You Never Know by Akash Verma (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

  

37^th Book of 2020!

 

Reading books back to back by the same author sometimes can be an excellent or worst experience. It also depends on the sequence in which you pick up the books. I am just done reading Akash Verma’s “You Never Know” whereas I had completed one of his other books 2 days back itself. This 216-pages book is published by Penguin and hence I had little more expectations than usual. And I am glad that I really loved the story and so much that I woke up till 2 AM last night after a hectic day at office just because I couldn’t keep the book aside. And luckily, this book was far better than the book of Verma I read before this.

 

“You Never Know” is a romantic thriller and I must say it completely does justice to the genre. I liked how the author keeps the balance of everything – the family life, the extra-marital affair, the thrilling part, the sexual scenes, the professional discussion etc. that each of them is put in the right amount in the book. I must also applaud the editing team as well for this. In 216 pages, writing a story with 3 prominent characters and able to do justice to all of them along with the thrilling aspect of the story is done very crisply and up-to-the-mark. Not even once did I feel that any sentence has been framed out of the context.

 

The narration can’t be called fast-paced but it’s at a pace where you feel convenient but still, there’s a feeling that you are on a roller-coaster ride. Author has used 3 people who speak in their own voices- the protagonist, Dhruv, his extra-marital girlfriend- Anuradha and her ex-bf, Sid. It is so very well done that you relate to all of them and can feel the genuineness and darkness in each of them. You don’t know if what they are doing or what they did was actually wrong or the societal morality makes one feels so. I also liked the romance part of the book where Dhruv and Anuradha simultaneously displays their emotions from man and woman point of view considering that one of them is already married. This dilemma is very well played by the author throughout the book.

 

The way author plays with timelines and brings some old characters back into the tale is done so seamlessly that you don’t feel that you are moving back and forth with the timeline. I liked how author just didn’t mention few things from a high-level point of view but went deeper into it. For e.g. the marketing team’s job where they have to give a demo to crack a client, the pressure one feels after being promoted, the curiosity for the 1^st task given in a new job irrespective of your previous experiences, the guilt when one is in extra-marital affair, the toughness of building a start-up in India where you have to get funds from others, the parent’s view regarding their child who unlike their peer are questing to be an entrepreneur than a corporate employee etc. Many such factors are beautifully discussed and handled.

 

Now talking about the drawbacks of the book- Well, to be frank, the last book of Akash that I completed 2 days back was been rated 3.25* by me which disappointed me as I have earlier rated him as high as 4.5*. But this time he has again delivered well up to his best capabilities hence there isn’t much that I have to say. I only have to make an observation that when author moved back to the timeline he mentioned the year whereas when in the next chapter, he again comes to the current time, it isn’t mentioned which I think should be mentioned. Though it’s self-explanatory after reading but still. Again, I feel that the thrilling part needs to be little more tough with great twists and turns which is again missing though I still believe that the book is a great page-turner where you want to know what happens next and as well as in the end.

 

Overall, this is a very well-written book and it can be read by anyone- beginners or people deeply into reading. I give this book an excellent 4.5* out of 5. Though this book is complete in its own sense but the sequel of the same is about to release in early 2021 for which I am equally excited to know what more happens with these characters. Well done, Akash!

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Thanks.

 

WRITING BUDDHA