As a Book Reviewer, I received a free ebook copy of Diary of an Angry Young Man by Rishi Vohra. This is my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor any review.

In the “Author’s Note” at the beginning of Diary of an Angry Young Man, Mr. Vohra includes this information: Rishi Vohra grew up in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, in India. He grew up in a building complex that overlooked a slum colony. His novel, Diary of an Angry Young Man includes parts that are based on true events, and the rest is fiction. The names and professions of the characters in the book have been changed to protect the real people referenced for this story. Diary of an Angry Young Man attempts to showcase the spirit of India’s youth and the humanity of society that we may or may not be oblivious to. It is a mirror of the times we live in, of the city that has brought me up.

Diary of an Angry Young Man grabs the reader’s attention from the first page and holds it until the very last page. It is the story of Raghav, a young man who lives in Colaba in Bombay, and it begins in 1992 and continues through June 2013. Raghav lives with his parents and sister, and life is fairly normal for life in India during that time, except that Raghav’s compassion for others is shown when he helps a young boy get home safely one night. Then one day when Raghav’s mother is taken to the hospital in a neighbor’s car, and everyone goes along, except Raghav. Raghav is told there is no room for him and he is left home alone. What happens to Raghav while he’s home alone changes his life forever, and it is what causes him to become “an angry young man”.

As the story continues, Raghav witnesses many of the evils of humanity and he gets into trouble because he fails to control his anger. Though his anger is often justified, it is wrong of him to act on it in the some of the ways that he does. However, Raghav’s anger motivates him to try to make a difference in his society, to try to take a stand against at least one evil man in his neighborhood.

Diary of an Angry Young Man is a difficult book to read if you are a sensitive person, but it clearly shows the evils of humanity and the struggles of many of the unfortunate people in society. There is violence, rape, and child molestation throughout the story. As I neared the end of this novel, I began to dread the ending, fearing it would be an ending without hope—an unhappy ending. I know not all stories have or need to have happy endings, but I cared about Raghav, and after seeing him suffer many terrible things, I wanted to see at least one good thing happen for him. I continued reading, despite my dread and was glad that I did.

Very close to the end of the book, Rishi Vohra includes a couple unexpected twists that made the entire book worth reading. In addition, Mr. Vohra does an excellent job wrapping up the story and showing the changes in Raghav’s life and the lessons he learned. Mr. Vohra also does something else, which I will not share so as not to give any spoilers, that makes the story very poignant, and though parts of Diary of an Angry Young Man were difficult to read, it is a book that affected me deeply, educated me on life in a country I am unfamiliar with, and will remain in my mind for years to come.

I give Diary of an Angry Young Man 5 stars.