Bad Romance - Book Review

Bad Romance

By Harshita Srivastava

Review By Ila Garg

Bad Romance, is a special book for a number of reasons, one of them being the authoress is a good friend of mine. Published by Gargi Publishers, a fast progressing self-publishing house, the book has an amazing cover. The colors and sequence is so perfectly chosen by Amol Karambe. It’s a big turn on and you know that yes this is a good book without even flipping the pages. The quality is obviously one of the best in the recent book industry. The title is well chosen and reflects the turmoil that awaits you! 

A full-time writer, Harshita Srivastava is known for her debut novel ‘One in a Million’ published by Mahaveer Publishers in April 2013. Read the complete review here. In addition to her various achievements, Harshita is an avid reader and a prolific blogger. She loves reading classics and is a die-hard Mills and Boons fan. Apart from writing, she loves travelling, reading, listening to music and spending time with friends and family. At present, she resides in Gurgaon and works as a Content Writer with a leading e-commerce group. Bad Romance is her second book.

The blurb reads as, “Life is a bitch and I’m one of its victims. I had the perfect life. I was blessed with the perfect boyfriend, a perfect best friend, the perfect set of girlfriends and perfect choice of career. There were some loopholes but then they went beyond my perspective. Overall, I had the kind of life people would ideally like to have but happy times aren’t meant to last forever.

Sometimes we feel that we have figured life but that’s something that is never going to happen. You know why? It’s because it has this habit of kicking us right in the middle of ecstasy. No wonder, it did the same with me.

This is my story, my story of that exploration within, my feelings, my emotions, my thought process, my priorities, my conflicts and my journey into the temptation of love, lust, lies and betrayals. This is the story of Kritika and a man who gave her life another dimension, Tanishq. This is a story of the complexities of relationships and the trap that a simple idea of sensuality, pleasure and euphoria can put you into. This is a story for everyone who has loved, lost and fought for survival and love, together.”

With an apt tagline ‘Love, Lies, and Betrayal’ the novel moves at a comfortable pace and narrates the plight of a young girl, Kritika who moves to Greater Noida with dreams of becoming an RJ and to pursue her engineering. The story has a good grip and justifies the tagline perfectly. Harshita has used a very harsh narrative to convey the story of her protagonist’s life at the hostel. Her friends and the betrayal she suffers in her love life add to the spice.

‘Bad Romance’ is a quest for true love and like her debut novel, the plot of this book remains the strongest point. The characterization of Kritika and Tanishq and the realistic descriptions score the brownie points here. Harshita is an experienced author and may be this came to her aid when she penned down this beautiful but tragic story. It well exposes the gory details of a relationship in this fast paced ignorant world.

The only thing that irked me throughout was so many errors in the script. The name goof ups and paragraph repetitions were a big put off or perhaps I had high expectations after reading the debut book. Anyway, if readers just focus on the story and are ready to be oblivious of these mistakes here and there, they will definitely enjoy this one.

The 159 page book takes you along with it and makes you vividly see all the events taking place in front of you. The story is quite touching and the main reason that I loved this book is the sheer realism with which Harshita makes her way into the readers’ heart.

The book has some more drawbacks as it gets predictable towards the end. However, Harshita doesn’t let her readers down as there’s never a dull moment while you are reading this book. Every word arouses your interest in the story and you become one with the protagonist as you keep turning the pages.

‘Yay’ Factors: The plot, the realism, the characters.

‘Nay’ Factors: The minute errors as mentioned above.

This is a very quick read, probably 2-3 hours would be enough to read it. Perfect during travelling or late nights! I recommend this book to all those who have suffered betrayals in love or have lost hopes in the face of lies. Harshita has once again proved her mettle. The way she has captured all the intricate emotions of a dejected heart, kept me glued to this book till the end and reminded me of the similar style in her debut book.

Ratings: 3.25/5

Buying Links: Infibeam | Amazon | Flipkart