Book Review: Dancing with Demons by Nidhie Sharma

Author’s Name: Nidhie Sharma

Book Name: Dancing with Demons

Publishing House: Harlequin India

The soon to be made into Bollywood film, novel ‘Dancing with Demons’ is all about fighting your demons and emerging as a winner. Spread in 288 pages, the novel talks about two souls – Karan and Soniya, who have a deep dark secret.

The novel begins with Karan in boxing ring, almost to achieve his first victory. Suddenly he sees an old man from his past and the demons get over him. He losses and is banned from boxing for four years. These four years prove to be the darkest time of his life.

Then enters Soniya, a beautiful lady, who has a secret of her own. She lands up being a paying guest for Karan. And what follows is a dramatic love story of them. At least that is what I thought. But here is where the twist begins. Instead of jumping straight to the love story, author Nidhie Sharma chooses to focus on their inner turmoil.

The crisp and smooth flow of the story keeps you engaged. You keep flipping pages until you have read it entirely. The novel moves slide by slide, revealing this & that at proper places. Since, I do not want to reveal the secrets or the story; I can say that the author has spent a lot of visualizing stuff before writing it down. This gives it a fresh touch and keeps us glued.

The descriptions are perfect. They are neither too much nor too less. The secrets & pasts of the protagonist is revealed at perfect time. It helps in building up the curiosity and when the secret is out, you go like, ‘OMG! I least expected this.’

Karan & Soniya are strong individuals who have struggled in their life to be at a place where they are. None of them is portrayed as ‘bechara’ types but as powerful. I was unable to decide whom I love more – Soniya or Karan. They both fall for each other because they both are fearless beings. They know & believe in ‘survival of fittest’ theory and swear by it.

The narration technique used by author is simple. The space is given more to present than the past. Author did a brilliant job by letting characters explain themselves by dialogues instead of narration. The story is relevant with today’s time and for all self-made people, it is a good read.

Not everyone has bed of roses and not everyone is blessed. Yet, you can make your life, the best, by working for it. A motive, that is passed on in this novel. Overall, it is a lovely read and I would be looking to read more books from this author.