Book Review Goagram
Book Title:
GOAGRAM
BUY AT:
PRICE:
PAPERBACK: RS 319, KINDLE EDITION: RS 308
GENRE:
LITERARY & CONTEMPORARY FICTION
PUBLISHER:
ISBN-10 : 9356995710
ISBN-13 : 978-9356995710
Disclaimer:
I received this book in exchange for an honest book review of Goagram. This is not a sponsored review; In a word, I did not get paid for it.
BLURB:
A place in the sun … comes at a cost, sometimes!
Mesmerized by the world of social media influencing and its quick fix for fame, Madhur Chopra aka Maddie, escapes from COVID-infested Delhi to tranquil Goa, which provides the perfect backdrop for her vlogs. Armed with dreams of becoming a famous fashion influencer, she ends up in Casa Coutinho – a crumbling-but-glorious Goan mansion-and strikes an unlikely friendship with the landlady. As Maddie’s vlogs catch on, her life becomes a heady mix of Insta likes, ever-increasing subscribers, and new-found fame, until a horrifying experience shatters her digital dreams.
What will Maddie choose-reviving her influencer persona and striking gold with her designer clothing line, or accepting analogue anonymity forever?
A spirited tale of resilience and reinvention, Goagram takes you behind the scenes to reveal the pain and the goop behind the pouts and glitter on screen.
MY THOUGHTS ON GOAGRAM:
The book cover is very attractive. The bright colors make you want to pick it up and read what it’s all about. The oh-so-cool sunglasses of our protagonist reflecting the beautiful beaches of Goa give you the feeling that this one is surely an entertainer. And you would be right! In conclusion, it’s a fun book to read. in this book review of Goagram I will not be telling you how it ends, so there’s no spoiler alert!
the author describes Goa very well. you immediately get the vibes unique to Goa with her descriptive writing. the words took me right back to my last visit to Goa last year! I understood the quaintness and lazy vibes of Goa that our author describes.
As our heroine is from Delhi, Hindi words and sentences are thrown around the book, as a result the flavour of the book has a nice tang. The author has translated almost all the Hindi into English so that we who don’t know Hindi can understand.
The Story:
Our protagonist is a cheerful and ambitious Instagram influencer trying to get to that magic number of subscribers that we all wish we had! She is from Delhi, a fashion designer turned Influencer. Her hard luck comes with the lockdowns of COVID-19 – that harsh first quarter of 2020 that feels like yesterday. How many of us have gone through the pain and loss of business, health, family, and hardships during those days of COVID?
Down on her luck after losing money on a non-starter boutique, Maddie comes to Goa to model some clothes that she has invested all her money in. She hopes to see them through her Instagram page. Maddie rents a room in a beautiful old Goan villa. She ends up with the sweetest landlady Mrs. Coutinho. Life seems good. The gentle laid-back life of Goa suits our heroine. Her subscribers love the photos she steadily posts. Trustful Maddie ends up in a situation that causes her to give up her Insta Influencer dreams. She locks up, freezes, and cannot go on.
Mrs. Coutinho is at her wits end on how to help Maddie. She thinks of Maddie as her own daughter. Her actual daughter is stuck in the UK and she gets pretty nasty about Maddie and her posts. But she is far away from the scene.
Is Maddie able to get over the traumatic experience she had? Does she make something of her life or sink into despair? How the resilient and gentle people of the village help Maddies, forms the rest of the story. Many twists and turns follow. We end up wondering if Maddie will find peace and praying that she does.
Conclusion:
The book gives a lot of insights into the life of an influencer. The stress and fun are a bundle when it comes to Instagramming. However, The author also subtly tells girls how to protect themselves and guard against people who try to take advantage of them as they try to live life.
the book is easy to read and the words flow easily. I think every independent-minded young girl or boy will find key lessons in life from this book. It’s a fun book to read. so I finished it in 3-4 hours because I had to know how it ended! It’s the perfect book for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
it’s difficult to find something to dislike in the book. We can learn some lessons from this book. You will find a few Hindi words and phrases that need to be translated at the end of the book. The author or the editors should take a look at that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bina Nayak is an author and graphic designer based out of Goa. She was head of Walt Disney’s design team in India. Her first novel, Starfish Pickle: A Goan Adventure, has been adapted into a major motion picture. After graduating from Sir JJ School of Art she worked in FCB Speer, DDB Mudra, Leo Burnett and Ogilvy.
This book review is written as part of theblogchatter.com Book Review Program.
To know more about Bina visit: www.binanayak.com and www.paperbakerie.com
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Well written. That’s what a true review looks like. You mentioned both what you liked and didn’t like.