The campus book trail. Review on Sum thing of a mocktale - Soma Das

A friend gifted me this book when I went on a vacation. The book, with a naughty and humorous flavour, is set in JNU and captures the lives of a group of three girls, one of whom is the protagonist, and people around them.

The title of the book, mis-spelt consciously, actually made a little more sense to me after I completed reading it, which I did in one go.

In **sumthing of a mocktale**, the author has **sum**med up several** thing**s that a campus witnesses and narrates these in a series of  **tales **in **mock**ing style of writing.

What is interesting is the clever way in which the book puts forth serious issues in rather funny manner. As I read the book, I found myself laughing a lot and almost grieving at times.

The first-time author brings in a certain freshness in her attempts at satire.

You enter the campus with Kaya and experience the life in campus along with her group of friends. You also enjoy their take on the campus, their small fights in attempts to get marks, their friends, their unsuccesful attempts to impress teachers, their weird romances, their fears about careers and a critical analysis of themselves.

Each of these tales could have been independent short stories, except for the fact that if you read one chapter after the other, there is an underlying thread connecting these beads (chapters) in a necklace.

Several characters have been sketched in detail making the "supporting actors/actresses" as important as the main trio.

Those who have liked other campus books like **five point someone** and **above average** will like this book. It is not as pacy as five point someone, but it has depth and makes you steadily read the events and reflect on them. The descriptions do get long winding at times, but you can skip those parts and move on.

Save this for those times when you are in a reflective mood and want an intelligent light read.