You Beneath Your Skin in The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club

Sep 23, 2019 Jemi Fraser rated it it was amazing

Compelling and powerful!
This story has incredible layers that blend and twist, and connections that take you by surprise.
The characters are complex and so human. My emotions swirled throughout the story - breaking my heart, stealing my breath, and lifting me up along the way.
Damyanti Biswas paints pictures so vivid I was immersed in the new-to-me setting of Delhi.
An unforgettable read that will stick with you long after you turn the final page.

23 likes · Like · see review

Sep 26, 2019 C. McKenzie rated it it was amazing

As a single mom with a severely afflicted autistic child, Anjali Morgan struggles to keep herself and her son together in spite of his increasing hostility toward her and the fact that he’s becoming a young man with the strength to do her bodily harm.

Anjali’s family drama plays out amidst the dark under-world of drugs, prostitution, and horrid acid mutilation murders in today’s India.

This is a powerful story where police seek out the worst kind of criminals to protect those trapped in their web ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2019 Elias McClellan rated it it was amazing

You Beneath Your Skin (YBYS) is the rare book that touches multiple lives and multiple stories while maintaining a consistent tone and laser focus on the central conflict. Damyanti Biswas tackles street-level crime, institutional corruption, and family intrigues—with multiple POV characters—all just shy of 400 pages with nary a wasted word. Her dialogue is precise, her action cutting, and each character is fully formed with distinct voices. Those characters are the soul of this hard-hitting crim You Beneath Your Skin (YBYS) is the rare book that touches multiple lives and multiple stories while maintaining a consistent tone and laser focus on the central conflict. Damyanti Biswas tackles street-level crime, institutional corruption, and family intrigues—with multiple POV characters—all just shy of 400 pages with nary a wasted word. Her dialogue is precise, her action cutting, and each character is fully formed with distinct voices. Those characters are the soul of this hard-hitting crime novel

A lessor author would’ve focused on the protagonist with two-dimensional ancillary characters propped up to feed lines to her protagonist. Anjali Morgan, our heroine, is just that engaging. We feel Anjali’s commitment to her work with women and girls in India and to her autistic son, Nikhil. We feel her insecurities at her less-than-perfect life and the clinging, suffocating constraint of an affair with a married man.

Damyanti Biswas depicts the acid attack central to the story in intimate, harrowing realism. But YBYS presents the attack in a wider context of daily violence against women. The misogyny reflected in YBYS spans domestic abuse to bought-and-paid-for predation. That world is bare and unvarnished without descending to exploitation.

Police Commissioner Jatin Bhatt leads an investigation no one wants, to solve a crime no one cares about, (acid attacks are almost exclusive to the impoverished). But as the investigation advances, crime blooms like blood in water, with clouds of prostitution, child abuse, and murder that crosses class and rank. Instead of clarity, each development in his case uncovers another secret and strips away another layer of his carefully constructed professional and personal life.

Commissioner Bhatt’s team—a plucky private investigator and an aspiring police officer—plumb the depths of slimy pimps and sadistic killers in pursuit of the truth. But as rich as the cast is, perhaps the best written character is the one easiest to take for granted: New Delhi. The city itself—in the best crime tradition—shades every other character’s responses, fears, and strengths. New Delhi is in turns friendly ghost and deep-shadowed nightmare of violence.

As with all actions, the violence ripples out and touches everyone Anjali cares about: family, lover, and friends. No person, no relationship, emerges unscathed. And that is YBYS’s greatest success—an engrossing story of life and hope and freedom beyond violence. Some stories pass through your mind like a funny commercial. Others stay with you for a while. I know that You Beneath Your Skin will stay with me for quiet awhile. I envy the reader experiencing it for the first time.

