Figmented Reality by Zuko is the type of novel that deals with stream of consciousness and psychology. This novel needs a lot of patience as you need to read between the lines so that you can understand author’s perspective. The author gave me the copy in return of an honest review. Lets go in depth then :

Cover- The cover of the book is white and black where we find a figure and the figure is its shadow and is blurred. This sounds related to the novel. The back cover is black in colour and has the blurb.

Title- Figmented Reality is one of the unique and best suited title for this novel. Once the reader reads the book, he can corelate with the title.

Blurb- Addiction blurs our hold on reality; people say. But what if addiction becomes our reality? SIddharth had a fair few addictions in his wake. The challenge now was to differentiate between the ideal world and the real world. Will Siddharth be able to overcome his addictions and find true love. Or is it just another addiction?

Plot- The plot revolves around Siddharth who happens to be an addict. Actually he is occupied by addictions and his inner demons that doesn’t let him live a normal life. He remains secluded to people. When he realises he is drowning in his addictions he joins a rehab where he comes across his old crush, Veena and Ananya. The story proceeds with these two women as a part of his life along with his best friend Adithya. The plot is bit loose and has some loops in it.

Characterisation- The author has done an amazing job in delineation of the characters. The character of Siddhrath is complex and it takes guts to portray such a character. Yes, I would pray that I never come across such a character but the fact cannot be denied that only Zuko can come up with such a challenging character. It is noticed that Sid is not so handsome but he has a charm that attracts Veena and Ananya. He consumes alcohol, weed and smoke also. Even he is a porn addict and he readily accepts this fact and has a reason behind his acts. The childhood abuse had made him this way.

Ananya is a lively character but she seems fighting with her inner demons and becomes an alocholic. She comes across Sid and immediately develops a liking towards him but later on, she falls for Adithya, Sid’s rommate and they seem to be perfect for each other.

Veena is a married lady with two kids. She is an alcoholic who seems struggling with her life. SHe likes Sid but not that way. She is older than Sid and sometimes regrets the fact. She is an attention seeker and a moody person.

Adithya is a true friend and amazing character. He is fun loving, sporty, crazy and a loving person. When he falls for Ananya, he slowly makes his moves and keeps her happy. He also listens to Sid and his thoughts. He wants to see Sid happy.

Theme- There are many themes in this book. The first theme is related to stream of consciousness. Sid is the product of this concept. Being an addict he seems to hallucinate about the things and he talks to himself sometimes. The plans he make, the thoughts and the way he thinks that things that are happening with him are real because he is unable to accept the things. The reality seems illusion to him and the illusion seems reality to him.

There is a theme of friendship. Ananya, Adithya and Sid share a very strong bond of friendship. These trio do everything to make each other happy. Sid did every possible thing to hook Ananya and Adithya. Yes, he succeeded in it. Whereas, Adithya and Ananya tried their best to make Sid realise that having a relationship with Veena was not a good idea.

The other theme is of one sided love between Sid and Nandita. The readers come to know about their bond in the flashbacks. When Sid is dreaming about her. This is one of the tragic side of Sid. THe incomplete love which made him an addict, yet another reason.

Further, The unfulfilled desires with Veena makes Sid cranky and he begins to hallucinate the things. He is addicted to Veena and she just use him as an escape.

Style- The sentences are simple and readable. The long speeches at the rehab meeting are amazing. I would say they are the eye catchers in the whole book. The use of epistolar technique is one of the other hit. The other segment includes editing. To be honest, the author is never to be blamed for it. It is the editor who adds flavour to the book and in this case, the editor somewhere fails. The errors can be easily corrected and we wish that the next edition is error free.

Availability- https://www.pustakmandi.com/Figmented-Reality-Zuko

http://m.dailyhunt.in/Ebooks/english/figmented-reality-book-205652

http://www.amazon.in/Figmented-Reality-Zuko/dp/9352016165

https://www.amazon.com/Figmented-Reality-Zuko/dp/9352016165