Book Review A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories

I have always loved reading short stories; it is because in such few words they are able to tell a complete story and if this is not magic then what else is. Initially I didn’t know what to expect from the book. But wow! What a beautiful book it turned out to be. A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories is a collection of six short stories. Each of these stories is 40 to 50 pages long.

Styling and Quality of the book: Right from the quality of the paper to the quality of the binding, font size, font style, page formatting, line spacing and the book cover all are just perfect.

Blurb: From America, New Delhi, Balasore, Cuttack and even at the barren land of Nabarangpur; unearth sagas of demands, indecisiveness, struggle, intensity, love and longing! A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories reveals the human side of survival called Hope; hope on which every living being thrives, hope, which at times is also lost.

Stories travelling the test of time, characters infusing a blood of fire, this book brings to the readers, how deep and passionate life’s purpose can be, how in an insipid land of imagination, can connect with the most fertile of hearts. Love adorns life!

The plots are clean, it mentions only what is absolutely necessary and required to allow for the stories to flow smoothly through. In this sense the plots are rather linear and far from intricate. Their complexity comes in holding up of the suspense till the very last word. Kudos to her for a successful implementation.

The best part of the book is its vivid stories all of which are set in different locations; from America, New Delhi, Balasore, Cuttack and even at the barren land of Nabarangpur. They talk of different people, take us to different locations and deal with varied situations. A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories is a collection of six short stories. While one story ‘A Lot Like Love’ is a love story of Nihar & Mandar; their love story starts with a blind date, they have immense love for each other but eventually they are separated because Mandar doesn’t want to be in a long distance relationship. This short story is full of twists and turns which made it an interesting read.

My favourite story was The Bestseller. An inspiring story of kind hearted boy named Paurnendu, who dreams of becoming a best-selling author someday. The story at points makes you want to cry. He struggles a lot in his life but never gave up on his dreams. Also the ending of it really surprised me. This was, sadly, my most emotional read in recent times.

Nidra Naik proves that it is not the number of words that matter while telling a story. What matters instead is the impact that they create. The characters in the book are decent. More attention is devoted to the storylines and their underlying lessons than character development. The stories are rather sad if not morbid as some of them end unhappily while others have positive endings though not exactly happy endings. But such is life and acceptance in dealing with situations is of foremost importance.

Rating: PLOT: 4/5

WRITING STYLE: 4/5

CHARACTERS: 3.5/5

RELEVANCE: 4/5

I loved reading it, these short stories gives answers to many questions like – What is the meaning of life? What is happiness? What is success? How can it be achieved? What should be the goal of one’s life? I would definatly suggest this book to readers it has a perfect balance of drama, emotions, motivation and entertainment. If you are looking for a book with a message and you like emotional reads, go for it. The book is available both in Paperback as well as E-Book format.