The Cover:
The cover shows the picture of the Manipal University, which is apt, because the major portions of the story happens there, but what I feel is a little bit of creativity could have been used on the front cover. The way it forms the title on the top of the university is notable. In a way, it tries to emphasize upon the fact that the entirety of the story takes place here. On the other side, there is a guy with a cap seen enjoying a joint in a beautiful scenic evening, which I think is the 'End Point' where the protagonist often goes to smoke his joint. Good thinking.
The Blurb:
Akash, a.k.a. The Love Guru, has had the best of his days in his undergrad years as the heartthrob of college, popular for his skill in acting, directing and romance making, known for his poems and for his loyal friendships. Despite being a little lazy and mediocre in studies, he was the centre of everyone's attention. However, everything changes when he joins the masters program in the same college. No longer Mr. Popular, Akash feels like an outcast amongst his new batchmates. Having broken off with his college sweetheart, his own confidence has taken a blow. He misses his old days, old friends and old life. Inspite of being at the same campus, he feels lost and lonely. Every now and then, his mind and soul drift back to his undergrad days. Then one day, Simran walks into his life and it changed forever. Did she change his life? Did they become good friends? Did Akash correct his ways after meeting Simran? Did he start taking his life and his studies seriously? The book captures the journey and transformation of an ignorant teen into a mature man through a rollercoaster of emotions of love, friendship, responsibility, maturity, dignity, pride and above all self belief. Flip through the pages of this book to enjoy the story of an ordinary guy Akash, who found himself in extraordinary situations.
The blurb gives one the idea that it is going to be just run-off-the-mill story having a college senior with a past and a new girl comes in to relieve his pains, and be the exact girlfriend that the protagonist had always wanted. Maybe the lovers of the romance genre would pick this book up after having seen the cover and read the blurb. I wouldn't say it is a great blurb. It is a good blurb, but it isn't all that catchy.
My Take:
There is a famous saying 'don't judge a book by its cover', and I seem to have made that exact mistake. Maybe the author intended the readers to judge the book by its cover and after having read it, think that it is not at all what we thought of before. The author has cleverly not involved too many characters in order not to create a confusion. There are four major characters in the book. Akash - the protagonist, Neelu - his college sweetheart who had broken off with him, Kislay - his B.Pharm batchmate, now an M.Pharm buddy, Simran - the new girl from Delhi who is close friends with Akash. Even when he brings in other characters like his juniors who used to be in his acting team, it doesn't seem sudden. The introduction of the trivial characters is smoothly done.
The author has cleverly used two fonts in the book to differentiate between the past and the present instead of the classic italics which had been used for long. I guess he wants everyone who reads the book to be clear in understanding the story that he is telling. Good effort by the editorial team as well. The editing is fine with almost no errors and it is written in a very simple language that could be understood by people who aren't voracious readers. To say, it is a good book to start with. However, even though the story is good, the characters are kind of shallow, which made the good story miss the impact that it should have otherwise created.
Verdict: A good debut.
My Rating:
The cover shows the picture of the Manipal University, which is apt, because the major portions of the story happens there, but what I feel is a little bit of creativity could have been used on the front cover. The way it forms the title on the top of the university is notable. In a way, it tries to emphasize upon the fact that the entirety of the story takes place here. On the other side, there is a guy with a cap seen enjoying a joint in a beautiful scenic evening, which I think is the 'End Point' where the protagonist often goes to smoke his joint. Good thinking.
The Blurb:
Akash, a.k.a. The Love Guru, has had the best of his days in his undergrad years as the heartthrob of college, popular for his skill in acting, directing and romance making, known for his poems and for his loyal friendships. Despite being a little lazy and mediocre in studies, he was the centre of everyone's attention. However, everything changes when he joins the masters program in the same college. No longer Mr. Popular, Akash feels like an outcast amongst his new batchmates. Having broken off with his college sweetheart, his own confidence has taken a blow. He misses his old days, old friends and old life. Inspite of being at the same campus, he feels lost and lonely. Every now and then, his mind and soul drift back to his undergrad days. Then one day, Simran walks into his life and it changed forever. Did she change his life? Did they become good friends? Did Akash correct his ways after meeting Simran? Did he start taking his life and his studies seriously? The book captures the journey and transformation of an ignorant teen into a mature man through a rollercoaster of emotions of love, friendship, responsibility, maturity, dignity, pride and above all self belief. Flip through the pages of this book to enjoy the story of an ordinary guy Akash, who found himself in extraordinary situations.
The blurb gives one the idea that it is going to be just run-off-the-mill story having a college senior with a past and a new girl comes in to relieve his pains, and be the exact girlfriend that the protagonist had always wanted. Maybe the lovers of the romance genre would pick this book up after having seen the cover and read the blurb. I wouldn't say it is a great blurb. It is a good blurb, but it isn't all that catchy.
My Take:
There is a famous saying 'don't judge a book by its cover', and I seem to have made that exact mistake. Maybe the author intended the readers to judge the book by its cover and after having read it, think that it is not at all what we thought of before. The author has cleverly not involved too many characters in order not to create a confusion. There are four major characters in the book. Akash - the protagonist, Neelu - his college sweetheart who had broken off with him, Kislay - his B.Pharm batchmate, now an M.Pharm buddy, Simran - the new girl from Delhi who is close friends with Akash. Even when he brings in other characters like his juniors who used to be in his acting team, it doesn't seem sudden. The introduction of the trivial characters is smoothly done.
The author has cleverly used two fonts in the book to differentiate between the past and the present instead of the classic italics which had been used for long. I guess he wants everyone who reads the book to be clear in understanding the story that he is telling. Good effort by the editorial team as well. The editing is fine with almost no errors and it is written in a very simple language that could be understood by people who aren't voracious readers. To say, it is a good book to start with. However, even though the story is good, the characters are kind of shallow, which made the good story miss the impact that it should have otherwise created.
Verdict: A good debut.
My Rating:
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