Official Review: The Outbreak of A Monstrous Infection

[Kaylee Elmer]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Outbreak of A Monstrous Infection" by Afshan Naheed Hashmi.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Outbreak of a Monstrous Infection by Afshan Naheed Hashmi is a fictional story about biological warfare. Rosy and Jack Singh have a very prestigious wedding. It is popular in India to do blood drives at elite weddings and donate the blood to local hospitals, so the couple chooses to do this. Unfortunately for them, there is bad blood between Rosy's uncle and an important man in India. After the wedding, all the guests that donated blood fall ill. After an investigation, it is discovered they all have Zika virus. Both the FBI in the United States and the CBI in India frantically try to figure out what happened.

Unfortunately, despite the promising premise of this book, there was quite a bit I didn't like about it. It's a work of fiction, but it doesn't read like a fictional story to me. It sounds more like a documentary or a simple description of events that happened. There's basically no character development. Because I knew very little about the characters, I didn't care what happened to them. Usually, I would be rooting for certain characters to survive the disease. There were also tons of pointless details included. For example, when a new character was introduced, their physical appearance, such as complexion and height, were mentioned. The reader didn't need to know a very minor character was "fair-complexioned and five feet ten inches in height." I suppose one could argue the author was trying to include detail, but details about personality would have been more beneficial than physical appearance details.

The book was also repetitive. Once the Zika outbreak occurred, who was sick, what the disease's symptoms are, and the fact that the disease was both in the United States and India was mentioned continuously. Parts of the book were also lists, like in a textbook. There is a part that describes the disease symptoms and a list of what to do if you have Zika. Again, there is some benefit to knowing this information, but there is a better way to write it into the story. Instead of just a bullet-point list, it could have been part of a conversation between characters. That would have helped make it more interesting.

Honestly, the only thing I can think of that I liked about this book was that there is a list of characters in the beginning. It helped keep everyone sorted out. Many of the characters had the same last name, which was confusing at times, but I believe it is part of Indian culture. It was nice not to have to take notes on each character to keep things straight, especially since there are two and a half pages of names.

I think this book could appeal to those interested in science and disease. It's a quick read, so even though it's boring, someone who is genuinely interested in the topic might enjoy it. People who are worried easily or uneasy about our current pandemic may want to skip this one. There is death and scary symptoms described. Pregnant people specifically may want to wait to read this book as birth defects are mentioned quite often. Generally, I would recommend it for adults or very mature teens.

I would rate The Outbreak of a Monstrous Infection 2 out of 4 stars. I can't give it any higher because there wasn't anything significant I liked about it. I was expecting an exciting story and felt like I was reading a textbook instead. It also has a lot of errors and needs another round of editing. The only thing that saves it from getting a 1 is the fact that it technically does what the author intended. She wanted to "educate people how terrorism can cause harm beyond imagination." That does happen in the book.

The Outbreak of a Monstrous Infection had so much promise but was a disappointment overall. It was quite dry and included no suspense. If it seems somewhat interesting to you, I would recommend it only because it's short and, therefore, a quick read.

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The Outbreak of A Monstrous Infection
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[Kristy Khem]

Oh no! I am sorry this one was dry and disappointing. The premise sounded really interesting to me too. I have never heard of doing blood drives at weddings. Characters without developed personalities, repetitiveness, and lists of symptoms - yikes! I'll skip this one.

[s_weet_c]

I'm so sorry! The book had such a unique storyline, it's disappointing that it wasn't satisfactory. Thank you for your honest review!

[Harty Muli]

This seems like an an apt book to read at this time due to its similarity with the current epidemic corona. Thanks for the insightful review.

[Praise GodWord]

I just learned something about the Indian culture of blood from this book. That is what lures my attention to it.

[K-A-Y]

Was drawn to this because of the book cover, but as someone who enjoys novels with a bit more oomph. I might be giving this one a pass.