The quick cut: Two Indian teens begin dating to prove their astrological reading theories. Chaos ensues when feelings and drama surface.
A real review:
Is free will real or are we all destined to end up where we belong? There's no way to know the answer, but for Indian teen Madhuri, she's hoping to prove free will rules.
When Madhuri's mother gives her an astrological reading that says she's doomed, it only further frustrates her. She's never believed in this stuff and her mom insists that it's real. Her best friend Arjun's reading is the opposite: that he's destined for success on all levels. When these two want to prove their theories on destiny and free will,
they decide to start dating to prove which one has the accurate hypothesis. Will it work?
From the outside, this looked like a natural fit. I love a good contemporary romance story and considering my previous read was heavy, I needed the mood change. For me though, I had an issue from page one with the pacing and it seemed to hurt the character development a lot.
The book starts right into the plot with the astrological readings, which on its own isn't a problem. However, the author never really takes her time to setup the characters, let you get to know them, and develop a connection to them. Due to this, the whole thing feels like you got dropped in partway through the book.
Madhuri and Arjun do eventually get character development and depth, but by the time it happens on any true level, you're already halfway through and it feels a bit sudden. Why is this only NOW becoming a pressing issue everybody feels needs to be addressed? It comes across as strange and unnatural timing wise, which took me out of the story. None of the secondary characters are given any depth at all. It's such a missed opportunity!
A good plot idea, but with messy timing and character development.
My rating: 3 out of 5