You Never Know by Akash Verma / Books Teacup and Reviews

You Never Know by Akash Verma

Publication Date: September 18th 2017
Publisher: Penguin Random House India
Read Date: October 4th 2018
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pages: 240

Stars: 3/5

There will be times when you feel you have the best relationship, ever . .
There will be times when it will be the worst that has happened to you
There will be times when you know you are getting into something horrible, something that will not stop till it destroys you,
And yet . . .
You are pulled so inextricably, unstoppably . . .
She was my true love, I knew that. So despite being married and having children, I still went ahead with our affair. I hid it from my wife and colleagues. I told lies so I could be with her-it was that amazing! But I couldn’t hide from the dark truth she was keeping. It pulled me into a vortex of danger so deep that I lost all I had. It happened to me and if you think it won’t happen to you think again.

You Never Know was a psychological thriller based in India, a story with sensual rose covered love story but covered with thorny hidden secrets that drags peaceful clean domestic life of successful advertising head into ripple of murky water of extramarital affair. It was about illicit affair, love, secrets, betrayal, extortion, plot and scheming of nasty minds.

First of all I just loved that cover– the color and look at that font! It was simply beautiful.

Writing was good. Author wove story line around the advertising industry creatively with a great deal of corporate talk for which I was at loss. As the blurb promised, from the very beginning there was a feeling of something wrong or disastrous going to happen and I knew this love story was going to ruin characters’ life.

It started with Dhruv going to find mobile phone of his lover, Anuradha’s dead ex- Sid, as it contains something that can jeopardizes Anuradha’s life and future and along with her his as well. Why, what he has at stake and what’s in that mobile made me curious to read more which took readers back to past at the beginning of their illicit love affair.

This was character driven story that had unlikable, creative and developed characters. Story was narrated from three perspectives Dhruv, Anuradha and Sid, each telling their feelings, life and how it was connected with the other. As Dhruv said ‘we two are one of the kind’ was exactly my thought about him and Anuradha.

Dhruv was a married man and father of two, at the top of his career and had perfect life but first sight of Anuradha, his colleague shakes the foundation of his perfect life. He looked decent, not someone who had occasional flings or not even flirtatious but the connection he felt with Anuradha defied all the laws. He loved his wife and children but his attraction to Anuradha made him break all the boundaries. I didn’t like the way he got lost in Anuradha’s love but I also liked his love for his family and the way he felt guilt for what he did which saved him at most crucial time.

Anuradha was drowned in her not-so-happy love life and still suffering from life without her dead- ex lover Sid. She was smart, attractive and lonely lady who craved for presence of someone whom she can love. She had dark secrets, secrets about Sid that she hasn’t shared with anyone. After reading chapters on Sid I could see Anuradha’s naivety and mistakes so often. She might be giving bad signals from the very start but I felt bad for what Sid did to her in name of love and his hunger for money. I was just shocked she went to this far after so much he has taken from her. I didn’t like her possessiveness and unpractical obsession with Dhruv while I liked her morals and principles which saved her in past.

Sid– I hated this guy. Hate might be very lenient word for this character. He was downright nasty and selfish person who only cared about money and his dreams. He didn’t have respect for his family, friends and love. He was shortcut taking, manipulative man. I don’t have good words for this character and he met his deserved end in the book. Author had taken a realistic approach in creating this character. Sadly this type of people really exist in this world, one might have heard stories like his in newspapers and medias.

I liked the way story took turns. Vengeance, extortion, fierce love, betrayal, secrets kept the anxiety and suspense in book at constant level that kept me turning the pages till the end. It gave those creepy feeling you get while reading psychological thriller.

I could guess the end early but was not sure the about the exact turn. It was written satisfactorily and I liked character’s decision at the end.

First thing, this book could do without first chapter which was like preface. It gave away too much, a little after climax scene and I could guess lot from that first chapter which ruined half the thrill. For those who have read loads of books in this genre can easily guess the story right away.

Second, Dhruv and Anuradha’s connection was simply implausible. It seemed silly they felt such strong and instant connection at first sight. One can feel the attraction because of outer appearance but the soulmate kind of connection at first sight was hard to digest for me. They were going too fast and too deep in relationship in just few weeks!

Third, I couldn’t buy the heaps of mistakes these two smart people were making in the story. It was hard to digest their naivety. And the language, derogatory, disrespectful remark on women! No chance of appreciation on that.

Overall, it was nice, interesting, engaging psychological thriller but was a bit predictable and implausible. One can try this book, if story piques your interest.