When Love Came Calling-Preeti Shenoy

Book: When Love Came Calling
Author: Preeti Shenoy
Publisher: Srishti Publications

Do you think love as an emotion can power you as a person?

When Love Came Calling by Preeti Shenoy is the story of Puja and Arush, two young people who had nothing in common meet in a place where no distractions like social media are there, they start falling for each other and as time goes, fall madly in love with each other. When things take a turn, Puja and Arush face a sudden crisis, their love is put to a test. Puja sees the harsh reality of life, while Arush reanalyzes his image of India. The book explores their lives, love and journeys that can change you in ways more than one.

The book is an exceptionally well-told story that takes us through the euphoria of young love and the pain of a sudden breakup. Preeti has painstakingly created a canvas that is full of colors of the story sketched by her. While the main plot is about romance, Preeti has also explored parental pressures and the very Indian expectations of parents from their children. The story of Puja and how her choices were subdued and yet she musters up the courage to something so unexpected. In the story of Arush I loved how she creates a story of a love so powerful that encompasses not just humans but animals as well. The major part of the story is set in God’s Own Country of Kerala and the story moves from Kochi and the United Kingdom to the beautiful Wayanad, Ernakulam and Mattanchery. The descriptions are vivid and makes for a visual journey and a reader can almost experience what the characters are feeling at that moment. There are beautiful moments in the book, one that a reader would always cherish. The climax is extremely lovable, and the almost filmy ending made me smile wide.

The author has also picked up something that is extremely close to my heart personally, and I cannot complete this without mentioning the emails that our protagonists exchange, something that I love doing and I am glad that I am not the only person who thinks that writing emails is quite romantic and amazing!

Coming to our stars, Puja and Arush are diametrically opposite characters, and that is what attracted me towards the story. they are extremely relatable teenagers who are fussy, messy and yet organized. The character arc of Puja was the best one as through the timeline of the story, we see how she grows and even overpowers her fears. I loved the fact that she took a leap of faith when all she could see was darkness and this was a moment that shone in the book. Arush’s character was a brilliantly sketched one and added the right amount of spice to this sweet story to make it perfect and I could actually read out his parts in the British accent. One character without which the story might not have been this magical is Shanti Chechi and I am extremely happy the way she did what she did and without even flinching. That one scene was just perfect.

A special mention to the amazing sketches in the book that made the story come alive. A very minute detail that came to my attention was the artwork above each chapter which was quite significant with the mirror images of the flight path above Arush & Puja’s chapters, and the stethoscope above Chaitra’s.

The book gets a 4.93/5 from me.

Grab a copy of the book here.