Book Review: The Orange Hangover

I had picked up The Orange Hangover primarily because it was being sold dirt cheap at Landmark. And of course the gist on the back cover sounded entertaining too apart from a very interesting name! A light read is good when you are looking for entertainment. Chetan Bhagat has survived on that. Amusing however is not what I would like to describe the book as.  

Rahul Saini's third book is about a guy called Rishab, who decides to take a break from his life as an architect in Delhi and moves to stay with his mother in the small town Jalandhar. In what seems like a story meant for a Bollywood movie, the protagonist meets a girl, gets a job and goes through some adventure before turning into a hero from the forgettable guy he was.

--

GIST [Spoilers Alert]

25-year old Rishab has just quit his job at a Delhi firm and is in the place in life where he is trying to figure himself out. He is heartbroken as his girlfriend dumped him and he moves back to his home town. There he finds a new job as an old architects' assistant and also meets some new friends. He also gets entangled in a murder mystery... would he manage to clear his name? Would he find love? And most importantly, will get his will he get back his self esteem.

--

The story could have been as interesting as it appears in the gist, if only it was dealt with in a more appropriate tone. A slight depth in the characterization may have helped. Instead it has been dealt in a fashion that makes the book read like a teenaged amateur's work. Unfortunately though, it is not an amateur but a seasoned writer with three previously published books at work. And as the cover claims - a best seller.

The Orange Hangover might appeal to young new readers though. Read if you must. For the slightly better read, it would feel like too desperate an attempt to be 'cool'. I instead found it too full of grammatical errors - ones where writer can't do without multiple exclamation marks and question marks.