I was on such a reading roll, with the exception of Ember which was terrible. Then I started One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni. It was a good book, and I’m glad that I read it, but it’s one I likely will never return to.
Initial Thoughts
The premise of the story is that nine different people are trapped in a building together after an earthquake strikes. The whole idea is that, as they’re all potentially dying together, they each share one amazing thing from their lives that no one else knows about. That opens such opportunity for storylines! However, there weren’t that many gripping stories as I was anticipating.
Now, I believe that I may have missed some of the book in my incomplete understanding of Indian culture. For example, one of the men is attracted to one of his employees. They shared a kiss earlier in the day (pre-earthquake), and then he snapped and was slightly aggressive with her. The story then says, as his “internal monologue”,
He wished he could tell her that he was sorry. But even if the perfect opportunity for it arose, he would never take it. Apologize to a woman and she would gain the upper hand. Mangalamm knew better than to let that happen.
One Amazing Thing pg. 55
Overall Feelings
There were some stories that made me cry. There were others that didn’t really feel like a complete story. Then, the end of the book leaves you wondering! Did they get out? Was the building collapsing over them? I’m not the biggest fan of books that still leave you with questions.
I most often gauge a book by whether or not I’ll reread it. If it’s one I’ll come back to, it’s been a great choice. For One Amazing Thing, I don’t think I’ll read it again, but I’m glad I read it once.
