The Hidden Children: The Lost Grimoire by Reshma K. Barshikar

"There is real magic in this book. Not the fictional magic of spells, I mean the magic of wonderful writing, a strong, original voice, and a fictioneer's power to weave worlds. I was in awe of every page and thrilled by the end of the novel. Reshma K. Barshikar goes straight onto my very short list of must-read authors of fantasy. Write on!" --Ashok K. Banker

‘What price would you pay to be extraordinary? What would you do to speak to a butterfly?' 

Shayamukthy cruises through life: shooting hoops, daydreaming and listening to her favourite books. Even moving from the US to India, to a new school, a new culture, hasn't really rattled her. But something isn't right anymore and it begins when a New Girl joins the school.

She pulls Shui into a world of magic and wonderment, a world she has been hidden from all her life. What starts as a quest to look for a lost book, hurtles Shui into a world where people live in trees, talk to the dead and speak to butterflies.

But like all power, magic comes at a steep price and under all things wondrous lie demons waiting to crawl out. The more Shui learns, the more she doubts everything and everyone around her.

Will she be able to master her powers, or will they devour her and everyone she loves? 

Soumi is not like others in her class. In short she is strange,even her best friends thinks so. When a new girl arrives in her school she is inexplicably drawn to her,without a reason. The new girl is strange too. She remains aloof from others and one of Soumi's best friends hate her. Nallini is normally an outgoing, open person but when it comes to the new girl she hates everything about her. She tells Soumi that this girl is strange and not in a good way. It may have a teeny-tiny bit to do with the fact that Soumi's other best friend and also Nallini's crush Jai gets along exceptionally well with her while Nallini and him always bicker. Soumi however isn't aware of these dynamics in her own friend circle. She is infatuated with the most popular guy of the class, Aadyant who is also the boyfriend of her arch nemesis. One day Soumi by mistake saw Anya do something out of ordinary, something no human should have been able to do. And she is confident that it wasn't a trick of light. And when She confronts Anya it seems that Soumi is more special/doomed than she thought. 

Suddenly everything seems to go right for her, she gets to be someone special,make a great friend who does not thinks that she is strange and Aadyant even starts talking to her and subsequently invites to his birthday party. But there is a saying 'when everything is coming your way ,you are probably in the wrong lane'. 

Is Anya really the person who she shows she is? Will she be able to mend her friendship with Nallini or will Soumi be forced to choose between Anya and Nallini? And what is exactly up with Aadyant? And why is her mother being curt to Anya when she is the politeness personified to everyone? And what about her powers? Why does she feels in her gut that it is wrong to tell Anya everything about them?

A cross between U.S. High school and Indian High school along with magics,spells,dark dimensions and creatures,witches it seems that this book is one of its kind. I've yet to come across such a delicious goodness of YA Indian Supernatural Series. Hopefully this work will be the first of many of these types of stories. These are very common in European countries but sadly our country is sorely lacking in this aspect. It feels amazing to be one of the witness of  beginning of this genre in India.

The story is set in a first person narrative, told from Soumi's perspective. But those small windows of past keeps the readers on toe. They are so out of sync in the story that it takes the readers  a bit of time to understand their relation with the actual narrative. I specially liked the numerous references to Indian culture,society and even everyday things. It is truly commendable how the author implemented a European theme in context to Indian setting while keeping everything perfectly synchronized. This is probably the birth of modern YA literature in India, which is capable of competing with their counterparts in western society for popularity.

Author Bio

After finishing her A Levels at Bridgine School, Windsor, and getting a BA (Hons) at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, Reshma started her career as a Journalist for India’s national newspaper The Hindu, Business Line but left mid-career to pursue an MBA at the Indian School of Business that led to a successful career in Investment Banking. After 5 years in Investment Banking she quit her job to travel for two years and visited Europe, China, and the US. She conceptualized the novel during her travels through the Tuscany wine country. She created the eccentric Ms Krishnamurthy, her precocious cat and her dog eat deal environment. Her deep appreciation for the south Indian family dynamic, experience as a freelance journalist and a passion for Italian wine helped create Fade Into Red.
Simultaneously she also honed her skills as a Travel Writer and has contributed to India Today Travel Plus, SilverKris, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, National Geographic Traveller and The Hindu Business Line. She is also co-founder of the literary blog, The Caterpillar Café

#Disclaimer

I received this book as a part of review program in Outset 

https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in/ in exchange of an honest review