Saved in Sri Lanka by Devika Fernando Reviewed by Rishikesh G. Pande

Date Published: March 3, 2015

Publisher: Self-published at Smashwords

Pages: 292

Source: Review copy provided by Devika Fernando

Format: Kindle edition

Goodreads Synopsis

Some people are destined to meet.

It sure feels that way when Sri Lankan tour guide Sepalika meets Daniel. The mysterious tourist from Ireland steals his way into her heart and makes her question everything her life is built upon. Instant attraction turns to love – but does he feel the same? And what about the secret she’s hiding from him?

Follow the two on their quest for a happy ending amid the beauty and wonders of the tropical island paradise of Sri Lanka.

My Review

The story line of the novel is probably the simplest yet the most complicated one I have ever read. Sepalika, a tour guide in Sri Lanka, falls in love with a foreigner, Daniel, on her tour over the course of time. What started off from mere curiosity ends up in pristine love for Daniel. She struggles with her ethics and moral values for a while but in the end fails to hold herself back. Her history lessons to Daniel have the same effect on Daniel. His curiosity towards history and culture of Sri Lanka attracts him towards Sepalika. Does he feel the same, she wonders. And what about the secret she’s hiding from him? This book reminded me of one of the quotes by Rumi,

“The minute I heard my first love story,

I started looking for you, not knowing

How blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.

They're in each other all along.”

~Rumi, The Illuminated Rumi

I really enjoyed reading this novel not only because of the story but also the language. Language of Devika Fernando’s novel, Saved in Sri Lanka, is simple and pleasant to read. It gave me pleasant experience throughout the novel. The metaphors used in the book made me fall in love! If at all I fell in love with Daniel just as Sepalika did, Devika’s metaphors is to be blamed for that.

When it comes to romance of two history geeks in Sri Lanka, you’re surely be given a lot of history lessons. Have you ever been to Sri Lanka? Have you ever been to sandy beaches and seen the beautiful temples of Sri Lanka? No? Well, Devika’s novel, Saved in Sri Lanka, will guide you throughout the island nation. One of the best parts of the novel was history lessons by Sepalika to Daniel. For a history lover, this book is a treasure!

One of the most fascinating things about this book is conversations which are the very foundation of a romantic novel. Devika has done a great job at Sepalika and Daniel’s conversations which varied from Sri Lankan culture to love and arranged marriage debates. Every author, directly or indirectly, sometimes, goes in so much deeper inside a character that he/she confesses or puts forward their opinions on social, political, religious and economic issues. In addition to the beautiful history lessons, some insights into the social, political, economical and religious issues concerning Sri Lanka were indeed provided by Devika Fernando which made the conversations between Sepalika and Daniel more interesting.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that Daniel, male lead character, felt alien or a stranger to me even after finishing the novel. Somewhere along the line, even after finishing the novel, I couldn’t possibly understand why Daniel would do what he did. His actions and suddenness of the same lead to confusion. But, on the other hand, I also understand the reason behind it – Devika’s novel demanded a foreigner and so she gave us one. The narration from Sepalika’s point of view was the need of the novel and she did an excellent job at it. The magic of falling in love with someone over the course of time out of love and attraction is captured perfectly by Devika Fernando in Saved in Sri Lanka. Apart from a few spelling mistakes and one place, where Daniel was mentioned as David, the rest of the book was just a perfect romance novel!

UPDATE: The spelling mistakes and other mistakes have now been corrected!

Does Daniel feel the same the way Sepalika does? And what about the secret she’s hiding from him?

To find out, read Saved in Sri Lanka by Devika Fernando…

Buy the ebook here:
Amazon: http://tiny.cc/tvv0wx
Flipkart: http://tiny.cc/eyv0wx

I rate this wonderful book a 3.5 out of 5 mostly for the history lessons and fascinating romance between Sepalika and Daniel. I recommend this book to every romantic novel lover, to the generation which falls for lust rather than love, to the history lovers and to the island lovers. This is a must read for all the Indians who wish to see the beauty of the island nation through the eyes of a Sri Lankan. This is a book not to be missed at any cost!

Huge thanks to Devika Fernando for the review copy! I really appreciate it.

Note: I sincerely apologize to Devika Fernando for the delay in reviewing this wonderful book. But, I believe that a book such as this one deserves a book review which does justice to it. For that exact reason, the delay was caused in the reviewing this book.

~RP

3 comments:

Rubina Ramesh said...: A very well written Review :); 10 May 2015 at 23:08
Devika Fernando said...: Thanks a lot for the detailed and honest review! I appreciate the feedback, and I'm glad you enjoyed my book. The review was well worth waiting for. The small mistakes have since been fixed, by the way. :-); 13 May 2015 at 06:45
Unknown said...: Devika ma'am, I had forgotten to UPDATE my blog post accordingly. I just updated the blog post. Apologies for the delay! And I'm truly glad you liked my book review. :)

Thank you Rubina ma'am! I really appreciate it. :); 16 May 2015 at 12:09

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