Love (Try) Angle-Manali Desai

Book: Love (Try) Angle
Author: Manali Desai
Publisher: Self Published

Do you think we can fall in love with more than one person at a time?

Love (Try) Angle by Manali Desai is the story of Ayesha, who has moved to Mumbai to pursue her BA (Hons.) Political Science from a reputed college. Things start on a rough note when she comes across Abhi who is hell-bent on making her life difficult in the college. She manages to calm things down, when Viren joins the college as an ad-hoc lecturer. Things start getting heated up as a love triangle tries to emerge out of the chaos that is the life of Ayesha, Abhi and Viren, but there is one catch. Ayesha is not sure about her feelings for either of them. Is her frenemity with Abhi a start to a love story, or her chance encounters with Viren a precursor to blooming of love? Read the story to find out.

Manali’s debut novel is an interesting read that ticks off almost all the boxes of a good romantic novel. The plot of the story is very well crafted with elements of drama, fights, and even physical altercations! The story moves smoothly, and the plotline does not drop throughout the narration. I loved the fact that the story was told from the eyes of the three protagonists and so we get to understand the feelings and emotions of the characters as it happens. Another thing that I liked about the story was the natural manner in which the events unfold, and none of them seem forced. The detailing of the events and the descriptions are quite vivid, helping a reader imagine the things as they happen. Personally, the Chandigarh part of the story did not seem to be fitting well into the plot and acted just as a filler. A Special mention to the adorable sketches at the end of each story that summarize the chapter quite well. The climax is very filmy and while it was expected, the way it was executed was interesting and good.

Coming to the characters, I loved the manner in which each of the characters-Abhi, Ayesha and Viren have been given their individual identities and quirks. Ayesha’s dilemmas, Viren’s comforting gestures and Abhi’s nonchalant attitude has been captured quite well and adds a good flavor to the plot. Another interesting aspect of the story is how characters like Nalini, Ayesha’s parents etc. have been used to steer the plot and they have not been used just as fillers or to fill plot holes. The relatability with the characters was easy because they seem to be taken from the people around us with teasing parents and nosy friends.

Overall, an amazing debut that is recommended if you like reading romantic stories. This book takes a 4.25/5 from me.

P.S. The titles of the chapters hold an interesting pattern. Do notice them.

Grab a copy of the book here.