Live Love Believe..: BOOK REVIEW: YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU'LL GET LUCKY

BOOK DETAILS

TITLE: YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU'LL GET LUCKY
AUTHOR: PRIYADARSHINI NARENDRA
PUBLISHER: FINGERPINT PUBLISHING
ISBN: 978817234009
FORMAT: PAPERBACK
PAGES: 231
PRICE: Rs.150
MY RATINGS: 3.5 out of 5

Seldom does it happen that you find books that entice you to read, in appearance itself. People talk about how it is the content that finally attracts a reader to a book, but come to think of it.. The look does market the product that lies within. Priyadarshini Narendra’s “You Never Know When You’ll Get Lucky!” has a fantastic cover page and I can say so, because I have read the book and the cover and the content beautifully complement each other.

The things that I thought were quite unique in this book were:

The Cover Page

A white background is the perfect base to instill catchy symbols and metaphors for the 70,000+ words that embroider the inner pages. Inverted architectural symbols such as the Qutub Minar represents Delhi while the Gateway of India represents Mumbai, with a pair of sexy long waxed legs wearing red stilettos represents a story set in the 21^st Century, about a woman who is independent, glamorous who during the course of the story, shuttles between Delhi and Mumbai, and also moving back and forth between where her mind lies and where her heart lies..(The hearts are shown as bubbles moving around.)

Of course, the review of Durjoy Datta cannot go unnoticed, who describes the book as “Unputdownable and hilarious!” Imagine, a bestseller author, describing the book with an adjective, that hasn’t yet been created, simply because it rightly is a book, you cannot stop reading only halfway!

Also, every page number had a symbol next to it, a heart with a thread zig-zagged scrolled below it. These little things simply show how much effort an author and the publisher has put in, to attach sentiments and symbolism into this book.

The most striking bit for me was the absence of an acknowledgement page. I being part of the fraternity know exactly how difficult it is for someone to sell their manuscript to a publisher who wouldn’t treat it like any other piece but like a new born, that needs special concern and affection. That does involve a long list of people- family and friends to begin with but later on, agents, publishers, fellow authors, people attached to the marketing and PR…and the list can go on and on.

I do love reading the acknowledgement section in the books I review- they help me connect to the author’s sentiments about the coming up of the book.

Now talking of the book as per its content, No, I won’t say that it has the most unique plot ever. It is a simple story, talking of a lady named Kajal who works in an advertising company, who is more interested in getting her a promotion rather than getting into a relationship or even marriage- that her mother is driving her to do, to a childhood friend that Kajal isn’t exactly fond of. Kajal is in the course of getting a promotion after she bags a prized campaign on Condoms when she meets Sudhir- a guy in front of whom she had earlier embarrassed herself, but she found a connection that was hard to let go of. Events occur such that she spends considerable time with him and they fall in love in Mumbai. But she needs to go back to Delhi where she lives and works. Torn in between work and love, whom does she choose, considering even Sudhir cannot shift to Delhi.

There are other characters that add to the plot, Kajal’s neighbor who becomes a good friend after she realizes that he isn’t as bad as she thought of him; her temporary boyfriend who is a hypocrite-being all modern on one hand, but acting all conservative and orthodox in front of his parents; her boss who keeps tugging at her to work for the campaign on condoms, for her promotion and many more characters that silently play their roles to enrich the plot and bring the characters close.

Priyadarshini touches upon a variety of themes in this story- life of a 21^st C woman, how she looks at love, marriage and thus, life. Also, Gays and how they are pressurized to get married to women, due to the fear of embarrassment they and their families would be ascertained to.

The book feels so real, as if we have at some points, in bits and phases lived and reacted just how Kajal or Sudhir have. I could recollect reading Nikita Singh’s style of writing in it, though Priya actually manages to notch a level or two higher in terms of handling emotions of intimacy, love and desperation in a perfect blend.

All in all, a great ride of emotions. And trust me, you may get lucky, but if you do not work for it, nothing stays. Not work, not love and certainly not life!

Buy it here at a discounted rate