Review by Erin Wilson

Dark secrets are hidden from innocent Agath, an ‘angel’, who must suffer for those who need to repent. Her older sister marries and although Agatha is happy for her sister, the brother-in-law is a monster. His dark secrets hurt everyone. Agatha is caught in an unwanted and compromising situation with her brother-in-law that her sister finds them in. Plagued with guilt after Agatha’s sister’s death, she is trapped with her unrelenting monster of a brother-in-law. He eventually sends her away to a psych ward, Mery Heights. As Agatha tries to navigate all the mysteries, rules, and unwanted, but desirable, approaches from the priests. One of her tormentors, Eryx, finds his desire is more than he can handle and takes on a paternal role of protecting her. The attraction, the steamy chemistry between the two, create a bond that through careful planning allows them to escape this insane asylum. As each character is introduced, a new back story unfolds that informs the connections and mysteries everyone is holding that will hopefully unlock and set everyone free. 

I picked up this book from Bookworm book shop, a local bookshop in Dhaka. They promoted this on their Instagram page and I bought it and read it. When I opened the book, I was reading it blindly, thinking that it will have elements of Bangladeshi culture, set in Dhaka, but wow, was I in for a surprise! It was a dark romance, very spicy, with no connection to Bangladesh. I’m unfamiliar with Dark or Gothic Romance and this was my introduction to it. I entered a world of dark mysteries, traumatic lives, gross violence, passionate erotic scenes and a romance that kept me on my toes, turning each page, wondering what could happen next. This book is for the curious and the Dark Romance lovers, it is not for everyone. 

Interview with Shanjida:

I met with Shanjida Nusrath Ali to find out more about this brave young female author in Bangladesh. Dark Romance is not a popular genre yet in Bangladesh, as it can be a sensitive topic here, yet it is growing in popularity among teen readers and most of her readers are foreigners. Shanjida attributes its growing interest in Bangladesh due to books like Fifty Shades Trilogy, Twilight Series, and trending authors such as Colleen Hoover or Ana Huang. 

She is a very humble person but also eager to talk about her writings. She attributes her ability to write bravely due to the strong support of her mother and father. Of course she has gotten hate messages challenging her as a Muslim with suggestions to sit in the kitchen assuming this will stop her from writing these “shameful” stories. Her mother’s advice is something we can all learn from, ”take from the critics and learn from them while ignoring the hate comments.” Since this advice, her editor saw the new changes in characterization with pride for the upcoming book, Syncopating Hearts, releasing July 21, 2024!!!! 

Getting published was challenging. In her Bengali Lit class, her professor, Sudeep Chakravarti, author of The Bengalis: a portrait of community, exposed her to various examples of Bengali literature. This wasn’t her passion. Reading romance online and the author Ana Todd inspired her to write Dark Romance. Her first works went on Wattpad but readers noticed her stories were being copied and the copyright wasn’t protected so she moved to Amazon. Her friends challenged her by asking, “Who’s going to read Dark Romance?” The Amazon community offered advice and guidance. Of course there were a few hiccups with printing her books in Dhaka and the policy with Amazon. Once that was cleared up, one can find her books on Amazon. Now she is attending book signings in the UK, the USA and selling out her signed copies. 

She defines Dark Romance as: 

• Romance
• Criminal side
• Psychological 
• Dark character build up
• Trauma

Her hope is that readers enjoy the plot, the mystery, the build up of characters and not trivialize her books as smut. 

The book covers are carefully designed by her so that they are PG in appearance. She includes a Trigger warning page as well in every book. 

Most of all Shanjida thanks her readers. 

Author Bio:

Shanjida Nusrath Ali is a student by day and an aspiring indie author by night. She is passionate writing about morally grey men who fall for fierce and badass women, involving forbidden and spicy chemistry. Whether it be an asylum patient falling for a priest, or a mafia boss reuniting with his lost love, her stories aim for a unique approach. 

She is also a BA student studying English Language and Humanities, and spends her time watching dark humor or cat Reels/Tiktok videos and memes. 

Other than reading books and writing, Shanjida loves dancing and stage drama, along with listening to any music that gives a kick to her mood..even though singing isn’t her strength. She is a huge Schitt’s Creek and Brooklyn 99 fan, that she has lost count of the times she re-watched them.

Follow her on Instagram: @shanjidanusrathali_author

Subscribe to her website: Shanjida Nusrath Ali: Romance That Wrecks your Heart and Soul

Reviewer & Curator Bio:

Erin Wilson currently works as a Teacher Librarian at International School Dhaka, Bangladesh and has worked internationally for 10 years in the following countries; China, India, and now Bangladesh. She has vast experience working in diverse cultures from Native American students to inner-city students and the international community. Her other passion lies in studying Asian dances. Currently she is focused on Odissi classical dance, and uses this dance vocabulary for storytelling in the library to actively engage children. It’s never boring in the library. 

You can follow the school where she works, International School Dhaka Instagram: @ isd_library

Opinions expressed in posts on this site are the individual author’s and are not indicative of the views of Global Literature in Libraries Initiative.