Some problems I had with the book explained here. ( )

Abandoned by her father and orphaned by her mother’s death, the twenty year-old narrator of A Bad Character feels stifled by both New Dehli and her aunt’s relentless search for her husband. When she meets an older, mysterious man in a cafe, he pulls her into a life and an affair she never expected.

There is much to love about Deepti Kapoor’s debut: the gorgeous prose that seamlessly meanders back and forth in time, the unique look at New Dehli from a shifting perspective and the irresistible pull of self-discovery. In the small space of a near-novella, Kapoor is able to dip into her character’s past while also exploring the newness of the present Yet, the novel’s intense character study fizzles too soon, allowing the end of the short book to fall flat in a way that distracts from its overall impact.

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This is a novel that you really have to stick it out to the end with in order to fully appreciate. It flowed a lot differently than most novels of similar style, but I did not think that was necessarily a bad thing. It did, however, make it a tad bit more difficult to follow, but I think that just added to its overall uniqueness. As the protagonist kept getting deeper and deeper into her story, I could feel it coming alive in my head. I could smell all of India as it was described, and I could see the crazed look on the face of her wretched lover. If the author has one prominent quality, it would certainly be her knack for describing things in intimate detail. This was a coming-of-age story that defied just about every stereotype that I can think of, and I love it for that reason. I do hope to read more from this author in the very near future.

I have received a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

I like stories by south Asians. Told in first person, this is the story of a young woman who falls in love with a man who deceives her. After his death she discovers how badly she was treated. This debut author provides a voice that brings her character to life with sparse language. I appreciate an author who can portray the grittiness of a situation as well as the love of her city, Delhi, in few words. That is a skilled author. ( )