Another glimpse in what is, to me, a foreign culture. What I especially liked about it was that when we go through the back story, Abhi sincerely wanted to get married. The choice hadn't been easy for him, but when Jai messed up, the situation simplified.

There's genuine love between Abhi and his wife. It would have been too easy to have Abhi as someone who married because he was expected to (there's certainly an element of that), but to not feel affection for Amu.

The only confusing thing for me was that because the names are so unfamiliar, having so many names starting with A was distracting. I had to keep trying to maintain in my head who was who.

A great story that shows that real life is rarely simple. People are complex and not easily categorised.

Thanks, Kyle!

Yes. Thanks for the story, Kyle!

As is often the case, I agree with everything that Graeme wrote above.


Also, I think that people from a culture where arranged marriages don't happen have a tendency to think that the participants in such a marriage are often reluctant. In this story we see that Abhi positively asks his parents to arrange the marriage.

Can I perhaps make a small suggestion that I think could improve the story? As it stands, the story is interesting and enjoyable, but for me it's like a report of interesting events. Personally, I feel it would be an even better story if it had more suspense, or a little more drama, or a 'twist' in the ending. Maybe the revelation that Abhi wanted to get married all along (or Jai's cheating) could be introduced differently to achieve this?

Just an idea!


Kit

I enjoyed the story but found it a little too confusing in the way it jumped back and forth from present to past. I also felt as though it were unfinished. Well written, however.

This seems to be a characteristic of Kyle's stories It certainly makes the reader pay attention to what's going on, so they can try to piece together the order. It's not something I would like to see in a novel, but in the occasional short story, it can be quite interesting.

I liked the concept of the marriage being 'revenge'...I mean it's a crummy thing, but it was an interesting concept.

All around a fascinating story!

But I don't think it was revenge. He was torn between options, and marriage was one of those options. I don't think it was his number one choice, but it was high on the list and when Jai broke his trust, it moved up above his relationship with Jai.