Book Review: Chandra Mehendrou's 'In The Name of Luuuv' (By Gagandeep)

When I picked up this book, I didn’t know what to expect. Is it another chick lit; or is it going to surprise me and be something more. Frankly there’s no dearth of novels about people falling in love or finding love in spite of sad circumstances and of course, the happy endings. Honestly, this book isn’t a sprawling tale about two people coming together and having a happy ending but at the same time, it’s also not about sad endings.

A compilation of 5 short stories, not one of which has the ending you’d expect. It surprises you and forces you to think. The author makes an attempt to unravel the mystery surrounding love and soul mates. One message comes out loud and clear: Love isn’t the same for everyone. And there’s another one in the subtext which says there a soul mate for everyone.

It will make you want to read more and more till you finish it. It serves its purpose and makes you question yourself, and your quest for love and will also change the way you perceive Romance & Love.

‘In the name of Luuuv’ has interesting ideas and plots and the stories are written with a different view point.

In the first story, an old man remembers how it is to feel love, in its pure, unjaded form and how responsibilities & society takes preference over being with the love of his life. Once you read the first chapter you will find out what he goes through and the way he beautifully ends up feeling blissful for that lifetime.

The second story is a historical tale. A tale of Love and Deceit is spun around an interesting plot. It’s about futile love, where there’s almost zilch happiness for everyone involved, and a lot of heartache. The unusual story makes you visualize and it surely can be turned into a movie. The slave girl’s curse, the romance between the Queen and her lover, the fight, the betrayal, all makes you feel that you are watching everything. Once again the story has an unexpected ending.

The third story is about a well-educated woman, who lets her husband abuse her in every way possible, yet she does everything in her power to make her marriage work. However, the story changes and the girl ends up getting what she had been wishing for.

The fourth story begins like a fairytale, has a nightmarish ending but a big learning for all. The girl next door falls in love with prince charming, and then one day, just like that all hell breaks loose. This story once again makes you that you can visualize the events.

The fifth story is very contemporary and , it’s on internet romance which blooms via social networking. It’s about a girl who wants love and can’t see it when it’s right in front of her and you have to read it to find out because the twists and turn are quite real. I personally feel that the present generation will relate with the protagonist.

All in all, a good combination of stories. I can’t say that it will surely clear all your doubts, but it will tell you if you are asking the right questions. Any body from any age group can read it but they need to be mature enough to understand the hardships of life, the suffering people go through, the dreams & desires all of us have and also the fact that we all want to find true Love and meet ‘The one’. Not someone who would be just a Fling, but someone who can support, encourage, respect and prove to be the best support system.