There's Something About You - Yashodhara Lal

Title: There's Something About You
Author: Yashodhara Lal
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Tentative Release date: July 15th 2015 (Preorder @ Flipkart - Get 25% off)
Language: English
No. Of Pages: 268 pages

Lal's 'There's Something About You'  is the story of 28 year old - overweight, underachieving and unattached - Trish who's life comes crashing down when she is fired one day. As they say, there's no way but up, the chicklit follows Trish as she is forced to "get off [her] butt and do something about [her] problem[s]."

"After all, it was a fake-it-till-you-make-it kind of world. Especially if you were a single twenty-eight-year-old woman with two dependent parents and no job in the unforgiving city of Mumbai."

Trish's problems in varying levels of priority:

• Unemployment (hence, impending money problems)
• an unwell father (+medical bills), 
• a sharp tongued mother,
• a psycho psychic love interest,
• an over-dramatic neighbour/best friend (+kid who needs to be babysat),
• temperamental maid,
• and a bitchy new boss,
• minor problems incl. weight (Etc.)

While the story is intended to be a love story, evident from the cover and blurb, the main plotline revolves more around Trish's day-to-day issues rather than her love interest. Sahil, a potential match, makes fleeting appearances now and then and his relationship with the protagonist progresses dramatically between each arrival. Their relationship is endearing but, largely unexplored. Instead, you can expect to read more about the transformation of Trish's life from ordinary to extraordinary.

Trish's father is the most engaging character, providing relief from Trish's unending whining and her mother's constant complaining. As much as the author has tried to make Trish relatable, the protagonist remains disconnected from the reader as she often comes across as rude, impetuous and selfish.

"Dear DD,
There comes a time in every woman's life when she has to decide to grow up."

'There's Something About You' is not an unfamiliar plotline but, it is weaved in a way that is refreshing. It is a transformative tale that touches upon a variety of feelings that women go through in their life; it is a story of a modern woman making her own way. An absolute one-time read, I will recommend this book for hardcore chicklit lovers.

Post Script: Also recommended because Flipkart is offering an absolute deal on the book and you might just win a Micromax phone on preorder. (Click here to view Deal)

Other books by this author: 'Just Married, Please Excuse' and Sorting Out Sid

ReviewThisWeek: Inferno (No Spoilers)

This month saw the release of Dan Brown's latest addition to the Robert Langdon series. For those of you unaware of this series, please do go ahead and settle yourselves down with either : The Da Vinci Code, Angels&Demons and The Lost Symbol. If not, you might also enjoy Deception Point or Digital Fortress which are equally good. Now, I am a huge Dan Brown fan but, I want to make it clear at the outset that Inferno was disappointing to say the least.

The book begins with Professor Langdon waking up in Florence with no recollection of the last 48 hours. The first half is nail-biting and a real page-turner. The suspense is beautifully maintained as the reader joins Langdon in his journey of discovery. The arrival of Dr Sinskey, however, in the main story line spelt disaster; from there the books commences into a downward spiral. The story unravels almost dashing the hopes and desires and expectations of the reader. Instead of something incredible, the suspense unfolded as a case of, what can be named, as a less well-thought of end. Inferno has tons of information that makes the reader marvel at the author's in depth knowledge as well as his ability to blend comfortably into the flow of the story. It seems, around halfway, that Brown lost the plot or grew to tired of finding links back to all the incidents and separate pieces of knowledge. The end is extremely anti-climatic and almost makes the entire book seem pointless.

Moreover, the editing of the book acts like the incessant buzzing of a fly; floating about at the back of the reader's minds and providing as a source of constant irritation. It seems that large chunks of absolutely unnecessary information is spread out throughout the book which could easily have been edited out had the editor done his job properly. Furthermore, the grammar and the overall structure especially of individual sentences were both lacking and juvenile. Standards, that had been set very high with the The Lost Symbol, a book which I thoroughly enjoyed, fell drastically; enough to make me want to pull out my hair at the inadequacy of specifically the first few chapters. (Or better, smack the silly editor's face with the ginormous hard bound book.)  Had the editor focused himself, the book needn't have been as thick and long as it was.

I had expected so much more from someone so accomplished as Dan Brown himself. He has established himself as one of the few authors who still take into consideration a wider audience which includes the young adults, a group seriously lacking quality material to read. The plot of Inferno stagnated and the story became as unappealing as the cover, which to be honest - I am not a huge fan of. On the bright, the first half of the book was indeed incredible, sending chills down my spine as I hurried through page after page. The concept of the book was one that was very interesting and had huge amounts of relevance in today's world.
Still, the faults of the book far outweigh the successes, and so I will give it only a total of 1.5 / 5 stars.

Till next time-  #keepreading #lotsoflavh #believe