I normally do not review books that are my “school reader” because I feel like that's “cheating”.  I wanted to make an exception for this, because I feel like I don’t recommend enough Indian authors for teenagers, and because terrorism as a subject is not common in young adult literature.  

This book is about a Kashmiri boy named Aftab who has joined a militant group called the Kashmir Azadi group. They meet in secret locations and plan terror attacks. Aftab idolises the leader of this group, an older boy named Akram.  Akram, who is secretive about his background, is treated with mistrust by the locals because he is “firangi” or foreign. Aftab routinely goes behind his family's back to participate in the organisation. One day, a tea seller sees Aftab with Akram and calls the military, who then put Aftab under surveillance. This leads to the drastic events that take place in the book. 

I found the relationship between Aftab and Akram quite interesting. If you actually look at the circumstances that drew them to terrorism, it seemed much more likely that Akram, who also explicitly says that he kills because he loves it would be drawn to terrorism than Aftab, who has come from a more stable family and had a pathological fear of blood. I wonder if Aftab would have become a terrorist if he hadn't met Akram. I would describe Aftab and Akram's relationship as toxic. As Akram says, he knows that Aftab “hero-worships” him and while he favours Aftab over the other boys, it is evident that he is just using Aftab to get what he wants. Throughout the later chapters that becomes more evident.

This book doesn't justify terrorism but it explores how, young boys especially, get involved in terrorism in the first place. It touches upon the difficulties faced by Kashmiri pandits who become refugees half way through the book.  The book also addresses divisions based on religion through Aftab’s friendships with Angad and Laxman. 

I really like the title of the book as well, though in some sense it is a spoiler to the ending. This is a good YA read.