Book Review: Almost Surely Dead
Amina Akhtar published this book in February of 2024. After reading this book, I looked at some reviews and was thoroughly taken aback. I enjoyed this book, start to end. I love that Amazon First Reads switches up the books. This book is a psychological thriller through and through. I mean, the book even has its podcast. #FindDunia. There are 3 verses of Dunia; 5-year-old Dunia, who you find is a young girl who wants to do her best even though something she can’t control is there; Dunia from 2 years ago, which is considered present time however, it was only written once before the chapters; and then the podcast and present day.
I love how unique this plot was. It took Desi Culture and Pakistani family and tied on top with a bow of New York. I had no idea where the plot was until it was there. My only complaint is that I felt like the character that became the antagonist was a bit predictive. I don’t feel like it ruined the book though.
I gave this book a quick 5/5 star rating. Some pointed out in their reviews that there were several typos in the text, and there were some, but if you can look past those, then the book is still great.
My eyes widened. “It was something like ‘I had no choice.’ I have no idea what that means.” She nodded. “He stared at me as the … as the train”- my voice caught- “as the train hit him. He just stared at me.” There was smoke, I wanted to tell her. But I was certain that I’d imagined that.
The rest of the review here. If you have not read the book and you want to keep it a surprise, please come back once you have finished the book!
Dunia has such a unique story. Her father died and she got the blame for her dad’s death when she was 5 years old. In the future, her mom passes away and she starts to sleepwalk again. Nadia, Dunia’s sister, is estranged from her. After her mom’s death, she started to sleepwalk and her ex fiance broke off their engagement. Dunia was okay without David because she didn’t feel like she really loved him, however, she had a lot of unfortunate things. These events turns more unfortunate when the cute boy on the subway tried to kill her. Overtime, Dunia had a list of ways people have tried to kill her. After being stabbed, she takes time to go stay at a her friend Liz’s house. The house is in the country, its quiet at safe. Or at least to what we can see at first. Zabir, who is a complicated character for Dunia, is searching for an answer he sees fit Dunia even though she doesn’t believe in jinn.
This was interesting to see start to play out. To see how the storyline is a killer, a murderer, and a bad guy, but to see how it is a jinn rather than man. One could easily say that a jinn is scarier than a man. Plus, this jinn has always been with her and she had no idea.
