Review

Ankita was a patient with Bipolar Disorder. With the help of her parents and NIMH. Life is What You Make it ends there. What’s left for the sequel? Well, the mental health problem is like a shadow. Wherever you go, you will be scrutinized. Whatever you do will be judged as a disease. You won’t be able to express your emotions for fear that you will be misjudged as being sick again. 


Ankita is out in the world. She wants to erase her past and start all over. But the return of her boyfriend and encounter with a book throws her off track. One after the other external circumstances build up new challenges for her. Are these just circumstances or is she going back to square one? Down with Bipolar?

A deep, touching

The book is deep. A reader looking for entertainment would not be able to enjoy it. This book is purely targeted at people who need help. Help doesn’t mean psychological problems. Help means the issues you face in your day-to-day life, small and big. It is a pointer to show that sometimes it’s not your problem. It is how you deal with it. The character of Mrs. Hayden is exemplary. The visualization exercises mentioned by her, though a creation of the author is brilliant. It takes off in a tough phase and hence the pace is slow but slowly gains momentum. Nonetheless, the book is not an easy read but a deep read. It is a fictional self-help book.


After Life is What You Make It, the author’s further books were more or less overrated or camouflaged by the fans who she made from the book. Hence the expectations were high and different but sadly she couldn’t reach the mark she set with the book or maybe she got carried away with the need to keep up with the bestseller list. But this one, it is evident that the author has put her heart and soul into it. Her bleeding heart is evident in how she dealt with Ankita. This is the Preeti Shenoy. Or Preeti Shenoy is back, so to speak. 

Verdict

Way above life is what you make it.


Scenario:   4.5/5