Book Review: ‘Advantage Love’ by Madhuri Banerjee

First things must come first and honestly I loved the cover page of the book as well as the title. Since childhood I have always been fond of tennis and thus ‘ Advantage, Love ‘ attracted me instantly. Thanks to Rupa publications for sending the book for review.

I had attended first book launch of Madhuri Banerjee when her book was launched at IHC along with my friend Ismita Tandon’s book. I had heard her speak confidently and  another  thing that I fondly remember of her is that she hails from Lucknow. Somehow , I have never had a chance to read any of her books before but I am glad I read the third one. Coming back to her book, if I had to define the book in one line, I would say its a simple, almost a next door college goers story who is having its encounters with love and complexities of relationships.

Well the protagonist in the book, Trisha is today’s age girl who is a Lucknow girl studying in Delhi. She is smart, confident, decision making girl. Just as it goes commonly the girl from the average family meets a rich lad. From competing debaters they turn into inseparable lovers soon. Vedant is a politician’s son and though being smart, handsome is supposed to follow his father’s footsteps without taking decisions for himself. In his days of freedom, he plays around with Trisha lovingly but isn’t ready to commit to take their relationship to the next level because he fears his parents.

We come across such guys so often who ask for all sacrifices from the girl’s end and continue being the good son to their parents. Vedant is no different. After college, seriousness of life stares them bold and stark, things take a different course between the two. While the boy heads back to his family in Mumbai, the girl stays in Delhi to chase her dreams. Once bitten twice shy, Trisha is not looking forward to another boy’s company when Abhimanyu lands in her life. And here comes the twist to the story. The dramatic meet between the two was however unconvincing to me but I liked the imagination of the Author where she has romantically linked a simple girl with a tennis player. When Abhimanyu comes in her life, Trisha is mature and intelligent however with Vedant it was more of an infatuation because he knew ways to her heart through poetry and proses.

Also, during college days I feel for every student its important to focus on their careers rather than their relationships. When love happens, it just sways you away.  Trisha did make mistakes and very soon she realized them too. Sooner or later one has to take charge of his/her life and make decisions too. When Trisha finds herself in a complicated situation, she handles it gracefully and intelligently.

Also, for any relationship its not always important to have similar likes and dislikes. I would say opposites attract explosively.

Hits and Misses….

A very simple story put on the platter with quite a predictable second half. A girl and a boy and then one boy leaves and another enters. Then again the first one comes back. So basically its all about understanding and dealing with love and its complexities. And there is Leander in the story too.  The story entwines the elements of politics and sports interestingly. There were many things that a girl goes through but is not able to put across. Quite many times, I liked Trisha when she did what she wanted to do but many a times, I was not sure why she acted so weak when it came about Vedant. As far as career was concerned, she did what she desired and came out as an independent woman. 

Best picks from the book….

Don’t be a woman that needs a man. Be a woman that a man needs.

Maybe the idea of someone and the memory they invoke in you is more appealing than the person himself.

Why should anyone have to live up to your standards? Have you even tried to live up to theirs?

It  qualifies as light and breezy, a lazy Sunday or between the flights read.

Smileys won  🙂 🙂 🙂