#508 - Uncontrollable

by Varsha Seshan

“Uncontrollable” by Varsha Seshan. Published by Duckbill. An amazing story in verse of a twelve year old girl on a mission to fight against an evil government.

This is the story of twelve year old Ro (short for Rohini) who lives in Yuvnagar. Her mother is popularly known as the fairy queen and her performances are loved by the audiences. One day Ro finds out that she has certain powers that make her shimmer. Her mother seems to be hiding a lot of secrets from her. Ro tries to get them out of her. Thus comes out bits of facts about a place called Kallua. That was where Ro was from. Kallua had dark secrets. It was a land ruled by an evil government headed by the head chameleon who incidentally happened to be Ro’s father. He was supported by chameleons and doctors. There was a machine that could suck power out of uncontrollable children. Children found to be uncontrollable were forced out of their homes and made to live in north Kallua. After sucking their powers, the machine would discard them like empty shells.

Ro has been whisked out of Kallua by her mother so that she is safe. The fairy queen has saved quite a few children in this manner. Suddenly thrust with this knowledge, Ro is finding it hard to digest the truth when her mother is kidnapped and taken to Kallua. It is up to Ro now to use her powers and rescue her mother. Can Ro rise to the occasion and be a superhero? Will she be able to find a proper way to channel her powers and save her mother? Does she manage to face the head chameleon? Will she be able to destroy the machine and end the rule of the evil government? Read the spellbinding book to savour the story of Ro and her mission.

True to its name, the book proved to be a riveting read. My 9.5 year old and I just couldn’t put it down and were drawn into the world of Ro and the uncontrollables. The book had a good mix of adventure, magic, fantasy and mystery. The verse format had us enthralled through the book. This was our first book in the format and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We had taken the book on a college reunion trip and were midway through it when I lent it to a twelve year old girl who loved reading books. I thought she would read a bit and pick it up later. She loved it to bits and finished reading it within three hours taking short breaks just for lunch. She wanted to know what happened next and didn’t want to wait to get the book later. She had to be whisked away by her dad just in time for their flight :) The book caught the attention of quite a few people in the gathering. After this incident, my son couldn’t wait to savour the story of Ro. There wasn’t a single dull moment with all the action going on at full pace. We had to take a pause in between to process what was going on! And the boy was charmed by this new genre which he read despite our beach and birdwatching outings over a couple of days during the trip. Ro is his favourite character he says and he loved the way in which she went about her mission dodging mind games and baits. This book is a “MUST READ” and one of our favourites from 2023.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 10 and above.

Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Penguin India (Duckbill), for review. Thank you to Mansi, from Penguin, for sending across the book!