One & A Half Love Story-Vishal Anand

Book: One & A Half Love Story
Author: Vishal Anand
Publisher: Moments Publishers

Do you believe college romances can turn into serious relationships?

One & A Half Love Story by Vishal Anand explores the story of what happens when a girl tells you that she had a great time with a person you love and wants to spend her entire life with him, and the worst part is the fact that you have no inkling about her. Nimisha takes a trip to Bengaluru to celebrate the Valentine’s week with Viraj and they have a great time, until she stumbles upon the Shriya, and Viraj’s past. In the quest of love, we experience the tangled loves of Viraj, Shriya and Nimisha.

The concept of the story is quite interesting with it being told in parallel timelines, converging in the end. Vishal has plotted the story well in terms of various events that influence the lives of the main characters, and how they get intertwined. Stepping away from the run-of-the-mill romances, this book actually talks about the importance of friendships and how each relationship in our life has a need and that one cannot be substituted with another. While the plotting is good, the storytelling on the other hand lacks a certain charm. Both the timelines seem quite forced and drab, and that the idea of love does not jump out at the reader. The scenes between Viraj and Nimisha, though planned nicely, do not resonate with the idea of the book and it seems that it was completed in a hurry. The climax, though cliché, is well executed and wraps up the story well.

Coming to the characters, Vishal has focused on the story and not much of the characters, though some detailing has been done in terms of descriptions, but the character sketches are not too detailed. While Shriya does get her character arc developed, however both, Nimisha and Viraj, exist as standalone characters with the past being hinted upon. This, however, does not impact the story much, though I would have liked to read a bit more about the accident that keeps being referenced.

Overall, a good read on the idea of love and relationships that scores a 3.44/5 for me.

Grab a copy here.