I can’t wait for more stories from the Vigil. ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Oct 06, 2019 Michelle rated it it was amazing

A well-paced, multi-layered and highly addictive crime thriller in which the reader comes face to face with the stark reality of the New Delhi underworld; a world where women are attacked and disfigured by acid on the crime-ridden streets; a world which introduces you to dark and disturbing places where rape, prostitution, drug abuse, murder and corruption are commonplace.
In a broader context, this timeous story reinforces crimes against women, since it is well known that femicide seems to be i ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2019 Inderpreet Uppal rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Really Long Review Alert!!

Do we really know our loved ones? Are ever really sure that the face we see each day, cherish, nurture and love each day is not a facade?

Damyanti shatters a lot of assumptions in her book You Beneath Your Skin. It is not just a thriller trying to figure out the dark underbelly of Delhi but also the privileged criminals. The ones, who are whisked away under the garb of being too young, too rich, too powerful or just being born into privilege.

Anjali is trying to find the ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Sep 19, 2019 Inderpreet Uppal rated it really liked it

Skin Deep Dilemmas!
Do we really know our loved ones? Are ever really sure that the face we see each day, cherish, nurture and love each day is not a facade? Damyanti shatters a lot of assumptions in her book You Beneath Your Skin.

You Beneath Your Skin is not just a thriller trying to figure out the dark underbelly of Delhi but also the privileged criminals. The ones, who are whisked away under the garb of being too young, too rich, too powerful or just being born into privilege.
Anjali is trying ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 13, 2019 Vidya Sury rated it really liked it

Excellent debut by Damyanti Biswas. When I initially received the standard 60-page sample, I was hooked and I don't mind confessing that I was a bit upset - it meant that I had to wait for over a month for the pre-ordered book to arrive from Amazon. Couldn't wait to read it!

You Beneath Your Skin is a fast-paced, gripping story line with well developed characters, great writing style and focuses on social causes that plague our society - acid attacks, rape, trafficking and corruption.

I won't bo ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 10, 2019 Juneta Key rated it it was amazing

Gripping, Page Turning, Captivating

This story gripped me from the first few paragraphs. It involves a mother and autistic child and so much more. The cultural flavor was a delight to read. It takes place in today's India. This was an amazing debut novel. Excellent crime fiction that keeps you turning the pages. I could hardly put it down once I started reading.

Others have detailed the story so I am not going to do that. I will say It is one of the best books I have read in this genre IMO.

The ch ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 06, 2019 Ellen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

An enthralling thought provoking crime thriller!

It's hard to believe this is the author's debut novel - an amazing work on so many levels. It's tightly plotted and moves along at a pace you would expect of a page-turning thriller, yet it made me pause from time to time to catch my breath and ponder the complex questions and issues that the author raises about class structures and how women are treated in India. The characters are complex and believable and the setting rich and evocative. This is ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 12, 2020 Ronel Janse van Vuuren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-that-should-have-a-trigger-wa, contemporary, murder-mystery, crime

A haunting tale set in smoggy, crime-filled New Delhi.

“You Beneath Your Skin” is the story of Anjali learning who she truly is beneath all that she sees in the mirror, other people’s expectations, and the harsh judgement of the voice in her head.

The whodunit elements of this book are well-crafted and the world-building is excellent – one can actually taste the acrid air of New Delhi. (Not the pretty sights of a favourite Bollywood movie…)

The story is sprinkled with truths like: “We’re all a pote ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2020 Yolanda Renee rated it it was amazing

You Beneath Your Skin by Damyanti Biswas: the title reflects an important question. But Damyanti Biswas delivers her story with a more complex meaning. Her story deals not only with the aftermath of horrific physical scaring but with the type of emotional scaring that personal actions cause. Those small ripples that eventually lead to massive waves in the lives of others.
Main character, Anjali Morgan’s only focus, is her teenage son. He’s autistic and has quite the temper. Everything she does, s ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 23, 2019 Susan Swiderski rated it it was amazing

Shelves: educational, heart-wrenching, thriller, crime

Most of us have read basic accounts in the newspaper about someone... typically a female... being attacked by acid-wielding thugs. Horrible, we all think... and then, shame on us, we move on to the next article.

