Title : That Night
Author : Nidhi Upadhyay
Genre : Thriller ; Mystery ; Horror
Pages : 288
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BLURB
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN INNOCENT PRANK GOES HORRIBLY WRONG?
Natasha, Riya, Anjali and Katherine were best friends in college—each different from the other yet inseparable—until that night.
It was the night that began with a bottle of whisky and a game of Ouija but ended with the death of Sania, their unlikeable hostel mate. The friends had vowed never to discuss that fateful night, a pact that kept their friendship and guilt dormant for the last twenty years.
But now, someone has begun to mess with them, threatening to reveal the truth that only Sania knew. Is it a hacker playing on their guilt, or has Sania’s ghost really returned to avenge her death?
As the faceless enemy closes in on them, the friends come together once again to recount what really happened that night. But when the story is retold by each of them, the pieces don’t match. Because none of them is telling the whole truth . . .
That Night is a dark, twisted tale of friendship and betrayal that draws you in and confounds you at every turn.
REVIEW
That Night is the debut novel of the author, Nidhi Upadhyay. This book follows the life of four friends who commits a terrible mistake by playing with Ouija Board in the name of prank twenty years ago during their teens. They make a vow, not to speak about that particular night which changed their world upside down ever again. And as a repercussion of that incident everyone drift apart from each others’ lives because that is what is safe for their lives.
Life moves on normally until they all start receiving anonymous text messages threatening them with their secret. Is it a blackmailer who is after their money or a hacker messing with them or is there any paranormal activity at play ?
What happened that night ? What these four are hiding and who is after them ? It is the story of this book.
The book is narrated from five different people’s perspective. The writing style of the author is so good and it has been meticulously drafted and edit. This book has a vibe that will make anybody to pick it up and read it immediately. And most part of the credit goes to the attractive blurb for managing to haul the readers towards the book.
Throughout the book the author has successfully managed to make the readers guess the mystery and who is behind the blackmail. This also gives raise to the question “whether it’s a horror or a thriller” and this factor has been defined by a tender line between horror and normal thriller.
Since this book had a lot of female lead characters, it will definitely takes some time for the readers to find out the distinguish characteristics between all the lead characters but after a point it will be easier to find the differences between the characters and their characteristic. The author has specifically given special characteristics, quirks and flaws that made them ultra familiar and relatable. These things actually made these characters real.
The plot of the book has been spanned out across different countries and cities ranging from London, New York, Singapore and Mumbai. But the author had specifically elaborated on lots of places in Singapore, especially all the haunted places in Singapore. And she has taken the readers on a trip to those places and also shared a bit of exciting back stories which revolves around these haunted places. One would never know that these kind of haunted places are there in Singapore unless and until they have spent a lot of years in Singapore. Getting to know about these places were really excited to read and of course it would be a news to many.
The way in which the author has described about the lead characters’ college life and particularly the hostel life was extremely refreshing and will bring about a nostalgic experience to most of the readers. The location of their college was very ideal and most of the Engineering colleges in India are located in these kind of places which is completely disconnected from human world and surveillance. These colleges are build in the middle of nowhere and it has eerie aura to it and it’s really nice that the author had decided to add this key features to the plot.
As has been mentioned earlier, the book was filled with a lot of characters both minor and major ones but everyone was distinctive and different and unique. It is really great that the author has invested so much time and care on creating these kind of characters. Each of these characters have their own back stories which will make the readers understand all these characters and their actions at a deeper level.
One of the best things about this book was the bond shared between these friends. The way they love and take care of each other was amazing. While reading these parts, the readers will undoubtedly think about their friends and that’s really great.
Certain instance in the book were really blood chilling. In fact the opening of the book was really amazing and it had the caliber to haul anybody’s attention in a jiffy. The ways in which these women are being blackmailed was on point and pretty interesting to read. The author has written it in a way that the readers will start doubting every single characters in the book and sometimes they will start doubting themselves (kidding 😛 )
The plot revolves around playing Ouija, though the author has given considerable amount of information about ouija board, it felt like it was not enough. An extra in-depth backstory would have been really interesting, of course she has given what was required was the plot but a little extra would have been exciting to read.
The clues and the way the plot moved forward was smooth and good but at certain points it felt like the pace of the book was falling behind from what it has been originally set out for. But the author is very intelligent and she knows how to tackle this issue and so she counter attacked it by bringing about a gripping scene into focus. These scenarios will definitely take the life out of the readers with its thrilling aspects, at least for a second or two.
Towards the end there were lots of revelations and twists which were absolutely unbelievable and good. These twists were great and it was mostly logical. But still, the climax could have been better because if you’re a thriller reader you would be able to slightly predict what’s gonna happen in the end. And to a certain extend the ending wasn’t satisfying enough and not very clear to be frank.
On the whole, this is a very interesting book which will utterly keep the readers occupied until they read the last word of the book. Nidhi Upadhyay is one spectacular author who knows how to deliver her story in a manner in which it will be enjoyed by the readers. It was totally engaging and thrilling.
MY VIEWS
So, yeah!! I read the blurb and I was convinced it was going to be a good read and it managed to keep me occupied till the very end. I liked the character development of all the characters and there were lots of moments which was super amazing and interesting to read. This book managed to talk about many things that are deep and sensitive. Readers would definitely satisfied by reading about all these things. I’m stopping here as I don’t want to giveaway any spoilers.
My rating for this book would be 3.6 out of 5 stars
I would like to recommend this book to people who are into horror and thrillers. If you’re a beginner to reading books in general or new these genres, this book will be a wonderful experience for you. I think it would be a great start to begin your reading journey. It is a whole package which has been meticulously written in a systematic and tremendous manner.
Do read this book and let me know how you feel about it!!!
Happy Reading Folks!!
~ Meenu
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