Gunpoint Groom — by Kamini Kusum
Publisher: Redgrab Books
Pages: 180
Price: Rs. 140 INR(Paperback)
ISBN: 978–9387390836
Buy here: https://amzn.to/2Y7amBI
What do you do when a twist of fate turns your life upside down overnight? All you hoped for turns into a bizarre caricature. Your own plans start mocking at you. Karan’s perfect life and perfect romance come crashing when he gets kidnapped and is forced to marry a stranger. His fate is decided at gunpoint. A saga of drama and introspection starts soon after leading to a transformational journey into self-discovery. It is no less a drama for Kavya, the forced bride. Gunpoint groom explores the murky world of groom kidnapping and what takes place in the families that go through it. There’s love, romance, sex, sadness and twist in the novel which explores a culture clash of ideas and traditions that modern India is. The subject of Inter-State migration, tradition, politics and freewill makes a heady cocktail until everything starts falling in place in the lives of the protagonists. A fast-paced page-turner, gunpoint groom will take you on a rollercoaster ride which you may not want to get off from.
About the author:
Kamini Kusum is a post graduate in management and has worked several years in corporate. Besides writing, she loves nature, travelling, food, movies and yoga. She carves stories that have the colours of Indian culture and society. Romance is her genre. The main protagonists in her novels are usually strong characters. She lives in Delhi with her husband and two daughters. She is the author of books “Honey & the Moon” and “A New dawn”.
My take on the book:
Karan and Jiya had been in a relationship since their college days and now well settled in their jobs and still going strong. However, Karan’s parents opposition to this alliance is the only reason stopping them from getting married. As Karan decides to finally convince his parents, he is abducted from the airport on the way home, and no it is not for ransom or for revenge. Karan becomes victim of the often heard groom kidnapping that happens in some parts of the country and the bride Kavya is equally sad. Along with all the drama that ensues with such unconventional marriages, is there more than we see at the surface forms the rest of the story.
The title of the book as well as the blurb gives away the major background and the initial story. The reader must find further what happens to Karan’s life and what does a forced marriage mean for educated and independent adults. The highlight of the book is the drama, and all those mandatory ingredients found in a typical Bollywood movie. The pace is fast and the story has all the makings of a commercial story. However, the writing could have been better as I found it a major deterrent to get involved in the narration. Although, the conversational style writing might make reading easy for beginners, I personally struggled with it as the story progressed.
Pick this one if you like to read stories set against different backdrops and prefer stories that remind you Bollywood potboilers.
My rating:
3.5/5.