Book Review: Unheard by Bhavini Bhargava

I once knew a girl who didn’t speak much in class.
But her pen never stopped moving.

Not in the nervous, scribbling-because-I’m-bored way, but in that quietly possessed manner—like her hand knew something her voice hadn’t yet figured out.
She wore her hair in a braid that always unraveled by lunch. Her eyes? Tired. Her shoes? Always a bit scuffed, like she’d been running—not metaphorically, but literally—maybe from something, or toward it.
She reminded me of someone.

Maybe it was Bhavini.
Or maybe it was me.

You don’t read Unheard. You overhear it.

It’s a whispered confession in a crowded school corridor.
A poem smuggled into the back of a physics notebook.
A thought you had on the train but didn’t write down—and now it’s on page 17.

There’s a poem in there (well, there are many, but this one stuck) that felt like someone reached into my ribcage, dusted off the archives, and said:
“Hey, remember when you thought you were the only one not okay? Plot twist—you weren’t.”

Bhargava doesn’t try to dazzle you with clever rhyme schemes.
No verbal fireworks here. Just sparklers. Quiet light.
But they still burn.

The real twist is that her poems are deceptively simple. You’ll skim one and think, “Okay, teenage angst.”
Then two hours later, while folding laundry, a line will blindside you.

It’s the stealth grief of growing up with expectations so high you forget what air feels like.
It’s the guilt of success. The guilt of not enjoying the success.
It’s… the silence that comes right after applause.
You know the one.

So here’s the deal:

If you’re looking for dazzling metaphors and poetry that sounds like it studied poetry for fifteen years—maybe skip this.

But if you want a collection that reads like a journal you weren’t supposed to find,
and it makes you cry a little because some entries sound like your own handwriting,
Unheard is waiting.

I still think about that girl in class.
Years later, someone told me she wrote a book.
It wasn’t Bhavini. But it could have been.

Because every classroom has at least one.
The quiet one.
The tired achiever.
The poem in progress.

Maybe you were her.

Maybe you still are.

And maybe—just maybe—this book will help you feel a little more… heard.

Booknomad Tales Five Stars Award

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This book is a winner of the Booknomad Tales Five Stars Award, an accolade that reflects the mission of Booknomad Tales: to explore literature that resonates universally, while celebrating the distinct voices that make global storytelling so vibrant. Whether it’s a contemporary novel, a poignant memoir, or an evocative collection of poetry, award-winning books embody the heart and soul of what it means to be a nomad of the literary world.

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