Everyone Has A Story — by Savi Sharma

Publisher: Westland
Pages:184
Price: Rs. 199 INR(paperback), Rs. 49 INR(Kindle edition)
ISBN: 978– 9386036759
Buy here: https://amzn.to/2lQN2Jo

Meera, a fledgling writer who is in search of a story that can touch millions of lives.
Vivaan, assistant branch manager at Citibank, who dreams of travelling the world.
Kabir, a café manager who desires something of his own. Nisha, the despondent café customer who keeps secrets of her own.
Everyone has their own story, but what happens when these four lives are woven together?
Pull up a chair in Kafe Kabir and watch them explore friendship and love, writing their own pages of life from the cosy café to the ends of the world.

Prologue of Everyone has a Story:

“I was never a writer and I don’t aspire to be either. I was never a good reader and I don’t know if I will be ever. But now, I have been much more.
Every day, I woke up; I tried to find reasons to live. Every night, when I slept, I tried to find reasons to not die. Every moment, I tried to find reasons to hope, dream and love. But I never found them. Until I met you.
I saw chaos, confusion, and fear all around me. But not within me, after I met you.
Time decides our fate, our journey. And when time changes, everything changes. Everything. Sometimes for bad, sometimes for good. And sometimes, for the best. I never believed that. Until you happened to me.
It’s not a story and maybe it’s not love. It’s about something more real than stories and more powerful than love. It’s about you. Yes, you. Real and powerful.
I have never been happy with someone. I wanted to be with different people at different places with different feelings. I wanted to explore everything, know everyone. But then I explored you. And I found, you are not just ONE, you are an infinity. An infinity of love, care, trust, respect, understanding. A universe of inspirations, aspirations, hope and happiness. Maybe you are the universe out there which I explore. Or the universe in me that I seek.
You do not start, nor do you ever end. You are constant, yet ever changing. You are everywhere and yet just with me. You are my creator or my creation, I question myself.”

About the author:

A simple girl from Surat, Savi Sharma is the co-founder of the motivational media blog Life and People. Everyone Has a Story is her debut novel inspired by stories around her. You can find out more about her on www.savisharma.com.

My take on this book:

This is debut novel from Savi Sharma and I heard a lot of buzz around this on amazon and other sites. I just grabbed my copy out of curiosity. Have tried couple of fiction pieces from Indian authors recently and none of them made me move beyond the initial few pages. I was ending up with unfinished books and did not want this one to add to that queue. So when there was nothing else to do on a rainy afternoon, I picked this one and must say the first few pages are definitely engrossing that I continued further without realizing till I was half way through it.

The initial setup of the cafe, an aspiring author, a banker with a hint of mystery, the other parallel leads, were all simple but interesting. But half way through, the plot and proceedings become predictable. The story hits a sluggish path and the initial promise slowly starts vanishing. The ending is also very predictable and pre-climax is dramatic. The story of the parallel leads is also not well conceived and just left as supporting characters. They did show promise at one point which was not developed further.

The plus points are the short length of the book which can be completed in a single go, in less than 2 hours. The characters are simple, their emotions, feelings, dilemmas and aspirations are narrated beautifully. There is a certain positivity that is maintained through out the book which gives feel-good vibes. The Radha-Meera silent thread and comparison is a subtle effect by the author. The simplicity is a plus for the book as well as lack of major interesting twists also gives a bit of incomplete feeling towards the end. There are no additional characters introduced as the story does not move beyond the four characters. Which makes the readers wonder at some point about the families and other personal details of these characters.

The book will be instantly liked by teenagers and people who love chick lit stories. I definitely found it to be worth a one time read but I am not sure if I will go back anytime soon, as there is nothing superb to make it a repeat read.

It is more of a Bollywood love story or a daily soap with a predictable story line. However the author shows good promise for a debut novel and can do better with a more interesting story next time.

My rating:

3/5.