This book doesn't allow us to move on. Ms. Biswas draws us into her story about some of these horrific crimes, and she presents memorable characters for us to care about to bring the reality home. We may be able to close our eyes to the things we don't want to see, but we can't close our ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 05, 2020 Shannon Lawrence rated it it was amazing

A touching crime novel that addresses crime in New Delhi. The big city is full of crime. In this book, crimes against women and children are addressed, with a police officer and his cohorts working on a set of crimes that come together in a deeply personal way for many of those involved. From the struggles of a single mother with an autistic child to a woman's struggle opening up to others due to a physical issue to an affair that hurts emotions and jobs to an officer who has to face a deeply pe ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2023 Debs Carey rated it liked it

I had to ease my way into this one. Partly that was to do with the smattering of Hindi words, slowly working out the sounds from the spelling as they were only words I'd ever heard, and during my childhood years at that. But also the world depicted by Biswas is very different from the one I live in now. The echoes are there - some from that childhood, but most from articles in the press or online.

Anjali, a stressed mother of a difficult teenager, is having an affair with married senior policema ...more

Like · see review

Feb 05, 2020 Jemima Pett rated it really liked it

Shelves: suspense, kindle, crime, adult

Damyanti Biswas writes incredible short fiction on her blog. This is her first major venture into a novel, and boy, what a novel. Set in a large city in India, the characters leap from the page, and most of them scare me silly. Some of this is for their health, safety or other form of welfare, others simply scare me for my own welfare.

The storyline twists around an investigation into what appears to be serial murders of faceless women. That’s literally faceless; their features have been oblitera ...more

Like · see review

May 16, 2020 J. Dorner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: debut-author, bout-of-books-28-may-2020

This book is flawless. You should read it to open your eyes. (But you probably shouldn't read it before bed. Okay, I shouldn't have read it before bed - you do you.)

It's more than a crime novel, though there is a "whodunnit" mystery to be solved. You Beneath Your Skin is also about relationships, families, secrets we keep and the impact they have, how we see ourselves, and a lesson in knowing people as they are instead of who we think they are or should be. This story gives a lot.

It also takes a ...more

Like · see review

Dec 28, 2019 J.L. Campbell rated it it was amazing

Damyanti Biswas has written a haunting tale that will remain with this reader for a while. She has crafted a story with a large cast of characters that are all integral to the story line. What starts off as a mystery for the police, wherein women are murdered and disfigured, strikes close to home when Anjali Morgan becomes the victim of an acid attack. At the time, Anjali is dealing with her issues, including an autistic son and an affair with police commissioner, Jatin Bhatt.

Biswas takes the re ...more

Like · see review

May 09, 2020 Mary Aalgaard rated it it was amazing

This story has so much depth. It is at first a story of a woman trying to be a strong and independent single mom in India. She has close ties with a family, but there are complications. Her son has Autism. She is a social worker and has a heart for children lost and damaged by an unfair system. This is also a mystery about serious crimes against women, police procedural, family involvement, and heartache. The author also covers the horrible act of Acid Attacks on women in India. The characters f ...more

Like · see review

Feb 03, 2022 Kalpana Misra rated it it was amazing

Damyanti's debut novel rings true on so many levels. Her characters are authentic and fascinating as is her inspired use of setting.
The author has woven the facts about acid attack survivors skilfully into the crime novel. The pace is swift, as befits a crime novel. An enjoyable read in spite of the dark circumstances surrounding the travails of the main characters. ...more

Like · see review

Dec 29, 2019 Lynda Young rated it it was amazing

A chilling crime thriller about human trafficking, violence against women and acid attacks. A compelling read with lots of interesting, complex characters.

Having been to New Delhi, I felt the author transported me back. It was rich in descriptions and atmosphere without bogging the narrative down.

This story lingered in my mind long after finishing it.

Like · see review