Review: A book that left me guessing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 5, 2013
Let me start off by noting that I received a free ebook copy for this book to review, and I was not paid nor required to write a positive review.I am so glad I stumbled across Gorur's work.  I'm an avid reader and am always looking for new authors to try out.  When I read the description of this fairly short story, I was immediately drawn in.  The idea of having someone from a past life out to get you is pretty original and a very nice change of pace from the topics usually seen in paranormal stories.As the story opens, Gorur takes us back to a past life of the protagonist, Sanya.  A past self suffers a series of humiliating/degrading wrongs before being murdered.  This happens in Bolivia in the late 1700s.  While it's an important section to the story, I almost stopped reading after a few pages because the content wasn't anywhere near something I'd want to read.  I wanted paranormal, and the opening made me think I was getting myself involved in a story largely written as an old school crime.  Murder stories don't really interest me.But, do not let the beginning deter you!  The story quickly focuses on the present day.  We meet Sanya, a psychology student in India that is beginning to have strange things happen to her.  Being of an analytical mind, she tries to make sense of events ranging from curious to downright bizarre.  It isn't an easy set of situations to link together.What's great about this is that, at least for me, I felt very connected to the confusion she had as I read the story.  This isn't a book that makes it easy to predict what will happen or what the characters' motives are.  I didn't have a clue until right near the end.  This was also a bit of a crutch, since my confusion made it a little tougher to get fully immersed in the story.  It wasn't like I was being led down a particular road only to be jerked to another with some big revelation.  A part of my mind was constantly trying to figure out what was going on.  It was a great tool to get readers to become invested in Sanya's tale, but overall in hurt the readability for me.  I think the author intended for the story to be puzzling though, so this is mostly just a personal preference and not a failing on Gorur's part to fully flesh out details.There were a few little things I can be nitpicky about.  Sometimes a word would be missing from the sentence, pulling me out of the story a bit more.  There were also some details that kind of felt thrown in.  I'd comment on them in more detail, but it'd make this review a bit too spoilery.  They're facts that, should Gorur write a followup, might be important, but they weren't of any use to the story.  There's also a slight chance the book will become dated.  Whenever you mention modern day tech, you run the risk of bringing up something that readers in a few years may not have a clue about.  Facebook may not stick around.  These aren't major things at all, but they do pop into my head when thinking about where the story might go.All in all, I really enjoyed reading Aymaran Shadow.  I'd be interested in seeing a follow up based on how the story ended.  There's room for more development, so maybe we'll see a followup in the future! Give the book a try if you're in the mood for something that'll make you scratch your head as the story unfolds.  Happy reading!