by 
Title and Author: Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat
No. of Pages: 260
Publication Date: Rupa & Co; 3rd edition (1 October 2014)
Genre: Romance, Indian Writing
Language: English
Book Review:
Boy meets girl, falls in love with her except she just wants to be friends with him plus they both are from different Indian states.
Sounds predictable and what with so many stories already focussing on this theme of social, cultural differences among the various states in the culturally varied India with every second person afflicted with a similar case of “I love her/him but she/he doesn’t love me”, I was reluctant to take up Half Girlfriend but when some of my readers pointed out that I had not reviewed CB’s latest and expressed their desire to hear about my thoughts on the book, I decided to go buy the book and read it! 🙂
First things first, I must tell you my previous impressions about CB formed after reading all his previous books. CB is an author who writes simply, knows the issues that are common among the young Indians and has managed to make a place in their hearts. All these things make him respect worthy in my eyes. Coming to his books, I loved 2 States the best among his books and Revolution Twenty20 the least. His books are unpredictable. There is no guarantee that you will like them.
Half Girlfriend takes the author’s writing journey forward and here too he focuses on the issues that are pretty common and so, will be empathized upon by everyone. The title is intriguing and makes one take a second look at the book while surfing in a bookstore. The blurb is mediocre but with CB, who reads the blurb?
We just see his name and pick up the book! 🙂
When I started the book, initially I enjoyed reading about Riya and Madhav and their character development in the first 3-4 chapters. After this everything is the usual with nothing interesting to keep you bound to the book. The story could have been made more crisp, concise and simply more interesting. It drags and the scenarios and the change of places just didn’t make me want to stop to take notice.
The writing style is simple and can be read by everyone but this book is not meant for serious readers because you, simply, wont like it. If you are an avid CB fan and a casual reader then can give it a try. If you are new to CB then I wont recommend starting the author’s book journey with this book.
No. of Pages: 260
Publication Date: Rupa & Co; 3rd edition (1 October 2014)
Genre: Romance, Indian Writing
Language: English
Book Review:
Boy meets girl, falls in love with her except she just wants to be friends with him plus they both are from different Indian states.
Sounds predictable and what with so many stories already focussing on this theme of social, cultural differences among the various states in the culturally varied India with every second person afflicted with a similar case of “I love her/him but she/he doesn’t love me”, I was reluctant to take up Half Girlfriend but when some of my readers pointed out that I had not reviewed CB’s latest and expressed their desire to hear about my thoughts on the book, I decided to go buy the book and read it! 🙂
First things first, I must tell you my previous impressions about CB formed after reading all his previous books. CB is an author who writes simply, knows the issues that are common among the young Indians and has managed to make a place in their hearts. All these things make him respect worthy in my eyes. Coming to his books, I loved 2 States the best among his books and Revolution Twenty20 the least. His books are unpredictable. There is no guarantee that you will like them.
Half Girlfriend takes the author’s writing journey forward and here too he focuses on the issues that are pretty common and so, will be empathized upon by everyone. The title is intriguing and makes one take a second look at the book while surfing in a bookstore. The blurb is mediocre but with CB, who reads the blurb?
We just see his name and pick up the book! 🙂
When I started the book, initially I enjoyed reading about Riya and Madhav and their character development in the first 3-4 chapters. After this everything is the usual with nothing interesting to keep you bound to the book. The story could have been made more crisp, concise and simply more interesting. It drags and the scenarios and the change of places just didn’t make me want to stop to take notice.
The writing style is simple and can be read by everyone but this book is not meant for serious readers because you, simply, wont like it. If you are an avid CB fan and a casual reader then can give it a try. If you are new to CB then I wont recommend starting the author’s book journey with this book.
2 out of 5 to Half Girlfriend because I liked the title, the idea behind the book and the character development. The execution of the story fails and the scenes, after the initial part of the book, start looking too far fetched and a drag.
