The book in a nutshell:
A collection of love stories, 31 of them from 27 different authors, compiled by Sneh Thakur.
My thoughts on the book:
So this is a love story anthology, right? What’s the most important ingredient to a love story? Well yeah, it is love. That ingredient appears to be mostly missing here.
When I started the read with the first story, “Written in the stars”, I knew the ending. It’s right there in the title. Put two and two together, and you know where the story is headed. OK fine, corny as the idea was, you’d think there was more about the lovely couple and their relationship. But no, that story was more about the protagonist and his obsession with “the stars”. Till the last page of the story, the damsel doesn’t enter the scenario. With love supposedly involved, you’d be forgiven if you think the guy was dating the astrologer.
With the standard set so high (no, I’m not talking literally), I thought some of the other stories would be better. Sad to say, the trip didn’t fare that well. The story “Rishta” was mostly, if not completely about parental argument and arranged relationships. The story “For Convenience’s Sake” had the ex lover’s sister blasting the protagonist guy for being him. “Making out” (yes, you can interpret literally to know the essence of the story) was more about the guy’s past than the kissing. Moving on, “Coffee” ended with a bitter taste in the mouth. “The Girl Who Was Too Loud” was just too one-note, not about love but of raw sex perhaps.
A few stories save the book from being totally down. Not coz of a love factor, but coz of difference in ideas maybe. I enjoyed “High Time” coz though it was quite a lot about arranged marriages, with the “dekhan dekhai” ceremony, and the parental blackmailing of the protagonist, the story had a humorous touch to it, and it showed there is another side to things. The story “Twisted” was one that had a twist, but the ending wasn’t as believable. “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” was perhaps the best in the book.
Overall, the book has more of these direct stories. Direct tone in love stories doesn’t work that well. The few stories that do work, and are enjoyable, don’t do enough to counter the effect of the not-so-enjoyable stories. I give this a 2.5 from 5.
Book details:
Title: Urban Shots – The Love Collection
Editor: Sneh Thakur
ISBN: 978-93-81626-47-4
Genre: Anthology / Love stories
Publishers: Westland + Grey Oak
Price: INR. 199
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Reviewed by Leo
Shared with Indian Quills Reading Challenge
Leo, you need some dose of love :P
ReplyDeleteSorry couldn't help saying that.
I won this book on twitter once....I did find few stories dragging...but apart from 2-3, I love all the rest. So felt like saying don't be harsh. Perspectives differ I guess :)
I rarely say bad things about books, but this book made me puke a little inside my head.
ReplyDeleteI won it along with you itself Mermaid. I like some stories, but no. I didn't like the majority. I don't lack that dose, friend. But I felt some of the stories did. So I put. To each person, their own views I guess.
ReplyDeleteI had won a copy of this book and I do agree that some stories do lose track on the idea of love, but I actually liked most of the stories. Maybe not exactly for the whole love drama but the difference in POVs from which the stories were presented twisted was one of my faves but the ending somehow got messed. I remember having read The Girl Who was too loud twice and couldn't make any sense of it. But I think the book fared quite okay with me.
ReplyDeleteI liked those different POV stories. Not a lot, but I did. The title "The Love Collection" sets an expectation that love would be heavily if not completely involved. So the lack of that sort of became the downer for me.
ReplyDeleteGood that you enjoyed the book mostly, Swarnali. :)
I would give it a 3 myself....so my views aren't different...Just the review was such that I felt are you giving it a 1 :)
ReplyDeleteNo. Like I said, it was more of a spontaneous review. I read it expecting something which I didn't get much, so was in that frame of mind as I wrote it.
ReplyDeleteworst anthology ever.. give it less than single star= ½★
ReplyDeleteAh right, if you read it expecting Love stories (which any normal person would) you will be disappointed, no doubt. But well I guess, I was just looking to be entertained, so I liked most of it :D
ReplyDelete