The Eye Opener by Indrajit Garai ~ 238 pages ~ published 12/9/17 by Indrajit Garai

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this collection, meet:

Franck, who has to align his desires with his needs; Nathan, who has to adjust to his constantly changing turf; and, Cedric, who has to open his eyes to reconstruct himself.

What I Thought:

I have been enjoying broadening my book horizons over the past few years, so when I was given this short story collection in exchange for a review, I was excited by the prospect. I don’t tend to pick up short story collections, as a general rule. I was certainly intrigued by the excerpt I saw on Amazon, so I agreed to read it.

This is a collection of three short stories. Each one is told from the perspective of a male character who is dealing with change in their lives. There is an ‘eye opening’ event for each one, which precedes some sort of revelation and lifestyle change. A lot of time is spent focusing on money and how money (or the lack of it) affects our lives.

I found the general story arc of each main character to be quite intriguing. I sympathized with all three of the main characters, and was quite invested in the outcome of their stories. It was certainly the book most grounded in everyday reality that I’ve read in quite some time, especially in regards to how pervasive the topic of money can be on the mind and how it can change your perspective on your life and the world around you.

I will say that I felt the final story in the collection, the title story of ‘The Eye Opener’, was the most well thought out and conclusive. The characters had enough time to grow and learn in this one. I really saw the full character arc of Cedric, and felt I understood him by the end of the story. In the other two stories, ‘The Alignment’ and ‘The Changing Turf’, I felt like it was a little bit more rushed. The pacing was a bit off, especially in the latter story. There were dramatic jumps forward in time with no warning, and it made for a rather disjointed feeling.

I also thought that the book could have stood to have a bit more editing. The sentence structure, at times, was confusing and it pulled me out of the story more than I would have liked.

Overall, I found the themes of growth after struggle and reflection after an eye opening event to be quite interesting. I enjoyed the character arc in each story. I did wish that the pacing was more even throughout, and that it had been better edited overall.

My Rating:

3.0/5.0

I gave The Eye Opener 3 STARS.

*I was given a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This in no way impacts the content of my review. Thank you so much for sending it to me!!* 

Are you interested in learning more about this book? Check out the links below! 

Indrajit Garai on Goodreads

The Eye Opener on Goodreads

Purchase The Eye Opener on Amazon

Are you a fan of short story collections? What are some of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below! 

Love and happy reading,