Truly, Madly, Deeply by Faraaz Kazi

Truly, Madly, Deeply is a book about first loves and obsessions.

In his debut novel, Faraaz Kazi, whom I interviewed here, tells a beautiful story about two teenage lovers: Rahul, and Seema, and their touching and tragic love story. From the onset, I thought this was one of your typical love stories where a girl and guy fall in love in school and end up together forever in the island of dreams because everyone is too perfect (which was reinforced by the fact that both main characters were described as very beautiful and intelligent and with beauty that just refuses to fade away no matter how beaten-down they get) but I was happy to be proved wrong. Yes, this is your teenage romance novel. But no, this is definitely not your cliched 'love is a cure-all' novel that looks oddly like a bollywood film story. The story is quite refreshing in its story-line and particularly in its conclusion, which I really enjoyed. 

The story it tells is in a sense very easy to identify with, especially as a high school student, and though both the cases of the main characters might seem slightly over-the-top, I personally find it a very likely and plausible story. The characters are eventually quite well-written, especially Rahul, who tells this story and is as a consequence much more human and likeable compared to Seema, whom we mostly see from the point-of-view of someone who adores her and thus comes across as slightly insufferable. I like how the house struggles and personal rivalries come in the middle of their relationship, with two such strong personalities as the author shows. I also loved the minor characters, from Jai to Sahil, most of whom were nicely shown and portrayed, and thus added depth to the story. 

The writing style was crisp and direct, I liked the use of non-linear structure and different point-of-views to tell the story, it added some spice to a book that might otherwise have been slightly bland. The use of poetry abundantly in the narrative was probably uncharacteristic but really helped break the monotony of having one character mostly narrate his story. I like how the story gives you a sense of wanting to know more, which is exactly how most teenage relationships end. Its particularly well-written in the sense that it can be understood and yet has depth, which is probably really ideal for its target audience. 

Final thoughts: A beautiful, layered story of a teenage love turning into an obsession. Worth a read if you like the concept.

Click here to get an author-signed copy of the book. 

Other thoughts: This christmas I hope to remove my backlog, which means 4-5 reviews are waiting. I hope you all are having a very beautiful holiday season, filled with reading! :)