coming from.
I love how they discover more about themselves during their "trial" time together, and realize how important it is to be "in" a marriage and not just go through the motions.
I do not believe a marriage should ever consist of a person believing they "own" the other person, so there were a few things that bothered me in that aspect.
This really is a sweet love story. I found it very hard to put down. I love reading about different traditions and cultures, even if it's fiction. I love how each MC talk to themselves in their head. We always make things out to be worse than they really are in our minds, and this book made me chuckle sometimes because there is a lot of "in head" struggle, fighting, and talking. Silly things that make you want to find out if they are every going to get the nerve up to say to each other!
I hope that you enjoy reading this book! It's a beautiful story about falling in love even in the hardest of circumstances!
Source: I received this book as a host for the tour in return for an honest review. I was not compensated in anyway for this review, and these are my own PERSONAL thoughts on the book!
My Rating:
You saw The Exotic Tour... you got a taste for the beautiful culture and the romantic attraction of our spunky young characters... now we're reviewing it and posting a new excerpt at each stop! Here's today's:
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Read with us!
Simi K. Rao was born in India and has been living in the United States for several years. The inspiration for An Incurable Insanity came from what she has seen transpire among and within the immigrant community. Some of the experiences included are her own; some have been garnered from friends and casual conversations with acquaintances...
I am a physician–and to many I may appear serious and solitary. But once people get to know me better, they often think that I am frank, down to earth, with quite a quirky sense of humor. And that is what I bring to my writing—read and you shall see.
I was born in the dead center of India, but had the privilege of spending time both in the north and south. Therefore I have been able to sample and absorb to some extent the vastly diverse cultures and languages of both these regions (the very quality that imparts tremendous richness to our country’s heritage,) —a phenomenon perhaps not seen anywhere else in the world.
After immigrating to the United States in my early twenties and spending several years in this country, whenever I travel back to my homeland now, I find that I appreciate my roots a lot more. Still there is so much to see and learn, that a lifetime won’t suffice.
Tour-Wide Giveaway
January 13 - February 3, 2014
1 Taste of India Collection from World Market (US Only)
2 Signed Print Copies of An Incurable Insanity (US Only)
2 eCopies of An Incurable Insanity (International)
See Rafflecopter for restrictions
Follow along on the tour:
1/13 Launch
1/14 Mel's Shelves
1/15 Sarit Yahalomi
1/17 Anastacia Reviews
1/19 Deal Sharing Aunt
1/20 Hardcover Feedback
1/21 Books with Bree
1/22 Vvb32 Reads
1/23 Dividing by Zero
1/24 Grand Finale
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Even though you got frustrated at the main characters, I am glad that you still really enjoyed this. I have yet to read a book about an arranged marriage for the very reasons you mentioned but this sounds like a good place to start.
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