Review by electricapple -- Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar
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Review by electricapple -- Mock My Words by Chandra Shekhar
[Following is a volunteer review of "Mock My Words" by Chandra Shekhar.]
Chandra Shekhar's Mock My Words follows the lives of David Tan, Laura Tan, and Melissa. David, who is a literary genius, has taken on a new job as a university professor teaching Classic English Literature. This seems like a great opportunity, that should pose no challenge for an acclaimed author of two books. However, that is not the case for David. He is a great writer, but he has trouble speaking English properly. As a Chinese immigrant, his spoken English has been the butt of many jokes. He is having trouble connecting with his students, colleagues, and his wife.
David is married to Laura, an American who works at a PR firm. Laura is ambitious, self-motivated, and also out of love with David. She is dealing with a crisis at work involving a major tech client that has had a data breach. She takes on this "plum" project, as she calls it, thinking she is going to make a name for herself in the firm. Only to find out that she has been assigned a very, very, green team. Determined not to be the scapegoat, Laura investigates the breach and uncovers a conspiracy.
Then there is Melissa, a Business student with a device that could help a lot of people. As part of his job, David tutors students at the Word Repair Centre and Melissa is one of his assigned students.
Mock My Words is very well written and well-edited. The first few pages had me giggling out loud and made me fall in love with David immediately. He is very timid and doesn't like to cause trouble for anyone. I found it interesting that David has consistently been willing to continue his suffering under the hands of multiple bullies; for the sake of saving his bully from punishment. It says a lot about his character and reminds me a bit of myself as a teenager. Chandra Shekhar did a great job with the characters. I automatically found myself rooting for David because he is such a sweet and genuine guy. I also found myself rooting for Laura, who I don't particularly like. I commend any author that can make you root for an unlikable character. Laura is not a bad person per se, but her behavior towards David made me want to throw her out of a window. We only get to witness her redeeming qualities when she is at work.
David's character is what I liked most because he is such a lovable character. We read about all the things he has been through via multiple flashbacks. He has been through tough times but he has not allowed that to make him a hardened human being. He continues to look for the good in people and works hard to try and connect with others, even when they spit his efforts back in his face. I just felt really bad for him. The author also made sure to show the reader the disparity between David's written and spoken English through his emails, which I thought was a nice touch. Another nice touch is the titles of the chapters. They made me look forward to reading the chapter.
I honestly cannot think of anything I did not like about the book. I give it a well-deserving 4 out of 4 stars. The errors I found in the book are only in David's speech, which is why I would say the book is very well-edited. There were very few instances of profanity and no erotic scenes.
I think this book would appeal to different types of readers because it has a combination of personal drama, workplace drama, comedy, mystery, and technology conspiracies. I recommend Mock My Words to anyone who is a fan of any of the things I just mentioned. Due to the mild profanity, I do not recommend it to children below 16.
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Mock My Words
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Chandra Shekhar's Mock My Words follows the lives of David Tan, Laura Tan, and Melissa. David, who is a literary genius, has taken on a new job as a university professor teaching Classic English Literature. This seems like a great opportunity, that should pose no challenge for an acclaimed author of two books. However, that is not the case for David. He is a great writer, but he has trouble speaking English properly. As a Chinese immigrant, his spoken English has been the butt of many jokes. He is having trouble connecting with his students, colleagues, and his wife.
David is married to Laura, an American who works at a PR firm. Laura is ambitious, self-motivated, and also out of love with David. She is dealing with a crisis at work involving a major tech client that has had a data breach. She takes on this "plum" project, as she calls it, thinking she is going to make a name for herself in the firm. Only to find out that she has been assigned a very, very, green team. Determined not to be the scapegoat, Laura investigates the breach and uncovers a conspiracy.
Then there is Melissa, a Business student with a device that could help a lot of people. As part of his job, David tutors students at the Word Repair Centre and Melissa is one of his assigned students.
Mock My Words is very well written and well-edited. The first few pages had me giggling out loud and made me fall in love with David immediately. He is very timid and doesn't like to cause trouble for anyone. I found it interesting that David has consistently been willing to continue his suffering under the hands of multiple bullies; for the sake of saving his bully from punishment. It says a lot about his character and reminds me a bit of myself as a teenager. Chandra Shekhar did a great job with the characters. I automatically found myself rooting for David because he is such a sweet and genuine guy. I also found myself rooting for Laura, who I don't particularly like. I commend any author that can make you root for an unlikable character. Laura is not a bad person per se, but her behavior towards David made me want to throw her out of a window. We only get to witness her redeeming qualities when she is at work.
David's character is what I liked most because he is such a lovable character. We read about all the things he has been through via multiple flashbacks. He has been through tough times but he has not allowed that to make him a hardened human being. He continues to look for the good in people and works hard to try and connect with others, even when they spit his efforts back in his face. I just felt really bad for him. The author also made sure to show the reader the disparity between David's written and spoken English through his emails, which I thought was a nice touch. Another nice touch is the titles of the chapters. They made me look forward to reading the chapter.
I honestly cannot think of anything I did not like about the book. I give it a well-deserving 4 out of 4 stars. The errors I found in the book are only in David's speech, which is why I would say the book is very well-edited. There were very few instances of profanity and no erotic scenes.
I think this book would appeal to different types of readers because it has a combination of personal drama, workplace drama, comedy, mystery, and technology conspiracies. I recommend Mock My Words to anyone who is a fan of any of the things I just mentioned. Due to the mild profanity, I do not recommend it to children below 16.
******
Mock My Words
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
