It Must’ve Been Love-Mayura Amarkant

Book: It Must’ve Been Love
Author: Mayura Amarkant
Publisher: Blogchatter

Do you think unrequited love gives us a better story?

It Must’ve Been Love by Mayura Amarkant is an interesting book that uses prose to narrate poetry. It is a unique book by where poems are recited against the backdrop of an intense love story set in the ‘90s. The narrative style of the book is one-of-its-kind, she has passionately woven each poem to ensure that the reader is hooked throughout. Poetry lovers and fans of romance fiction will love this book.

I had this notion that poetry and prose is something that is quite separate and mixing the two would be akin to mixing oil and water, however after reading this one by Mayura, I stand corrected. A short read, the book is excellently told as it chronicles the story of unrequited love in the 90s. The idea is well executed with a short prose setting the tone, followed by 7 short poems of varying meters. If we talk about the prose part, it is short yet manages to convey the emotions and the idea that the author is trying to convey. From the first meeting to separation to angst, each section deals with a specific emotion. The poetry follows the same concept and the words are powerful enough to invoke the same emotion in the reader as well. The last part, the ending is interesting and I would love to read a bit more as to what happened after as well.

While the book is well crafted, I would have loved to read Keshav’s perspectives on events as well and they would have improved the experience of the poetry as well. The second part of the book was a bit rushed as well and had that followed the same pace, the experience could have been better.

Coming to the characters, the plot focuses on Keshav and Meera, and how their love changes over time. I loved Meera’s character for her steadfastness and a bit of the impulsive nature that she shows in her narration of events. Her love for Keshav is powerful, yet the idea that it is unfulfilled jumps out from the text. Keshav’s character is shrouded in mystery and while crafted well, I am anxious to understand the reasons behind his actions in the later part of the book, probably in another set of prose-poetry that tells us the tale from his Point of View.

Picking out a specific instance or a poem is a challenge as I loved all of them, and while they might not make sense in isolation, it is them combined together that the true essence jumps out.

Overall, a recommendation irrespective of the fact whether you love poetry or not, it is a recommendation from me. It scores a 4.19/5 for me.

Grab your copies from the Blogchatter website here!