Book Review: The Bestseller She Wrote

Book Title: The Bestseller She Wrote
Author: Ravi Subramanian

Published in October 2015 by Westland
Reviewed for: BlogAdda
Someone has rightly said - Success has its own side-effects. Aditya, a successful banker cum author (popularly known as the Paperback king), falls into the trap laid out for him by a young lass (20 something trainee) who uses him to publish her first novel. His journey to romance, adultery, loss, realization and redemption is what this book is all about.
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The Premise: "The Bestseller she wrote is a romance thriller where loyalty is traded for adultery, success is borrowed, best friends betray each other and realization comes on death bed."

Aditya, the protagonist of the story is an Alumnus of IIM Bangalore and is a very successful banker and desirable author. He visits his college for a guest lecture where he is interrupted and derided by Shreya, an ambitious student and wannabe author, over the concept that a book is not a product.

Shreya is headstrong on becoming an author like Aditya and patch up with him after the debacle so she reads his book and is absolutely impressed by him. She writes to him and plans to join his book event. Aditya is mesmerized by her young fresh beauty and pushes his best friend, Sanjay, who is also an HR at his bank to hire her as a trainee.

Adiya and Shreya cannot seem to have their eyes off each other at office and one thing leads to another, they enter a romantic relationship. Maya, Aditya's wife is a simplistic and mature woman who has been loyal to him. She has also left her job because of her family and is involved in some social work. The relationship between Aditya and Shreya grows intense and Maya is ignorant about it all the way. Soon, she comes to realize about their relationship (via phone messages) and feels broken. She then encounters Ebola, and is almost dying when Aditya realizes he loves his wife and Shreya was just a passing phase.
Their elicit affair comes of fore when media publishes their stories blatantly. Aditya wants to go back but Shreya threatens him with proof of plagiarism in Aditya's book, which she had planted when Aditya was busy fu**ing her.

Will Maya recover from death and give Aditya another chance at their relationship? Will Shreya come to terms with her relationship with Aditya? Who was the actor behind the scenes watching Aditya screw his life?
I do not want to reveal the answers as it will be a spoiler for those who want to read it.

All these questions unfurl as we reach towards the end of this novel.

My 2 cents worth: First of all, I am glad to receive an author signed copy of this book by Ravi Subramanian. Earlier I had read his book "God Is A Gamer" and became his absolute fan. He writes amazing thrillers but this is his first attempt at romance thriller genre.

The Bestseller She Wrote is a fast paced, well written book which surely is a page turner. The chapters are small (2-3 pages) which keep the reader engaged. The language is simple and easy to read and so it doesn't take too long to finish it. I started reading it one fine evening on Saturday and was done by Sunday afternoon, and I had good sleep and my kid bugged me every 10 mins. So I am sure voracious readers can finish it in few hours.

Normally in most of the books, the protagonist is the hero who want to fall in love with. However, at places I felt that I disliked the protagonist and was somehow unable to justify his actions. Attraction to a young lady in office who is your fan is understandable and even giving in to the pleasure and excitement of falling in love all over again is acceptable. But sleeping with her and thinking that it in no way reduces his love for his wife and justifying those actions in your brain - not acceptable.
Also becoming an author after you've gone through the humdrum of corporate life is okay but if someone (in this case, Shreya - lead female protagonist) is so head bent at becoming an author, why not take up some literature courses, why waste a seat at precious IIM institute.

The character sketch is very good, focusing well on the lead roles, their thoughts and emotions. Descriptions of Aditya's work life, publishing industry, Maya's work, Shreya's sex appeal are vivid and add to the overall good feel of the book. The dramatic twists as we turn chapters are engaging and fast. There are different people with small roles and they have been given due footage in the script with good descriptions and backgrounds.
 All in all this is a good, fast paced read, a little too filmy I feel, but then what good is a book which doesn't entertain to the core.

Good one time read. Keep writing and good luck.




My Rating: 4/5 stars

I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!