A Plane Story-Anmol Malik

Book: A Plane Story
Author: Anmol Malik
Publisher: HarperCollins India

Do you believe in the concept of coincidences?

A Plane Story by Anmol Malik is the story of Dev and Tara, two strangers who meet on a plane to Paris on their way to break the wedding. When a freak volcanic eruption disrupts air travel globally, the two are left stranded on Heathrow. And that's when the real tamasha begins. Welcome onboard Flight APS through London, Paris, and Ludhiana. Please pay attention to the safety demonstration because things are going to get real weird, real fast. While chasing the woman of his dreams, he ran into the love of his life, the question is what happens at the end of the line?

A Plane Story is a book that reads like a movie, literally with Dev and Tara alternating narrations, but also with the interspersing of a third person as a narrator who breaks the fourth wall to set the context of some scenes. The plot has an interesting concept and I loved how Anmol explores the concept of coincidences, not just once, but at multiple points in the story. The storytelling is sharp and groovy, which keeps the reader turning the pages. Another interesting aspect of the story is that a major part of it occurs in a confined space, and yet it feels like a journey because you get to experience multiple emotions as well as characters. I liked the fact that each thing that was mentioned in the story holds context, and it comes up at a certain point in the narration, be it Sandy’s Sandwiches or Manny. The emotional theme that the book explores in terms of relationships, old and new, especially the way to walk away from certain ones, and some that you should never walk away from was something I really liked. The climax is very Bollywood-like, and oddly, it felt fitting to the crazy journey that you undertake while reading the book.

Coming to the characters, both of our protagonists, Dev and Tara are complex characters and as we read the book, their personalities start emerging. I liked how Anmol uses the entire storyline to develop their personas and present to us these flawed, crazy people who are literally stuck in a series of unfortunate events. As characters, I loved how they influence each other and transform themselves into something each of them would have never done. The character sketches as wonderful and the details that make them unique are well mentioned.

Quirky aspect of the book that I would like to mention is that the entire story is told like a journey with chapter titles being in-flight announcements, and the same holds true for the introduction and the last page. The Harry Potter references, and the very desi Hindi announcements add a nice touch to the storytelling.

Overall, this is a story that would be loved by people who like to read a love story that is quite filmy and are hardcore romantics for it has some moments that cannot be described anything but cheesy, but they fit perfectly into the mold of the story. The book scores a 4.38/5 for me.

P.S. a crucial part of the story is music, and so do check out this playlist I made on Spotify!

A media copy of the book was provided to me by HarperCollins India in exchange for an honest review.

Get a copy of the book from Amazon India here.