I read Blue-Skinned Gods in one sitting, broken only by a telephone call from a friend. The cast of characters was compelling populated by everything from a child-god to rock-and-roll stars. S.J. Sindu intertwines these characters’ lives in such a mesmerizing fashion that I had difficulty putting the book down. The reader meets the above-mentioned blue-skinned child-god, Kalthi Sami, his manipulative father, his depressed mother, his boyhood best friend, and his first love. Kalthi lives with the constant pressure of having to live up to his future as the tenth human reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu while really wanting to run and play like a normal ten-year-old boy. It is only when Kalthi realizes he has lost everyone dear to him except his father, that Kalthi begins to realize how unscrupulous that parent is. At that point, Kalthi breaks free. A totally unexpected twist occurs when he learns of the circumstances of his birth and the origins of his unique blue skin.
Sindu’s prose is lush and poetic and carries us from the deceptively idyllic ashram in India where Kalki is raised to the drug/alcohol-soaked post-punk music scene in New York. The book tackles tough topics: spirituality, faith and doubt, family, trauma, gender issues, sexuality, and finding one’s true self. An absolutely gorgeous book.
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