Book Review: Tea Town // Azraa Killru

 Tea Town

Author: Azraa Killru

Stand alone 

Format: Paperback

Genre: Contemporary | Fiction

Synopsis:

Set in Sri Lanka, where the global love for tea has its roots, two girls find themselves thrown into despair when their naive love fantasies turn out to be not-so-glamorous.

Zyva, with her head in the clouds and feet in the land of swirling mist, learns there's more to life than uniting with her beau – her initially annoying, new neighbour who loves to pull pranks on her. Hea, ambitious and short-tempered, finds her dreams of being an international badminton coach derailed, as she is burdened with the responsibility of nursing a child-like adult who has grown up in the wild.

The story takes you through the empowering transformations of these two young women. Both of them find ways to create happiness, resilience and optimism as they encounter different dimensions of love, family ties, responsibilities and mental health issues amidst the backdrop of majestic mountains, lush tea plantations and azure-gold beaches.

TW: depression CW: death, mentions of domestic abuse

Rate:  3.5 / 5 ⭐

"Isn't our mind as important as, or to be frank, more important than our body?"

Review: 

I always get excited when I get to read books based in Sri Lanka. I mean I can easily imagine the places, the food, the people. Representation matters, doesnt it.

The story is about two women, Zyva and Hea, and focuses on love, loss and their future. Zyva was a daydreamer, looking to apply for college when she meets her new neighbour, who we all know she will have a crush on. I thought her story was very simple and romantic and didnt have much interest for her story until the latter half. However, her story also brought about the labour issues regarding the tea estate workers, their struggle with poverty and also the misuse of power by the authorities. It's really important to be aware of these issues and I am glad that Azraa decided to include this arc in her book. 

Hea's story was my favourite. She had returned home after many years expecting an arranged marriage with someone she liked instead was shocked to find out that he had not grown . It was upto her to take care of him and help him navigate his way through life. I wished there was more to read about, I felt like we got very little of the story of Hea and Vidhol. I loved how the author brought up the stigma around going for therapy and seeking professional help, and also brought about the awareness of special education. 

I do wish there was more to Hea's and Vidhol's story though, I was really invested in them. And one other thing I disliked (🙈) was the information dump that happened occasionally. I personally prefer gradually getting to know about the people or the things through conversations and happenings, but maybe that's just me.

Overall, this book had a good story about love, family ties and raises awareness on important topics. Definitely recommend this lovely contemporary read, especially to Sri Lankans! You have no idea the joy it brought me when I read about the characters having a cup of tea with roast paan! Am not even kidding 😂

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