Book Review-Love is Vodka, A Shot Ain’t Enough by Amit Shankar

Title: Love is Vodka, A Shot Ain’t Enough

Author: Amit Shankar

About the story: When 19 year old Moon finds herself in an upscale abortion clinic wanting to know if she is pregnant, she realizes that she has messed up her life. In pursuit of true love and in an attempt to comprehend and decipher the four letter word- LOVE, she has led her life in chaos and confusion.

Being a love child, Moon craves for her father’s affection, who despite staying miles away from her, guides her in her decisions and understands her in a way that her mother, who lives with her in the same house, never does. She is constantly at loggerheads with her mother, the famous and influential Payal Malik, who is also the star anchor of the news channel, IDTV.

Things turns nasty when Moon falls for her mother’s boyfriend, the suave and powerful, Ashwin Sinha, who she affectionately calls as Devil or Mr.D. When Moon’s mother learns the truth about D and Moon's relationship, she slaps her and Moon shifts bag and baggage to D’s house. But in her quest for true love, Moon leaves behind a string of broken hearts, including her first love Ash’s heart who doesn’t take the rejection kindly.

Finally after many disappointing love failures, Moon decides to take a break from love and learns to befriend the woman in her and stop gauging her worth based on the number of likes or friend request on her FB profile. She realizes that true love means loving the person within, knowing what the individual in you likes or dislikes, hearing what the voice in your heart is telling you.

Under the tutelage of Gautham, an IIMA graduate who sacrifices a successful corporate life after he found his true calling in fighting against corruption, Moon decides to join the battle against corruption. Does Moon find a meaning to her life? Does she finally figure out what true love is all about? You need to read the book to untangle the complicated web of love.

My Review:  The 200 pages book tries to crack a mystery that people from eons are still trying to figure out. Love.  After reading the “Author Speak” section in the book, I realized that the views of the main protagonist, Moon, in many ways reflect the beliefs of the author on the subject of love and fidelity.

As Moon falters and falls only to pick herself up yet again in her pursuit of that fickle thing called love, you get a glimpse of the quirky theories on love formed in an adolescent’s mind. Love is not about possession, it’s not about stalking the person you love because of your insecurities. When you love someone truly, you would want to be with him/her, because your heart feels so, not because of diktats set down by an archaic society.

It’s these things that makes the book a fresh, rejuvenating read and sets it apart. The language, flow of words are excellent and barring a few editing slips, the writing is flawless.

A couple of negative points in the book, I didn’t like the sudden and slightly implausible twist in the ending where the female protagonist acquires a sudden interest in political agitation against corruption. Somehow this plot angle didn’t seem to fit in the general tone of novel.  Also the end seemed to be kind of abrupt and incomplete.

Overall a pleasant and refreshing read

Verdict: A breezy, light read with some refreshing thoughts and ideologies about love and commitment.

Rating: 3/5 

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