Coming Back Home by Anuradha Prasad (Book Review- 3.75*/5) !!!

It is always special to read the 2nd book of any author whose debut book was read by you as soon as it was out. It is a kind of a risk you had taken then and only because you liked the author did you wait for so long to purchase the 2nd book. One such author for me has been Anuradha Prasad. I had read her 1st book 2 years back when it released and waited till now for her 2nd. Finally, I got my hands on it and I completed it in just 2 sittings. The name of the book is "Coming Back Home". The cover page of the book is very artistic which makes you excited to read about the story of the glamour industry where boys and girls fall up to an extent to enter in the field. This story is also about two such characters trying their luck- Arpita and Riku.

The writing style of Anuradha Prasad is very simple which is basically targeted for all the new readers as well who have just started picking up pulp fiction novels to at least start reading something. This book is definitely a great time pass and you would not feel bored even for a moment as story keeps moving in fast pace. The characterization of each and every character right from the protagonists to Sunny, Sujoy, Rahul and Arpita's parents is done so well that you can understand the mindset of each one of them. 

The story begins with the regular stuff about how girls are treated in the industry as objects and everyone wants to sleep with them in exchange of a small role in a big movie or television. At that point, I had felt that the whole book is going to talk about obvious things but I was amazed how author left this at the initial level itself and moved ahead to the love angle of the protagonists. Even that wasn't narrated like a cliche and teenage stuff but authoress directly came to the point. The way story moves towards the depression and loneliness of one character and then to the other is what makes this book readable and special. 

In the 2nd half, authoress shifts her focus little from Arpita while Sunny is shown in the light of another protagonist and reading about him also makes the experience of the reader delightful. You will find an ideal man in him. In the pre-climax, the way Riku again comes back, it feels as if the obvious ending is about to happen. But the whole execution of the same has been dealt with so maturely that last pages of the book leaves you grinning and smiling. 

Talking about the drawbacks of the book, I would say that the editing has not been taken quite seriously. This book could have got more effective and precise if it would have been shortened up to 250 pages or so. There are many scenes which weren't required and didn't take story ahead. Secondly, the character of Riku is totally ignored after a point of time. As his characterization is very nicely projected in the initial pages, it would have been fun reading about a man from small town making big in industry and then doing different stuffs when finding himself losing his stardom. Thirdly, I didn't find much research from the author in terms of the theme of the story- Bollywood. Author kept the things simple. May be because she wanted to speak more about the relationships between the characters than what happens in Bollywood. 

Over all, this book is a light read and a fine page-turner. It is more on the darker side as characters face lots of depression in between. But specifically leaves a message about how a woman can bounce back in life after being thrown away by a man for not being as good as him. I liked how author managed to send across a message without being preachy. I give this book 3.75* out of 5 and recommend it to the readers.

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Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!