BOOK REVIEW: AMARBAIL BY UMERA AHMED

  Title: Amarbail 
Author: Umera Ahmed
  Rating: 4.5/5 

If you are someone very close to me, you would know I am one of the craziest fans of Umera Ahmed. Today I am going to review my favorite novel where I cried buckets. Amarbail – another milestone by the writer. The book has many characters and stories severely unveiling themselves. It is about the barbaric bureaucratic system of Pakistan.

The story centers on Alizey Sikandar, a young introvert girl from a broken family living with her maternal grandparents in Lahore. Her grandfather is a retired civil servant. And her uncles and cousins are serving in and out of Pakistan in the best positions. Alizey is brought up in a closed environment. She is treated like a child, and she’d always have someone else’s opinion influence her mind. But I like how the writer has shown the development of Alizey’s character in the novel. Her life changes when her cousin, Umer Jahangir, comes to live with them.

I read this novel in 2016, and since then, I have been a die-hard Umer Jahangir fan. Umer Jahangir is a handsome young man who comes from London to appear in the CSS exam. He is a jolly and lively person. Everyone at their house loves him. Given that, Umer is a complex character. He is raw and realistic despite the wrongs he committed one can’t stop rooting for him. Umer loves perfumes.

Alizey and Umer Jahangir’s relationship was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing in this novel. Umer unconditionally loves and takes care of Alizay. Remember when she returns from her father’s place and is all sad and depressed? And how he takes her to the racecourse and explains his compromise theory, later followed by two ice creams in one go. Alizey made Umer her everything. And secretly yearning for them to be together is too many emotions for me to handle. Unfortunately, Umer feared the commitment of marriage, which he developed from his childhood experiences.

The novel also addresses the damaged bureaucracy of Pakistan and what abnormalities they go through in their personal lives. She sheds light on the lust for power, imbalanced relationships, complex family system, and nepotism, which have made our society fragile.

But admits this, the reader enjoys the undying attraction growing between the two main protagonists. The rawest and heart-touching romance brews between Alizay and Umer until one pays the price. SOMEONE DIES (spoiler). Well, we all know who it is, but it crushes us. I always knew about someone dying, but despite all the preparations, it hit me like a truck. I cried for days and days. And I still sob whenever I think about it. I am sure, just like me, most of the readers cry. I believe where you see brutal societal operations, you witness selfless love, an eternal desire to see your beloved happy and contended.

FINAL VERDICT: I would recommend Amarbail. If you are looking for a romantic, valiantly true, and tragic story and have few hours to cry, then it’s a good catch for you.

Well, this sums up my review of Amarbail by Umera Ahmed. Still, I have so many jumbled thoughts in my head. Tell me how much you cried after reading it? Have you read it, or are you going to read it now?

کوئی چھاؤن ہو 
جسے چھاؤں کہنے میں 
دوپہر کا گمان نہ ہو
کوئی شام ہو 
جسے شام کہنے میں شب کا کوئی نشان نہ ہو 
کوئی وصل ہو 
جسے وصل کہنے میں ہجررت کا دھواں نہ ہو 
کوئی لفظ ہو 
جسے لکھنے پڑھنے کی چاہ میں 
کبھی اک لمحہ گراں نہ ہو 
یہ کہاں ہوا ہے کہ ہم تمہیں 
کبھی اپنے دل سے پکارنے کی سعی کریں 
وہیں آرزو بے اماں نہ ہو 
وہیں موسمِ غمِ جاں نہ ہو

You can follow me on my bookstagram @kitabsaraye