Review | The Name Of The Red | Beena Khan

The woman in red has a secret admirer.

A second at love means confessing your secrets to a stranger.

On a rainy, winter night, a mysterious woman in a red dress seeking shelter comes inside the restaurant Kabir was busy working in —primarily the bar. Night after night, drink after drink, she comes back to the same spot.

Hundreds of patrons around her try to speak with her daily, but she dismisses them. She’s always reading, always surrounded by books and booze. After seeing the woman reading a book, Kabir gains entrance into her life by anonymously leaving books with notes for her.

She’s not looking for love. He’s ever met anyone like her before. He didn’t want to disturb her peace. And, he didn’t want to be her next reject. So, he decided to leave her books anonymously with notes in them. He just didn’t expect to get caught so soon.

"Not your average love story."

Two strangers on the same path.

Survivors. Companions. They will be each other’s salvation. 

The Name of Red is the story of two strangers, two different personalities who meet on a winter, rainy night who challenge each other. They have a connection which blossoms into a friendship due to their fondness of books. But they both have secrets that can bind them together or threaten their newfound relationship forever.

About The Author

Beena Khan writes literary fiction and edgy, contemporary romance. She 27 years old and lives in New York. She currently holds a Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology. She enjoys reading, writing, and netflixing. The Name of Red is her debut novel. All of her books are on Kindle Unlimited + a Free Novella!

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GoodReads

When I received the author's request to read this book, I was not expecting to find what I found in this story. I've read so many books, but I'm always afraid to read something by an author I don't know, I have to admit. However, I didn't even think twice when I replied that I was more than interested in being able to satisfy her request made wit such humble and sincere way. Thank you Beena, for trusting me with your story.

This book brings us the story of (un) love between Red, the famous woman in red who, in the middle of the storm, enters a cafe restaurant, drenched and without even an overcoat, dress or umbrella, and Kabir, the owner of the same cafe restaurant, that is immediately stunned by Red.

As we will realize when reading the book, that the name Red is just a nickname that people in the restaurant have given her since she does not speak to anyone, does not accept approaches from anyone and does not open up with anyone. The only person who catches a few words with her is the bartender who lets herself be in her place and fills the glasses she empties.

Everyone notices that she enters, every day after that first one, always sits in the same place, orders drinks and gets lost among the pages of the books that she takes with her every night. It is in this detail that Kabir notices and, in a way of approaching her, every night, without ever saying who he is, he leaves her a different book with a personal note for her.

It is this kind of game that will attract Red's attention and that will bring her closer to both Kabir and all the people who fill his circle of personal friends.

Throughout the book we tend to think that Red, whose real name is Elif, is something selfish and self-centered, at least I did. i really didn't like how Kabir seemed to levitate around her and she continued to act as if she didn't notice anything that came from him except the books he gave her, the drunkenness she could have in his bar and in the friendship that he gave her whenever she needed.

It was necessary to have access to many dark thoughts of Elif and a lot of insistence from Kabir for her to open up sincerely to him, to realize that Elif caries in his twenty-nine years, a lot of pain and many personal and psychological traumas. In addition to her books, it seemed that she just wanted to kill herself with drinking. She got drunk every night, and at one point Kabir had to limit the number of drinks he was served.

However, from the time that Elif opens her past to Kabir, all the chapters of the book bring us new pains and more ways of seeing that, we often look at people and not always what we see on the outside is what takes place inside these same people. There are people who, like Elif, suffer and suffer and still suffer more and that we do not know of it. People like Elif who have been happy all their lives but who, by a small chance of fate or misfortune, see their lives destroyed and their dreams and plans for a bright and happy future, completely ripped apart.

Elif, until the end of the book teaches us that we cannot repair wounds alone and a broken heart needs someone else to get together and heal.

This was a story that I found strange at first, because of the names of the characters and their habits and way of acting, and then became embedded in my heart and mind. Complex characters but with huge hearts despite being broken. Intense feelings but completely sincere and devoid of falsehood. A kind of "What you see is what you get". Most of the time we have an idea that the characters are too closed in on themselves, but what we see is that they are too sensitive to even talk about their past. Because the pain is so big that even by talking about it might destroy their strenght and soul.

Each of the characters, in addition to Elif, carries pasts full of losses and painful happenings.

Honestly, I think it's a story that everyone should read.