AUTHOR: Varsha Dixit
ISBN/ASIN:978-8129115232
GENRE: Fiction / Chick -lit
NUMBER OF PAGES: 248
FORMAT: Paperback
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: I thank 'The Book Club' for this review copy!
SUMMARY:
What does a woman want? Shoes? Nope, Sex? Maybe, Money? Yes but nowadays her own . . . Hmmphh so then what does a
today's woman really, really deep, deep down want? Still your hearts and hold your breath. LOVE! And Right Fit Wrong Shoe
shall give it to her.
FIRST IMPRESSION:
First impressions can often be misleading, and sometimes starkly in contrast to the actual reading experience. The book's cover
was a pleasant yellow tone, with the silhouettes adding just enough mystery element to create the right amount of intrigue and
elicit a second glance. Right Fit Wrong shoe is a quirky title that made me wonder if perhaps, the industry has evolved into some
offbeat, completely unique books that fall under the 'romance' category by maybe not be one of the run of the mill books.
Right Expectation, Wrong Assumption.
REVIEW:
Some books begin with a bang, with an unforgettable scene that would set the pace nicely for the story that follows. This scene
might even determine the amount of interest the reader might show in reading the book as quickly as possible. But this book
obviously skips that spectacular opening scene. Nadhini and her colleagues are shown discussing the arrival of Adhitya, a
business tycoon, in town. Each of the ladies want to become the 'small town girl the celebrity marries'. A total of six characters
are introduced within the first three or four pages.
Nandhini, the female protagonist, is nervous, the anticipation and shock of finally (maybe) meeting Adithya (not for the first time
but after a long time). Why should she be, though? Because she has history and at one point in the past they shared an
awesome chemistry. His geographical proximity is unnerving for Nandhini. Biologically, she exhibits all the symptoms of a
nervous wreck, physical manifestations of which include her dropping things, sweating profusely, getting distracted and of
course, the ever present surge of adrenaline.
The hormones are to blame. The brain has always been one confused human organ, often sending misleading signals, the
receptors for fear and desire are, maybe, so close together that things such as the Stockholm Syndrome are a possibility.
Nandhini and Adithya have a history of being attracted to each other, but the first few impressions we get of him are a stuck up,
insanely rich, egoistic businessman who buys the company where she is working in (apparently) just to take revenge of her. But
then he is also jealous of the attention she gets. This introduction and his subsequent poor treatment of Nandhini mar his image
beyond repair that no matter how sweet he acts in the flashback, it creates no impact whatsoever. The lackluster narration
notwithstanding, the past does not pack enough of a punch to justify either of their actions.
But what put me off the most in the woman's reaction to it. She is frightened of him, yet she loves him. She loves him, but his
demeanor frightens her. Anastasia Steele could get a tip or two from how Nandhini reacts to being in close proximity of a
handsome, insanely rich business man. Not to be too hard on the character alone, neither of the protagonists make much of a
positive impression, or rather, a reason for the reader to root for them and hope they get together. Halfway through the book I
found myself thinking that if they got together I would really be disappointed with the girl. No brownie points for guessing what
actually happened after I finished the book.
While I have nothing against love - hate relationships, chauvinistic, dominant men and submissive women are two of my least
favorite species on the planet. There is a fine line between love and hate, and as long as both the protagonists have valid reason
for parting ways (not one their family imposes on them) as individuals, the story might be interesting. But the story fails
miserably in this regard, becoming a series of cliches, written one after another in quick succession, aided and abetted by
dialogues from bollywood. Even chapter titles are mostly hindi one liners and for someone who does not understand the
reference, there is a detailed glossary at the end, something I found out only after I had completely finished reading the book.
This point has been highlighted for the benefit of other readers. This book has a fairly detailed glossary of the most important
often used phrases in the book. And here, I place an appeal to the authors and publishers (in general, not limited to those of this
book) to either mention in the index that there is a glossary (it becomes useless otherwise, not to mention being immensely
frustrating to find it out after finishing the book) or put it beforehand, or intersperse meanings as a footer in the same page
where the words and phrases are used.
The writing slowed down my reading, with sentences in brackets (like in this review) distracting me from going with the flow
instead of serving their intended purpose (to provide additional information). Excessive usage of these has cleverly (but not
completely) disguised the utter lack of proper punctuation (which is noticeable if you do read two pages at a stretch). The story
itself has a few funny moments, sometimes slapstick humor, but the occasional forced jokes fail to elicit more than a laugh as
the story progresses. Readers are informed not to make too much about the guest appearances of Nandhini's friends in the first
few pages. If you cannot keep them straight, read the helpful first page the author has given. But other than that, only note the
characters who have been named in the summary. They are the game changers. The rest are blink and miss.
I have never agreed and probably never will agree to the fact that for romances to be interesting, they have to start with a clash
or have a painful past history of breakup due to the misunderstanding of the lead pair. Neither do they need domineering
characters, male or female. If one person dominates the other and tries to bully them, the romance element is lost at that
moment. It is no longer a romance. A tale of love - hate, maybe. To be completely honest, even M&B could not get away with
writing about a chauvinistic, egoistic, overgrown man child who throws temper tantrums because he could not get the girl he
desires, and ends up creating a fear in her as he returns to 'take his revenge'. No matter how else he is portrayed, a man who
manhandles a woman and abuses her can never become a hero, much less a protagonist who is desired by many. A girl might go
behind a suave Christian Grey, real women need substance and character.
This book might interest you if you like filmy romances where damsels in distress wait (with fear tightening their guts and
knotting their stomach) for the black knight in tarred armor to plunge the knife of love through their hearts. Give this a miss if
weak female characters and egoistic grey heroes put you off.
WHAT I LIKED:
- The Cover. The overall silhouette effect is eye catching
- Alluring title
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
- Random punctuation, lousy editing, story seeming to have very many rushed scenes and jumpy pace
- Bollywood dialogues, one liners used liberally (even for names of chapters) confuses those who are not ardent fans
- Cliched story. Characters lack depth.
VERDICT:
Read it if you must, but better read some other work by the author to change the impression you will have about her. (Not that I
have read them, but I remain hopeful). There is potential.
RATING: 3/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Varsha Dixit, the best selling author of four successful contemporary romance books. Her debut book, Right Fit Wrong Shoe was a national bestseller for the year 2010. Varsha was a part of the Indian Television Industry and worked as an assistant director and online editor. She considers herself a dreamer who thinks deep but writes light. Even though creativity is gender free, Varsha feels blessed and enriched to be a woman. Currently, with her family, Varsha resides in CA, USA.
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback, Kindle
PRICE Rs. 195 for Paperback, Free on Kindle Unlimited
BOOK LINKS: Amazon
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