Saturday, April 30, 2011

Anything Else But Love by Ankita Chadha

Anything Else But Love is a bollywood-esque love story.

Anything Else But Love

If you're a fan of that kind of romance, then I would definitely recommend this book to you...in fact, many of my friends have already asked to borrow this book from me. Its a classic boy-meets-girl, conflicts happens and happily-ever-after type of story, with quite a few twists and turns, drama on airports, loads of true love, a lot of misunderstandings, great supporting cast and a lot of plain old fun. The situations are really dramatized, as are the characters, which all adds to the kind of story it is. Its very clear, not every one will like this book, but people who actually do enjoy movies like Dil Waale Dulhaniya Le Jaenge, or Kuch Kuch Hota Hein should definitely consider this book as it is likely to be really enjoyable for them to read. 

I think the star of this book is Avi, the main guy. He's adorable, sweet, kind, flirty and FUN, which the female lead, Shewali, the 'teacher' lacks. Also, the thing about Shewali is that's she really good-good, and traditional, and pretty, and perfect, and all those things that I wont ever be, which is why I can emphasise more with Avi, whose pain and love and family issues and flirtiness are all really well-written and not too angsty. Also, I dont like Shewali's decisions through a majority of the book, she's over-dramatized at parts and at parts she just plain acts stupid, like the end, but Avi is just a great foil for her, and he makes the whole book seem a lot better. I think Avi - and Tia (Shevali's sweet best friend), Shabeer (Avi's very sweet and serious brother), and Sonnel (Shewali's kick-ass sister), are the reason you should be reading this book. Of course by the end of the book you cant ever hate Shewali, who's very kind and gentle and all, and eventually you grow to like her too. 

A few things in the book didnt exactly agree with me - I wasnt too fond of the writing style (but then, this is a pretty personal opinion) but it didnt gel with me much, and I didnt like some scenes which were a little nuts (though honestly, in the story they were in, it made perfect sense to put them, but still...). However, what I did like was that it was a quick and zippy read, 300 + pages go  by like a breeze. Moreover, this is the kind of book that warms your heart, pushes your buttons, makes you smile, and finally go 'aww' which is a pretty fun sensation once in a while. 

Final thoughts: Anything Else But Love is about nothing else but love. A fun, sweet, bollywood-esque read, recommended for all lovers of the genre. 

Other thoughts: This is another book for the Book Reading Challenge 2011! Also, author Ankita Chadha's going to make an appearance on my blog soon. Watch this space. 

(Financial disclosure: Book source was the author.) 

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