Monday 11 March 2013

Spicy Bites of Biryani by Ashwina Garg - Book Review



Studied hard? Got the perfect job? Found the perfect mate? And Still Screwed up your life? Is it possible to do everything right in your life and still not be happy? Meet Sanjay, Aditi, Mayank and Jayshree. 

Sanjay is a US-returned software millionaire determined to have an arranged marriage after selling his company and breaking up with his two-timing girlfriends. 

Aditi is a commitment-phobic writer who cant figure out what her next book is about but has perfected the art of break-ups. Manyank and Jayshree are the perfect couple. If only they weren't dealing with rude relatives, killing deadlines, procreation pressures and those ultimate romance-killers... monotony and boredom!

This light-hearted story traces the lives of these four successful, thirty-something friends who all come to the same conclusion... 

The hardest thing about having the perfect life is keeping it that way!


And that is the synopsis of debutant author Ashwina Garg's novel, Spicy Bites of Biryani..Because Life needs a Little Masala. The book is a short, light and breezy read about the complexities of love, relationships and marriage in today's day and age. Even though this is the author's first book, it's written quite well and she has managed to capture the attention of the reader throughout. 

The characters are well etched out and can be related to easily. Out of the four, my favorite has to be Aditi. I totally relate to her immature, fun-loving , marriage phobic character and the romantic angle with Sanjay is very sweet. Quite a few 'awww' moments between them specially the marriage proposal. And I also loved the climax. Unpredictable and added the right amount of 'masala'.

I will not say that the book is without any flaw. The sub-plots have not been paid much attention to and they are actually quite boring. On the other hand, too much attention has been paid to the number of Aditi's ex-boyfriends to bring out her whimsical and marriage phobic character. The author could have done without mentioning that repeatedly throughout the book. Care should also have been taken to fix grammatical errors and typos. However,  despite these flaws, the book is a nice read mainly because of the easy pace and straightforward language, interesting characters, witty one liners and conversations and good narration. You will like it even more if you are from Hyderabad. The author's love for the city is evident in her passionate description of it and as a reader, I loved reading about it. 

Price - Rs 150

About the Author :

Ashwina Garg studied accountancy and lives in Hyderabad. She enjoys following the stock market and giving classes in Continental cooking. She has worked as a German translator and a technical writer. 

P.S - Book sent for review. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks. It was a lovely review.