It isn’t often I find a book where I am more interested in the culture being portrayed than I am in the characters and plot itself, yet here we are with Judgement Call by E.B. Roshan.

While the plot of this book was intriguing, it wasn’t what captivated me.  The interesting and unique characters trying to figure out their traumas, their pasts, and their futures wasn’t what captivated me either.  Instead, what really drew me in was the different culture that I am not familiar with but I desperately wanted to learn more about.

The book starts of so strong, introducing us to Preen and her daughter Sitabi, and showing us the life that used to exist, and the life they have been thrust into now.  Preen used to be, and still is in a way, in love with a man named Rama, who helped conceive her daughter.  But Rama is gone, and they are building a new life with a man named Kiva, who has loved Preen for as long as he can remember.

There is this perfect path and perfect life laid out for Preen to follow along and she is not interested.  One of the reasons she loved Rama so much was because she got to pick him for herself, rather than have him dictated to her.  Having him die and not be a part of her life anymore was a blow.  Having her family essentially shrug off his death and ask her when she was going to get married to Kiva was an even bigger blow.  While part of me understands this, I am not from this culture, (a culture I am not entirely sure what is) and I wish the author took time to explain more about this culture because the way it is portrayed is beautiful and harsh.  Kind of a like a winter’s day where the tree’s are beautiful and icy, but the wind is cold enough that it stings when it hits your cheeks.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and I liked how action packed the ending was. Someone the author managed to write an ending that was dramatic and terrifying, and yet perfectly beautiful as well as it brought two people together.  I also really loved that the past hurts characters felt were not magically healed.  Kiva did not trust Preen anymore because she ran away with Rama.  While this was eventually patched up and they trusted each other again, it didn’t happen with magic, but instead heard work and harder realizations. 

Overall – this was a good book that I wish had taken the time to delve more into the culture it is portraying.  The characters the author painted are vivid and interesting.  That being said, if you are not interested in a culture outside of your own, I do not know if this would be the best book for you.

Plot – 7/10

Characters – 8/10

Originality –  8/10

General Joy of Reading – 8/10

Overall Score – 31/40

Judgment Call (Shards of Sevia, #5) – E. B. Roshan

Cost* – eBook is $2.99

*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published