Dava Shastri's Last Day

Took a chance on this one, without knowing how heavy it was going to be. I have to admit, it's written well enough that I had no trouble finishing it in a day, which is a compliment to the author. I was simply unable to put it down for more than a half hour before picking it back up again to know what happened.It's heavy, emotional, and in its own way, shapes a lens through which I can see my own family. I didn't notice anything in here at all that resembled filler, and the story comes to life in multiple different perspectives.I'm grateful to the author for writing this. I poked briefly at the one star reviews before writing this to try to figure out why anybody could hate it so much. Lack of character development was a complaint, but to that I would like to point out that this is the story of an already grown, branched family. There's not really much of anything to develop, in a story that spans a single day. There is some in there anyway- but I don't even really feel like for the type of story that it is, that it was strictly necessary to be there.It's not often that I say, but I do wish to thank Ms. Ramisetti for not letting this one die as a concept.

This is a closed-room type mystery, except that the only mystery is how Dava Shastri's legacy will play out. Dava Shastri, an Indian-American woman who is rich and philanthropic, discovers she has a terminal illness and takes matters into her own hands. She invites her four children, their partners and their children to stay at the island house she had hoped would be passed from generation to generation. As they are all stuck on the island after being snowed in, Dava has to deal with the media surfacing her deeply buried secrets after her death is prematurely announced and each child comes to know their mother a little better.I thoroughly enjoyed the book. As Dava would want it, and as expected from the title, everything revolves around her. Each chapter shares a perspective of the lives of each of her children and how their upbringing has ultimately molded them; as well as the two secrets she had tried to bury during her life. The story lingers on what we hope for our children and what they actually get out of everything we give them. Things never turn out exactly as we would hope... In the end, while each character is selfish in their own way, the final message is "what good have you done for others lately?"

I was disappointed; too much back story on everything, everyone. Too long, too. And I kept worrying about the group snowbound and running out of fresh food.

Sometimes I find contemporary novels to be full of very unlikeable characters (aka The Nest). As if, creating them is a hallmark of modern literary fiction. The family in this story is flawed but not so awful I wanted to know why they behaved or felt a certain way. I liked how the story unwound, great pacing and I liked how the grandchildren are the catalyst in bringing them all together. Many plot lines to unpack—would be a good book club book.

Celebrities often have big egos because, to some extent, they are treated like royalty. It was difficult to understand in the novel's main character Dava, however, because her business is charity and finding ways to help the less fortunate. Maybe most celebrities focus more on satisfyingly their egos than on their accomplishments. For awhile in the book it seemed that was Dava's only focus. But you only become a celebrity through your accomplishments. After reading further in the book, I recognized that Dava truly wanted to do good and have her family do good too. And for members of minority groups who are demeaned, it is important for people to recognize their contributions.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where if the product is satisfactory, it gets 5 stars, which leaves you no where to go when it really is head and shoulders above the rest. I loved it while I was reading it, and 5 novels later, it's still with me (unlike the others).

Rich, self made and selfish woman tries to leave her children with a legacy and unloads a truckload of her life's secrets on the day before she dies, in a nutshell.I really tried hard to like the protagonist but I don't understand when authors write in strong female characters, why they feel the need to make them utterly selfish. I crave to see strong women , I can accept them as slightly flawed, ambitious maybe tad self centered at times. But I could not like Dava, her endless selfishness, her cold ambition and her inability to see anything beyond her own dreams and needs really had me hating her. Subsequently I could not bring myself to like any part of her story, endless repetitive flashbacks to some musical connection ( yes by chapter 5, we got it , save us the made up artistes and their songs ). Also for all the emphasis on Indian culture the author could not be bothered to get details right, like we don't wear black at funerals..we wear white. Ugh, it pains me that all these authors keep repeating the trope of 1st generation lost and confused Indians in the USA, who struggle with their identity. This really has been beaten to death. Please just STOP, do your research right and write characters that might at least be likable because newsflash, most of the strong, ambitious women are also likeable. Also editors, please guide your authors not to repeat the endless character construction ..it bores the readers. Regards, a strong, ambitious Indian woman

A perfect story that could be enacted!! Has all the right ingredients for a soap opera!!