Review- Now I Love You Now I Don't by Shoma Narayanan

Summary-

‘Umm, in case you’re wondering if I slept with your husband, no I didn’t,’ Zina offered. ‘He’s not my type.’

Now I Love You, Now I Don’t is the story of two very different women. Anjali is a traditional wife and mother. No one can guess that she and her husband have been estranged for most of their married life, and their reconciliation is a few fragile months old. Zina, on the other hand, is beautiful, ambitious and completely unscrupulous. Out for what she can get, she is perhaps more surprised than anyone else when she falls head over heels in love with a very unlikely young man. Anjali’s and Zina’s lives then get inextricably entangled by a series of events that follow.

Despite their initial dislike for each other, Anjali and Zina pull together when disaster threatens. But will they achieve their own happily ever after? 

Release date: January 1st, 2017

Published by: Rupa Publications India

Page numbers: 154

Review-

I have read many books by Shoma Narayanan and she is one of the few Indian authors I like to keep up with if I can. So when I saw that she had a new book coming out with Rupa Publications I was excited. Now I Love You Now I Don't is the story of two women who are total opposites and how their lives connect and intertwine. I found Now I Love You Now I Don't to be an extremely average read.

Okay so let's start with the first woman, Anjali. Anjali is the quintessential home maker. Taking care of her daughter and father and overall being a good responsible mother. The only thing is that she has been separated from her husband for many years. The sudden reappearance of her husband in her life brings change into both Anjali and her daughter's life.

I liked Anjali and thought she was a nice person in general. Whom I did not like was Anjali's husband, Sushil. I found that Sushil had absolutely no personality. What I also found highly irritating was how casually Sushil's infidelity was taken during the course of their marriage. I despise how it was portrayed as if a man's needs are greater than a woman's and it was perfectly alright to cheat on your wife. What annoyed me even more was that Anjali, who came across as a perfectly intelligent woman otherwise was so comfortable with this situation.

Then talking about the second woman who is Zina. Zina is the flighty and free spirited girl who is unapologetic about her behaviour. Zina actually knows Sushil and soon finds herself going for Hindi classes to Anjali. Now when I think about it I much prefer Zina's character to Anjali's. Yes, she came off as a bit shallow sometimes but all in all her head and heart were in the right place.

Zina's romance with Ishaan was also a good one. What starts as a purely physical relationship turns into caring and soon something more. Yes it was a bit of a cliche but it worked. I also liked the older woman younger man angle going on here. The conflict in Now I Love You Now I Don't was predictable at best. Things were handled a bit childishly I feel and I wanted more depth and reasoning from the characters. I would definitely recommend picking up some other read by Shoma Narayanan over this one.

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Rupa Publications in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.