“Here’s another boring & predictable love-story from an Indian author,” I thought when I first started reading this novel. And how I could’ve taken the book seriously as the author is my hostel room-mate and a close friend? So it may not come as a surprise that I procrastinated reading the book for months (I really don’t like the genre and don’t read fiction that often). “Someday… With or Without You” turned out to be a surprising package. Surprisingly good… or surprisingly bad? You’ll find out.
Plot
The story revolves around four people who are Monty, Ashi, Minisha & Dave (nicknames). Ashi falls in love with short-tempered, erratic and dominating Monty. After Monty leaves the city to continue his studies, he stops talking to her which ultimately leads to their break-up. Then Dave enters the life of Ashi and a new love-story blooms between the two. This is all happening in the year 2008.
There is another narration that goes in parallel with the story and is set in the year 2014. An incident forces Dave out of the life of Ashi. After years of solitude, Dave finds comfort in Minisha, his new-found love. But things go haywire when one day Minisha disappears. Nobody knows where she went. Dave is perplexed. Ashi has come back to his life, seeing everything unfold in front for her eyes.
And how it all ends will leave you amazed!
What I Liked
First, the narration is engrossing and unique. Both Dave and Ashi narrates the entire story in both the timelines, so you’re actually seeing two point-of-views. It must have been unimaginably difficult for the author to step into the shoe of a girl and narrate the story.
Human nature is very complex. We are insatiable creatures. We crave things we cannot have. As for me, from where I stood, I was discombobulated….
As a human being, it was difficult to understand what others wanted, but I couldn’t even fathom what I desired myself.
The characters are developed well and in no time you feel the connection. You start feeling for them and the turmoil they are going through. In some situations you cannot help but think that ‘yes, this was me at some point of time’ or ‘yeah! this happens quite often’. There is a sense of deja-vu throughout the narration which makes the characters so believable. That’s quite an achievement. The author never goes overboard to narrate a situation or personality.
Happiness and pain, you don’t need to find them; they find you. The more we try to chase one and run from the other, the opposite happens. There are certain things in life we cannot fabricate; these two fall in the list.
Second, the story-line is impressive. Just when you think that the plot is becoming predictable, there comes a turn and hooks you.
But it is the climax that steals the show. You cannot help but appreciate the efforts of the author who has woven such an intricate story-line and presented in such a lucid way that mixes-up so well with an absolutely shocking (yet believable) ending. It is the last 10% of the book that takes it well-above the league of other established Indian authors writing about romance. Absolutely brilliant!
What I Didn’t Like
Is the book perfect? Not really.
Sometimes there are unnecessary detailing or unneeded humor in an otherwise terse narration. This disconnects an engrossed reader devouring sentences after sentences and imagining the situation and trying to reach a conclusion.
Now this could be due to a personal taste, but I wanted the ending to be a little more detailed. I just wanted more of the part that shows how unexpectedly the story has unfolded and how brilliantly everything is culminating. Climax was too fast-paced when compared to the rest of the part.
Some nitpicking and this is all that I have to say against an otherwise impressive debut.
Should You Buy This Book?
Absolutely! There is no reason not to. Even if you don’t like the new crop of Indian authors generating rom-coms (or only roms) at an unimaginable speed, you should give “Someday… With or Without You” a try as this book is a breathe of fresh air.
My Rating: ****/5
You can buy it from here (this is not an affiliate link so I am not getting any penny for your purchase).
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