Review: A Boy Named Khwahish by Dee Aditya

The last year of school was supposed to be a stressful mess, but Sathya never expected it would get this stressful or this messy. He’s pissed off with his parents, his best friend is convinced something is wrong with him, and there’s a new guy with a pretty face and dazzling eyes, and Sathya just can’t seem to ignore him.

Or rather, Sathya doesn’t want to ignore him.

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Part of Take a Chance Anthology.

When I read the blurb for this I knew it would be super cute and it was. This was my first story set in a South Indian boarding school and I can tell you what a pleasure it was to spend time with young men and women this way.

Have you, um, ever met a person who makes you feel great just being with them, and you like to make them happy? Like a really good friend, but…more.

Told from the POV of Sathya we join him as he is entering Class 12 at school. We know he has been named head of Lotus House (a big responsibility), has a best friend named Prithvi and has a complicated relationship with his friend who is a girl, Ashwini. During class, when a new boy is introduced form Kashmir and Sathya is asked to switch seats with him, he gets lost in the hazel eyes of Khwahish and well, gets lost.

The crush is a slow burn for Sathya and he learns a lot about Khwahish when Prithvi decides to take him under his wing and show him around school. Sathya starts to really like Khwahish and when they are both at school over the break, a chat on the stairs over art leads him to acknowledge the crush, at least to himself.

It was sad to know how Sathya’s parents treated him and why he would rather stay at school than go home during vacations. But when he tells his best friend the reason, it was so sweet to get Prithvi’s reaction. The boys have a wonderful friendship that is only strengthened by not only the years they have been friends but the respect they give one another. It was a nice way for Sathya to acknowledge his sexuality to his best friend and then questioned/teased about Khwahish.

And then we get the moment I had been waiting for, when Sathya tells Khwahish he has a crush on “someone” and wonders… ACK! I won’t go into more because it was an adorable moment that led to a very strong HFN.

For a short story, this was sweet and truly adorable. I tend to have soft spot for the YA stories and this tale of Sathya finding his voice within his sexuality is exactly why I love them. 

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