Book Review :: ‘My Last Love Story’ by Falguni Kothari

Genre: Literary Romance

Blurb:

Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes’s, Me Before You, My Last Love Story is a heartbreakingly romantic tale about the complexities of trauma and whether love can right a wrong.

I, Simeen Desai, am tired of making lemonade with the lemons life has handed me.

Love is meant to heal wounds.

Love was meant to make my world sparkle and spin.

Love has ripped my life apart and shattered my soul. 

I love my husband, and he loves me.

But Nirvaan is dying.

I love my husband. I want to make him happy.

But he is asking for the impossible. 

I don’t want a baby.

I don’t want to make nice with Zayaan.

I don’t want another chance at another love story. 

My Review:

The affections and bonding during childhood always has a profound effect throughout the life. More so if there is no one else to lean on to. ‘My Last Love Story’ explores this friendship, bonding and love—between not two but—by three people, who are totally, irrevocably in love with each other.

Falguni Kothari dares to tread on a relationship which the society (read readers; me included) might have frowned upon, especially when a girl is involved with two boys. But the author has done a skillful job of giving that love or adoration a respectability, which if not handled properly might have become vulgar or tasteless. Hats off!

Nirvaan’s dying wish is to have a baby, but his wife Simeen who is battling with the memories of her past and now the reality of his illness, is reluctant to shoulder the responsibility. In addition to this complication Nirvaan has called their childhood buddy Zayaan to come and live with them. Nirvaan knows as the cancer will progress, Simeen will need someone who can give unconditional support. 

The three best buddies have shared a tumultuous past and are reluctant to clear the air. Both men know there is some problem with Simeen, and like gentlemen they wait for her to open the subject. But will Simeen find the courage to reveal the truth? Ms Kothari has wonderfully woven the complexities and dilemmas in their lives.

The characterization of all three protagonist is near perfect with all their quirks and regionalism, for Nirvaan is a Gujju, Simeen a Parsi and Zayaan a Muslim. The author has integrated the narration of past (back story and flashbacks) and present seamlessly. I simply loved the flawless flow of words.

‘My Last Love Story’ keeps you guessing, makes you empathize with the protagonists, leaving you totally invested in the tale. However do not expect everything to end happily-ever-after. Depicting the harsh realities of life, it will surely make one emotional.

Highly recommended for all literary romance fans.

Book Links:

Goodreads * Amazon US * Amazon IN

Book Review :: ‘Just For You’ by Rahul Saini

Note: I had received this book via 'Wordbite' in exchange of my honest review.

Genre: Romance/ Literary ??
Publisher: Penguin Metro Reads
Blurb:
When you love someone, what's there to prove? Everything! It looks like life is teaching Rohit a lesson. His publishing deals, his relationships, even his job - nothing seems to be working out. To make matters worse, Karan is still trying his best to ruin him as a writer. But when Nisha leaves him, it's the ultimate blow. To win her back Rohit must prove he loves her enough to do things that matter to her: like helping Tara find a publisher. As Rohit takes control of his life, he begins to find things slowly changing for the better for him too. But will Nisha be happy with that? Will she come back to him? Just for You is an adorable, bittersweet story about love and its responsibilities.

The central character – Rohit, an author, rebels against his inner self and struggles to settle with his unbalanced life while Karun, another (very) young author leaves no stone unturned to ruin his reputation as a writer because of his revelry and jealousy towards him. Rohit suffers the ultimate blow when is his girlfriend, Nisha leaves him. In order to gather the ripped shreds of his life, Rohit tries to win Nisha back by doing the things that would matter to her the most, in turn bringing his life back on track (or not)! Meanwhile, Karun keeps trying his best to ruin his career anyway! 

My Review
‘Just For You’ explores the real world of authors and writers sans the glamour. The story strips off the veneer of style and sophistication from the lives of the protagonists, laying bare the common human emotions—envy, greed, fear and other complexes.

One thing that plagues my mind is that I have not been able to slot the novel into a genre. It is definitely not a romance. But the story does force us to think how to find strength in the face of all adversaries.

The main thread revolves around Rohit who has a bestseller to his credit. He is a straight forward, honest guy, struggling to complete another novel, and handling the practicalities of life. Rohit has had an altercation with his publishers, and the characters on the periphery are ready to take advantage of the situation. Karun is ready to usurp his position as a bestseller author by any means possible, and Rohit’s boss is hell bent on ruining the future of his protege. Without revealing the spoilers, I just want to say that I really liked the twist in the end.

There is a lot of action happening around and in Rohit’s life, and in the first half I felt the extent of human emotions have not been fully explored. I didn’t feel the depth of affection between Rohit and Nisha—Rohit’s girlfriend. The author manages to get the reader hooked when Nisha leaves him. Another small scenario I can’t help but mention and which has to be attributed to creative license— is that Rohit’s boss, boss’s girlfriend and Rohit sharing one room with extra bed on an official trip. A bit far-fetched, and I couldn’t stomach the scene.

The tale is narrated in first person through the main character’s point of view. Each chapter spans a scene which are sometimes as small as half a page with a title sentence summarizing the action about to happen. The first half is a bit slow, but as the stage is set for Rohit to take action, the pace picks up reaching a satisfactory end.

The novel is written in present tense; a style which takes some time to get used to, but I see the it getting quite popular these days. The language and narration is seamless and engaging. 

I will definitely read another novel by the Rahul Saini.

Book Blitz :: 'Voyagers Into The Unknown' by Ruchira Khanna