BOOK REVIEW: 'Legally, Lovingly Yours' by Abhishek Bose

I was quite skeptical about this book when the writer contacted me to review it. He being a first-time writer and quite young at that, I could see a bit of my old self in him and hence I obliged. Was I disappointed? Read on to know.

The book is about Abhishek Banerjee, a Bengali youth like the author himself, who lands up in one of the topmost law colleges of India, Animus in Dehradun. He is a simple, down to earth guy who believes in himself, is always there for his friends and is shy around his lady love, Lavanya Singhania, who does not even acknowledge him for the major part of the book.

Their love story stars with Abhishek bumping into Lavanya on the very first day of college and she in turn reprimanding him for not looking ahead while walking. The poor guy confesses his feelings to Anshul, the only guy he knows then from his school days but crafty Anshul uses that information to cut him out of Lavanya's life and push himself in as her boyfriend. Our hero is hurt but wins over the heroine through his over-used intellect and by winning numerous competitions and by being there for her when her boyfriend supposedly abandons her for a booze party with his friends. And finally how the two (Abhishek and Lavanya) end up together, forms the highlight of the book. Abhishek makes some great friends in his college and they mingle with each other in a group that goes by the name of DU (Diversity Unified).

The characters are real-life, easy to relate and many of us can find ourselves within the protagonist (though I doubt on the soft-heartedness). The protagonist feels endearing at times, the way he does things unselfishly without expecting anything in return. With a simple storyline, without much twists and turns, the author writes in a candid manner. Sometimes he uses words which are not at all necessary in the context and the method of going into flashback is a little flawed. But most of the times, he writes smoothly with smooth dialogue that wavers off a bit in the middle. What the author does well is give us a glimpse into the student life of law colleges which I believe is a first after the IIT-IIM motley in the stores. The struggle of studies, warm friendships and heightened excitement of various competitions are well laid out in the story. The book does not leave much to imagination right from the start and the simple plot is easily predictable. A little slow to take-off, the book does quite well to involve you in the end and is an easy read. Overall, it's a decent attempt by a first-timer author and I for one know he will go on to write better stuff in his own unique candid style.

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