Inside the Heart of Hope by Rishabh Puri | Book Review

Inside the Heart of Hope is the story of Rick, a child suffering from hyperlipidemia. His parents curb his movements because they think that their son’s life could be harmed if he exerted more than necessary. But Rick wants to be free. He wants to be like any other normal child. He is disappointed and heartbroken, but his willpower helps him to plow forward.

Will he be able to maintain his willpower for the rest of his life? Will he be able to stay optimistic and overcome his disappointment and heartbreak? Will he be able to pursue his dream of having a normal life while his heart dangles a sword over his head?

Inside the Heart of Hope, at first glance, seems to be heavy and filled with both the lack of and the presence of hope in the first place. I had a lot of expectations going in to this book. I thought I’d learn more about how to keep up hope when the worst is happening to you. But though a small part of me did learn all of this, there was a bigger part that kept telling me that there could have been so much more in the story.

There is nothing that I disliked about Inside the Heart of Hope. In fact, it is a pretty easy read, though the topic is a little heavy. But there’s nothing that I loved about it too. Given, I sympathize with Rick, the protagonist, who suffers from hyperlipidemia and needs to undergo surgery. But that is the extent to which I reacted to this book.

A story of this ilk is meant to awaken the heart and bring it into a state where it cannot take it anymore, yet wants to keep going because it wants to know how the story ends. But the maximum this book did for me is a couple of badumps from my heart. This is not to say that it might not work for anybody else, but for me, it was merely average.

Now a question will arise. “It is the story of a sick person. How can you say that?” Let me answer.

First off, I did sympathize with Rick, only to a certain extent. It didn’t rip my heart apart like a few other books did. That’s all about writing. Like Steffen Finch says in A Charm of Finches, I can understand the pain, but I cannot feel it for you. I’m not criticizing the writing, because it is good enough. I’m merely saying it wasn’t enough to make me feel the pain. But in certain pages, it did make me feel hopeful. And that’s a good thing, right?

I have no idea why I’m becoming defensive about this. Maybe because I feel bad that I picked up a book with a lot of hopes and it didn’t do what I expected it to do. Expectation is the root of all heartbreak, they say. Yet, this proverb seems too cruel, too big in this context.

All in all, I’d say Inside the Heart of Hope is a one-time read. You’ll find sympathy for Rick and glean some optimism from him. Maybe that’s all someone in Rick’s position needs for now.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Until next time, keep reading and add melodrama to your life. 🙂

---