Book Review-The One You Cannot Have by Preeti Shenoy

Title: The One You Cannot Have

Author: Preeti Shenoy

About the story: Aman Mathur is a young, good-looking man, successful in his career and after a brief stint in UK for 2 years, he’s all set to return to India. But an accidental relapse into his old memories sends him tumbling back to his past, to the wonderful 4 years of his life that he spent with Shruti. Shruti is the girl he cannot have, with whom he spent some wonderful moments. Without her, Aman had never envisaged his future. 

But it was Shruti who had walked out of his life, leaving him shattered and heart-broken and just when he thought that he had moved on, the ghosts of his past return to haunt him. 

Shruti, now married to Rishabh, is content and settled in her role of a married woman. But a day doesn’t pass in her life without the memories of her perfect relationship with Aman prowling her banal and mundane day-to-day life.

Anjali is an exuberant and vivacious girl, working as a columnist in women’s magazine and she’s charmed by Aman’s kind and intelligent demeanor. But she is also confused by his conflicting attitude when he doesn’t return her messages after their few wonderful dates. Aman on the other hand is guilty, because he enjoys Anjali’s company but he is not sure if he’s ready to plunge into a relationship when his heart still pines for ‘the one he cannot have’.

Will Aman finally get back with Shruti or will he rest the ghosts of his past relationship and move ahead by accepting Anjali’s love and warmth in his life. Read this touching and heartwarming tale of love, relationships, pain, healing and moving-on in life

My Review: In this fifth book of Preeti Shenoy’s, she narrates a heartening tale of how past relationships, when broken without a proper closure, can come back to haunt the present. Her strength, as always, is in portraying real, believable characters and events that can happen in anyone’s life. The characters in the book are as real as it gets. For example, when Aman engages in a one-night stand, just to exorcise the ghosts of his past relationship with Shruti, it is believable, because it is what most guys would do.

The narration changes every chapter and is told by the three (Aman, Shruti and Anjali) main characters, but it does not confuse the readers, as usually this type of narration does. The author does not deviate much from the plot. The narration is crisp and manages to hold onto the reader’s interest till the climax of the book.

But what I find a little disappointing is, Preeti Shenoy’s previous few books weave around a similar thread of plot. The current book and ‘The Secret Wish List’ (‘Life is What You Make It’ to some extent too) were based on past, failed relationships haunting the main protagonist’s present life. I hope that in her next novel she abandons her comfortable zone and delivers another amazing and bestselling novel.

Verdict: A touching and impressive fast-read that manages to keep the readers engrossed from the start to the last page of the book.

Rating: 3.5/5

You can read my reviews of Preeti Shenoy’s previous novels here-

The Secret Wish List

Life is What You Make it

Tea for two and a piece of cake

Book Review-And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

 Title: And the Mountains Echoed.

Author: Khaled Hosseini

About the story: In the year of 1952, Saboor, a poor farmer from a village in Afghanistan, Shadbagh, decides to sell his 3 year old daughter, Pari, to a wealthy couple in Kabul. He does this in order to save his family from the extremely harsh winter, which had killed his infant son in the previous year. A finger must be cut to save the hand. But this decision of Saboor breaks Abdullah’s heart, who is not only a brother to Pari but also takes on the role of a mother, after the death of their own mother during childbirth.

Pari soon forgets her brother and her old life, enjoying her time in the comfortable home of Suleiman Wahdati, and in the affection of her new mother, Nila.  Her step uncle, Nabi, who had originally arranged Pari to be sold to the couple, feels remorse for separating the siblings. He placates himself, saying that he did it only to make his employer, Nila, happy and forget her own inability to have children. Nabi, is secretly enamored by the beautiful and charming, Nila and is devastated when she leaves for Paris along with Pari, following a stroke attack on her husband, Suleiman.

As years roll, Abdullah and Pari’s lives move along. They marry, have children, and overcome tragedies. But Abdullah can never forget his little sister, narrating her story to his daughter, who he names as Pari. And his beloved sister, living in Paris, is often dazed by the wispy memories of her childhood and a faint sense of something missing in her life.

Almost 5 decades later the siblings unite, but will it be a happy ending? Will the brother and sister finally realize their childhood dream of living close to each other, when they grow up? You’ll have to read the emotional and heart-wrenching tale of Pari and Abdullah in the third novel of Khaled Hosseini.

My Review:  There are a few books that can manage to grab a reader’s interest in the first few pages of the book. Usually most books take a minimum of 25-50 pages for the story to unfold, for the plot to take-off. But ‘And the Mountains Echoed’ is one rare book which captures the reader’s imagination right from page one.

Although the plot is about the two siblings and how their lives unfurl, each chapter narrates the stories of various characters in the book. Out of which, some are absolute tear-jerkers and some are unnecessarily prolonged, adding nothing much to the plot. It’s like a collection of short stories which are in some way connected to each other. I loved the story depicting the relationship shared between Nabi and his master, Suleiman. I was shedding copious tears reading the poignant tale. 

