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Love is Vodka A Shot Ain't Enough - Book Review


My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Love is Vodka A Shot Ain't Enough
by Amit Shankar

It is a roller coaster relationship ride that made Moon open her eyes to the fact that if one must befriend anyone, it has to be one's own self first. Everyone else can wait.

'The moment we befriend the woman or man in us, the desire to have an obscene number of Facebook friends would subside. After all, the desire to have people like one's status updates or pictures is just a reminderfor the person inside that he is being appreciated and liked. How pathetic!' - Amit Shankar

I couldn't have agreed more. It is the story of Moon, a love child of a single mother, a well-known journalist. It is her journey to find love which she seems to be missing from her mother. A father who seems so far yet so close and a mother so close and yet feels so far, this tale takes the reader into the turmoil that Moon faces, including the various relationships she encounters and tries to clutch on to, thinking it would last 'forever'. But then forever is a ambiguous term in the 21st century.(Or was it always so?)

What I like about this author's way of storytelling is that he brings together subjects or taboos from anywhere and everywhere and binds it together in his stories. This is the second novel by the author that I have read.The previous one was 'Chapter Eleven' whose review can be found by following the link : http://critiquedontcriticize.blogspot...

Coming to the star ratings, it is highly personal. While this story was dark and grey, never black and white, it reflected lives of many teenaged girls of modern India and the world. Even though I felt that it was slightly exaggerated at various junctures, I might of-course be wrong provided I haven't had the opportunity to meet girls like the character in this book.

From working as an intern in an advertising agency to being the sought-after model to becoming a part of a anti-corruption movement, it was a progression of sorts in the life of a rebellious, confused teenager. But being the Bollywood fan that I am, I couldn't stop predicting the future of the story at various points while reading. I could see traces of many movie scenes in the story that are ingrained in my mind.

There were bits of Fashion,Rang de Basanti and some other films that kept flashing in my mind. It was a spoiler of sorts but then I was able to visualize the characters with some actors that I really adore!

According to me, it tried hard to say a story of a distressed teenager but then like many Indian fans of Bollywood, the author also couldn't help himself from including a part of it into the tale being told by him.

- Divya Nambiar
Other books by the author- Chapter Eleven, Flight Of The Hilsa,

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