invisible ties book review

This is one book which totally surprised me. When I read the blurb of the book, I thought it gave away most of the story, but I was completely mistaken. The narration is almost impeccable and the author has done an amazing job with the storyline. The character of Noor has depth and once you immerse yourself in the story, you can live through Noor’s experiences. . .

Noor, a girl hailing from Pakistan, is down-to-earth and humble unlike her extravagant mother and her high profile lifestyle. There is a void in her life in terms of love and care which one gets from a relationship. Things take turn for the worse when one day when Noor’s mother is kidnapped. Noor’s expedition from Pakistan, to Singapore and then to London, is put to a halt when her mother and aunt force her to marry Meekal and settle abroad. A stunt pulled off so that the society applauds Noor’s market value. A sorry state of affairs in our country. Noor gets marries to a seemingly typical unloving family. The story unfurls further only to surprise the reader. . .


Through this book, the author has moved beyond the storytelling skill. She touches on various themes which ail our society – relationship constraints, unrequited love, and mental health. The entire story is a journey of self-discovery and resonates with a lot of emotions any reader has experienced in life. . .

The story becomes a drag when the reader learns more about the architectural layout of the places Noor lives in or travels to. There's unnecessary focus on detailing on her attire instead of her expressions and her feelings or the impact of the incident on her making the writing fall flat.


Noor along with other characters of the book isn't described in detail. There are very few dialogues between the characters which are also very strange in speech which makes it hard to decipher what they mean. The book has a vague beginning and it took me some time to understand what's happening, the supporting characters don't contribute much to the plot. As a reader I couldn't connect with Noor emotionally since her submissive behaviour confused me greatly. Her weakness and desire make her indifferent and malleable. I found it hard to like the characters from this book. The plot had great potential but lack of character description made it a tiring read.


My only problem with the book is that it is too descriptive at certain places. The narration is simple but sometimes it gets stretched because of which I got distracted a couple of times. But overall, the author has done a wonderful job with this book. Looking forward to reading more of her works.