The City Inside

Probably more of a 3.5 though.

I couldn't read it early despite having the arc because I was in a bad slump. But now that I managed to get the audiobook, I had to give it a try. It's quite well narrated by Reena Dutt and I didn't wanna put it down much. However, despite the lovely voice, I can't say I was completely into the story. I totally believed the world (or a near future Delhi) the author created, which felt both similar to the current political climate in the country and as a natural progression to the future if the authoritarian tendencies of our politicians aren't curbed soon. This world where reality is what we see on social media platforms, and everything is controlled by politicians and corporations and oligarchs, dissent is curbed immediately - there's just so much information here and I was lost in the world, but I also couldn't keep up with it.

On the other hand, I didn't feel the same with the characters. Atleast it felt like Rudra had some kind of a character arc, but Joey who has the biggest presence was more static. I think I understood the reasoning - because most people are going to keep their heads down and work within any existing system, not participate in revolutions - which is what Joey does for the most part, but she also has a good understanding of what she is capable of. The other side characters really weren't ppl I cared about much, or even kinda hated - but that was also the expected reaction I suppose, so the author succeeded.

I guess I'm not disappointed because I knew going in that this book is not about characters participating in a revolution and bringing about drastic changes in their world - it's about the characters realizing that they want to change the system and hope to be part of a resistance. So it stops where most dystopian novels start. However, despite knowing this, this story just felt more like a recounting of all the cool and bad facts of this futuristic world, with not much focus on character development. I would still definitely look forward to the author's work, even more so if he decides to write a sequel for this one.