The author has the characters portrayed with a shade of pragmatism, which I liked. It also sheds a little light on the lives of people living in Afghanistan during the Taliban reign and the Soviet Invasion, although I wished the author had delved a little bit deeper into that.

Overall an emotional and sentimental tale of love, separation, desires, misunderstanding, guilt, redemption and undying-faith and hope.

Verdict: A definite and absolute must-read. Word of caution though, keep a tissue handy, I’m sure you’ll need it when reading this book.

Rating: 4/5

Book Review- The Case of the Lucky Loser by Erle Stanley Gardner

Title: A Perry Mason Mystery- The Case of the Lucky Loser.

Author: Erle Stanley Gardner

About the story: A young man from an affluent family, Ted Balfour, has been arrested on the charges of hit-and-run accident and killing a drifter in the middle of the night. Perry Mason is dragged into the case when he receives an anonymous call requesting that he be present during the hearing of the case. When the ingenious detective sits through the arguments of the prosecutor and the defense, he realizes that there is much more to the case than what meets the eye.

He agrees to take on the case for Ted Balfour, when during the course of investigation it comes to light that the case is actually a first degree murder and that the victim was shot dead with a gun before purposefully being run over by a car. Perry Mason has to not only prove that his client is innocent but also deflect any bad publicity for the Balfour family.  

Will Perry Mason be able to free the young Balfour? Will he able to save the family blessed with millions from scandal and disgrace?

Review: Perry Mason books are always a delight to read. They are short, crisp and filled with twist and turns that keeps you guessing the actual murderer right till the very end of the book.

At 180 pages, this book is a quick read but it definitely does not fall short in action and suspense elements. Erle Stanley Gardner is unquestioningly the master of crime and whodunit novels. 

Verdict: A short, engrossing and unputdownable read.

Rating: 3.25/5

A special thanks to Suraj Mahant from http://www.freepaperbook.com/ for sending the book to me.

Book Review: The Caretaker by A. X. Ahmad

Title: The Caretaker

Author: A. X. Ahmad

About the story:  During one extremely harsh and cold December night, Ranjit Singh, an ex-captain in the Indian army and now an immigrant in America, moves his family illegally into Senator Neals house in Martha’s Vineyard, where he works as the caretaker. The Vineyard is an isolated island that remains mostly deserted through the winter season. All though Preetam, Ranjit’s wife, is not happy about his move from Boston to the Vineyard, Ranjit decisively avoids going back to Boston, where he worked in an Indian department store owned by Preetam’s condescending uncle, Lallu. 

One night Ranjit’s idyll world is turned upside down, when two men barge into the Senator’s house in search of an old, porcelain doll. Ranjit escapes with his family, but his little daughter, Shanti, innocently carries the doll in her backpack. Ranjit and his family become fugitives. Preetam, disgusted and angered by the events, returns to her uncle’s home in Boston along with Shanti.

Ranjit realizes that the old doll hides a secret that the Senator aggressively tries to get back. The Homeland Security detains Preetam and Shanti since their visas had expired long back. The threat of deportation looms large on Ranjit’s head and he knows that he has to act fast before the Senator’s men catch him. 

He is also laden with the guilt of his mistake that he committed when he was in the army, leading a troop of men on the icy Siachen Glacier. Captain Ranjit and his Sergeant had erroneously identified an Indian camp as enemies and killed Indian soldiers. Ranjit is unable to forgive himself for his own mistake and often his past returns to haunt him. 

Ranjit also finds himself irresistibly attracted towards the Senator’s wife, Anna, who helps him to save his family. Can Ranjit unravel the mystery behind the porcelain doll in time and save his wife and daughter? Will he be able to finally forgive and forget the disaster that tragically cut short his career in army?

Read the fast-paced action/thriller novel to find out more about Ranjit Singh. 

My Review:  There are hardly few novels by Indian authors which can actually make you anxiously grip the armchair when you read it. And this novel definitely does that. For it is fast-paced, racing from the current situation where Ranjit bolts and flees away from the grip of the Senator’s thugs to his icy adventure, scaling to the top of the highest mountain attempting to bring down the enemy camp.

The thrill and mystery manages to keep the adrenaline rushing in readers. However, there are some scenes which slacken the plot towards the end and these could have been avoided. The prolonged affair between Ranjit and the Senator’s wife, Anna in the climax seemed a little inconceivable, especially when the deportation threat loomed large on his family. 

And the abrupt nature of the climax implies a sequel in making. Would I pick up the sequel? Definitely.

Verdict: A fast-paced action, compelling thriller that slightly wavers towards the ending of the book.

Rating: 3/5

 This book was sent to me by Indiblogger, Get Published-Book Reviews.