Review by Bothofus07 -- Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar

[Bothofus07]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Mock My Words" by Chandra Shekhar.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar is one of the sweetest stories I've read in a while. While the book tells a linear storyline involving multiple characters, it also tells a story about each of these characters themselves. The narrative involves culture, family relationships, a mystery, and a bit of romance.

The story follows Chinese immigrant David Tan as he navigates life in the San Francisco Bay area. David is an internationally acclaimed author of two English language novels but has great difficulty with the spoken English language. To please his American wife, Laura, David has taken a teaching position at Steinbeck College hoping to share his love of literature and writing with his students. Laura, a public relations professional, has taken on a project that may make or break her career. A multimillion-dollar online data storage company has experienced a catastrophic privacy breach, and Laura is responsible for salvaging its reputation. As David struggles to navigate the college environment, Laura realizes her assignment may make her a scapegoat for her company's failures. The story is rounded out with David's teaching friends Harry and Salima, graduate student Melissa, and Laura's client and colleagues.

This book was written in such an easy-to-read style that the pages flew by. It was brilliantly descriptive without being overly wordy, just like one could imagine protagonist David Tan's novels to be. Shekhar easily moved among each character's personal narratives and the plot points of the story. David's experiences with cultural differences, Laura's high tech mystery, and Melissa's entrepreneurial adventure were all told in a believable and realistic way.

My favorite thing about Mock My Words is the writing style itself. It flowed easily and was told from different characters' perspectives while maintaining David's role as the main character. David was so likable and relatable, it was easy to maintain interest in the narrative. My least favorite thing about this book would only be that I would have liked to learn a little more about David's life in China and his experiences with different cultures. Ultimately I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I had grown to like these characters so much, I found happy tears in my eyes at the satisfying conclusion.

I give Mock My Words a solid 4 out of 4 stars for a sweet and brilliantly told story about the lives of easily relatable characters and the significance of words themselves. There was a minimum of profanity, and barely a suggestion of sexuality in this book. I think anyone could enjoy this story on several levels. It is a book that invites the reader to sit back and enjoy the story as it unfolds and savor the words that are used to bring it to life.

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Mock My Words
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[Jlblawrence]

I agree that this book would appeal to all readers. I loved it from start to finish and was rooting for David the whole time! Thank you for the review!