LOVESTRUCK – Book Review

• Author: Prasupta Roy
• Genre: Romance/ Fiction
• Paperback 130 pages
• Publisher: HALF BAKED BEANS (11 May 2018)

Love doesn’t chain you and never perishes. It transcends the time, the age, the norms, and the destiny to unite the people in love!

Blurb

A romance fiction, Lovestruck, is a debut novel of the author that forays into the life of a woman in a patriarchal society living under its choking beliefs. It has Kaatyaani in its center who leaves behind her ambitions when she marries Hemant. She finds her happiness in his love and tries to mold her life according to his whims. Her inability to conceive develops a crack in their relationship that becomes frail with each day. In the middle of her pervasive melancholy, Kaatyaani stumbles upon a stranger who brings a radiance on her dull visage. A woman who lost her mirth and excitement regains it basking in the love of this new face. When the happiness found its way to the mundane life of Kaatyaani, life takes an acute and unexpected turn to shatter her castle of dreams. Years roll by and she finds herself abandoned, devoid of love and lonely. Will love come back to her life?

Review

The book has the women as its prime subject and the author attempts to cook a tasty story around her. There’s everything. Right from her sacrifices to her assumed sterility by her husband, his infidelity leading to her abandonment, her suppressed desires to enflame her life with love, her predicaments to deal with her heart. There are the barriers put in her way by the society, the lackluster life devoid of affection, her inability to see her parents, her immense efforts to save her husband of being guilty of his inability to father a child that makes her an ideal Indian woman suffering for a major portion of her life. Well, Kaatyaani has been projected as a poor woman who sees her dwindling relationship in the light of false hope. She puts blame onto herself despite being pure to keep his husband’s ego intact. Until the time her husband decides to move on, she is shown as that ideal perfect wife. Somehow, this aspect of Kaatyaani didn’t convince me at all. She indulges in adultery and infidelity herself and then goes on talking about her vows. Utter hypocrisy! I found her character pale and feeble to stand for herself.

Love is the central theme of the plot that finds ample space and nice description throughout the narrative. The brewing love story of Kaatyaani and the stranger catches pace without his proper entry. I found it a bit too fast. The intense chemistry between them is illustrated very well without sacrificing the sanctity of love. I liked it. Love has been displayed in both of its forms – its highest peak of ecstatic bliss and the nadir of painful separation. To love and be loved is a true blessing which is being justified in the story.

The language and coherence of thoughts make the book appear good. The subject of sterility/ fertility could have been dealt with in a more elaborate manner since it plagues our society badly. The pace of the narrative should have been more uniform. The flow of thoughts renders the narration effective. Overall, the book is a good choice for the ones who would like to pick a simple romance fiction for light reading. 

RATINGS:

Book Cover: 2/5

Book Title: 3/5

Plotline: 3/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Narration: 4/5

Language and Vocabulary: 4/5

Grammar and Punctuation: 3.5/5

Book Your Copy Here: LOVESTRUCK