It's Always Been You by Kritika Malhotra !!!

            Ended up with another Romance Fiction this evening. After reading Arpita Sarkar's book, I thought let's read one more by a female author and then move towards male again. :-) And for a change, I liked the book. Kritika Malhotra is a Final year student of Hindu college, pursuing Honors in Physics. But as she has a passion to write, she worked as an intern with Viewspaper and kept publishing her articles on various different portals too. And the final result of her love for literature came out in the form of her debut novel which got released some months ago named- "It's Always Been You" which is being published by Mahaveer Publishers. The book carries a tag line too- "Can you be in live with two guys at the same time...?" Reading this, I thought that I am going to get bored with another typical triangle love story, but to my rescue, it wasn't that cheesy. :-)

              IT's ALWAYS BEEN YOU is not just a love story. In fact, it's not even a typical love story that everyone writes now-a-days. To be precise, Indian authors who get published in their college days itself. :-) It's the book about the thinking and approach towards life of the boys and girls studying in elite colleges of metro cities like Delhi. It's about how they see Love and how they fall into relationships. How they experience several break-ups but still manages to find a new partner for them within days. Because, for them what matters is a relationship, not the person. But, even they have that middle-standards feeling for LOVE which keep them in the airs of their ex-es and they don't find pleasure in their new partners like the last one. So, this is the story of this girl- Maully, studying in Hindu college, getting into an affair with Viraj (after her last break up with Rohan in junior college) and still loving Keyur whom she met before Viraj. So, for knowing the kinds of emotions that Maully had about both the guys, go get the book. :-)

           Kritika Malhotra- When I came to know about the release of her book, I was sure that she would have attempted a love story with a simple English language which most authors prefer to do now-a-days. But fortunately, the kind of vocabulary she has used throughout the book is the best part of it. I learnt lots of new words through this book. Kritika also knows how to carry the same emotion throughout the book, and how to write them in several ways, such that it does not turn monotonous and a reader can enjoy the read till the end of the book. She knows that the story demands some humor statements and funny scenarios, hence, she has added them excessively in the book, which I liked. :-) The Sabreen-Maully's chemistry in the initial part of the book is fun to read. I liked the part where Maully goes for dating with Keyur. It's so unpredictable. The description after having the First sex is cool rather than being vulgar like the attempt of some other authors. The frustration after Maully gets a bad result is another good part of the book. That's exactly how a student feels. Even, the way how author has connected the initials of the book with the climax gives you a good feeling about it. 

            I would rate this book- 3/5. That's average. Yes, because the story is not new. Only treatment is. 

   Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU