Book Review : Once Upon Us

Name: Once Upon Us
Writer: Abhishek Mohta
Publisher: Independently published
Publication date: 06 November 2019
ISBN-10: 1706094582
ISBN-13: 978-1706094586
Pages: 174
Price: ₹100
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★

Blurb:

 Arjun Bedi’s college dreams include an education, meeting new friends and hopefully launching a successful music career. With the notes in his soul, he feels the rhythm in his rhymes and the beat of the instruments even when he closes his eyes. When he meets Saatvika Lakhiani, her voice and her form inspire that music and shine through every interaction they have. There is something about her that pulls him and calls to him… an underlying feeling that maybe she is the one who will complete him and be the partner he need. However, sorority princess Abhilasha walks and talks as if Arjun is already hers, a fact that seems surer by the day. While Saatvika is not exactly looking for a relationship, there is something about Arjun that makes her catch her breath – and ensures that a confrontation with Abhilasha is inevitable.

My thoughts:
Plotline:

The story revolves around the life of Arjun, a famous rockstar who receives a phone call one-night carrying the news of his ex-wife’s death. Shocked to his core, he divorces his current wife, Abhilasha, after an argument and flees to Singapore to see Saatvika, his ex-wife, one last time before her cremation. Although he fails to catch a final glimpse, Saatvika’s mother hands him over Saatvika’s personal diary.

The book then recollects the college memories of Arjun and Saatvika, along with their friends – Yasmine, Kate, and Charles. Studying in London, the six of them happen to bond over a game of ‘truth or truth’ that they played on the rooftop along with a few bottles of beer. While Saatvika instantly develops feelings for Arjun; Kate and Charles – former friends, fall in love with each other too. Yasmine narrates the tale of her first kiss with Shaurya, her brother’s best friend. Arjun’s friend Jose has a crush on Saatvika, while Abhilasha is desperate to get into a relationship with Arjun.

Coming from a humble abode, although music was Arjun’s passion, he couldn’t gather enough money to launch his music album. This is when Saatvika sacrifices her college fees and helps Arjun fulfill his dream. Following Arjun’s success, the two then fly to India and get married.

The story then takes a short leap to the time when Arjun and Saatvika has an 8-year-old son. Arjun employs Jose as his manager to help him at the time of a crisis. When Saatvika hears the rumors of Arjun having an extramarital affair with his co-worker, she is in utter disbelief.

Is Arjun really having an affair? How will Saatvika react to the news? Will Kate-Charles and Yasmine-Shaurya lead a happy life together or will they suffer the same fate as Arjun and Saatvika?

Language and writing style:
I am highly disappointed with this book. The sentences haven’t been framed properly. The author seems to have used a thesaurus and replaced every other word in a sentence with its much-complicated version, which, doesn’t even make sense.
“Saatvika is dead… is dead.” He said matter-of-factual and closed the call.
I sauntered to the parking lot, inserted the ignition key and drove in a riotous speed.
Jose described how Saatvika rejected all the help that he happened.

I could go on and on with this...

For instance, the narrative suddenly changes.
“It looked to me like you were just leaving.” Said Abhilasha.
“Actually.” I agreed.
“Seriously?” I said.
Abhilasha spilled her ice coffee at my feet, its splashes anointing Saatvika’s clothes as well. 

FYI, this is a part of Saatvika’s narrative. I know, doesn’t make sense. 

At one point, there was some guy Edward who made a guest appearance.
“Bye Saatvika.” Smiled Charles.
“Bye Charles.” I smiled.
Edward drives his car and then left.
Was Edward the driver? Well, that’s something we’ll never know.

For some unknown reason, it also seemed like the author hated Dubai. When a friend of Saatvika mentions of some hardships she faced in her work life, the author rants about how the hands of a thief are cut off in Dubai. I wish the author had performed a little research before downgrading such a beautiful and civilized city.

Ignoring the errors, the story seemed pretty decent in the beginning, but it so happens that, none of the stories were ever completed! The author had built up separate storylines for each and every character mentioned in the book but couldn’t be bothered enough to give them a proper ending.

Title and book cover:
The cover looks elegant. The title is mildly apt since the book does talk about past events.

Dislikes:
The editor has done a very poor job. The amount of grammatical and lexical errors were too hard to ignore. In a book consisting of 174 pages, I was shocked to see a minimum of 5 mistakes on every page. The storyline wasn’t great either. If the author had focused more on how Saatvika dies, or what happens to their son, or their friends, the story would have made more sense. But introducing so many characters and just letting them dangle around like that was pointless.

Recommend?
Nope.

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