Review of The Truth About Elves

[Kiran Mishra 2]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Truth About Elves" by Ekta R. Garg.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Truth About Elves is a novella by Ekta R. Garg that blends the fantasy world of Santa Claus and Elves with complex human emotions. Honestly, it is quite a unique ‘holiday spirit story’. The story focuses on one specific Elf’s journey through his grief, guilt, and past, and towards his redemption. The novella is compact but is a lot more than your average fairy tale read.
The novel’s protagonist is Curtis, an Elf, who works with Santa to cope with his past mistake and grief of losing a loved one. What sets the novella apart from the regular holiday stories is the introspective nature of the character. Curtis is not portrayed as a happy-go-loving character who spreads joy during the holiday season, but instead, the job that Santa has kept Curtis on puts some sort of a routine on Curtis to cope with his demons.
Garg always does a magical job of creating characters that have excellent emotional depth. This was my second book of hers, and trust me while reading the last few pages I was sobbing. The novel provides so much insight into how multidimensional and complex grief is. It’s not something that always passes over with time, some people never recover from their grief. But one thing that always makes grief bearable and directs the person toward healing is love. Love from family, friends, and partners. The novel depicts a perfect example of this, of how Curtis beats up himself for a decade, not allowing his loved ones by his side and his true healing only begins when he dares to face his demons and accept the comfort and love his family provides him with.
One of the novella’s strengths lies in its pacing. Given its shorter length, the story moves quickly keeping readers engaged from start to finish. I would give this novel a five out of five rating. It’s well edited and very well written and I have no complaints about it. Always love a book that can make me cry!

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The Truth About Elves
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