Customer Reviews

Almost Single

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I picked up this book, as a light chick lit read, with no expectations but to be entertained. However, this book fails on that front as well.
Bad writing. Unreal. Dumb.
I am not a fan of chick lit, but this book held some promise since the setting was India. I have been a young professional woman working in Mumbai, and yet I could not identify with the settings at all. The dialogue does not belong to yuppie Delhi at all.
The author tries to attempt to create an Indian Bridget Jones, and she fails miserably since she seems to have no clever wit, the kind that makes you chuckle to yoursef. Don't bother with this one- Rereading the original Bridget Jones will be more satisfying.

If you are looking for a deep and introspective book - this is not it. This is a fun and shallow book that could be about a girl looking for a man anywhere. It was a quick light read. Kind of like when you're surfing the channels and see Millionaire Matchmaker, you may stop and see it. But it's not on your TIVO schedule.

Little to like, and even less to laugh about in this story of a shallow, materialistic heroine who meets a uni-dimensional (rich) hero. The novelty of the Indian setting is little compensation for the banal prose and plot.

This book was only so-so. I enjoyed that it was set in India and getting a sneak peek into the life of a working girl half way around the world was the best part of this book. The storyline was shallow and glossed over. Because of this I didn't feel a connection to the main character, Aisha. I recommend you check this one out of the library and save your money for something with a little more depth.

Aisha, the heroine, is a self-centered, self-absorbed, incompetent, lazy, scheming party girl who drinks like a fish and lies like a rug. She uses everyone around her unthinkingly, and yet (of course) bewitches a paragon of all manly virtues despite her unending series of social gaffes. We all should be so lucky!

The author does serve up a clever turn of phrase, and her depiction of the pressure on women in India to marry is interesting. She includes some exotic details of Indian life. The secondary characters are more appealling than Aisha, and well-developed. But overall the book needs a firm editorial hand.

Most annoying was the inclusion of unexplained Indian phrases. I love the inclusion of an umfamiliar word or phrase, it is a way to gain a tad of understanding. But the unfamiliar word should be understandable from the contaxt, or even a glossary. Initially a few words were explained, but by the end of the book there was a bewildering array of confusing terms. There was no glossary. The unexplained vocabulary seriously undermined enjoying the Indian setting, for me.

I did like the ending, the author avoids the expected cliche for a more modern turn. I wanted to like the book and kept reading in hopes that it would improve. No such luck. I wish Advaita Kala better luck in the next book.

In NewDelhi, twenty-nine year old Aisha Bhatia works as guest relations manager at the five-star Grand Orchid Hotel. She is good at her job, but the single woman knows the pay stinks especially for the long hours she works.

Her mom and other relatives especially the females constantly remind Aisha she should be married by now. She agrees secretly but hides her loneliness with champagne and spending time with her two best friends Misha and Anushka, whose divorce was just finalized. Her search for love has run the gamut of internet dating to fasting on a Hindu holiday. So far she has had no luck until New York banker Karan Verma comes to New Delhi; for the first time she reconsider what she wants in life.

More a contemporary Indian chick lit than a romance, ALMOST SINGLE is a superb glimpse at how India's modern day society treats single females as they close in on thirty. Aisha feels the pressure of getting married, but though she wants too she refuses to settle; instead she prefers the fun with her two pals until she meets Karan. Fully developed Misha and Anushka augment this profound look at single women in modern times especially with the latter getting divorced. Using plenty of wit and jocularity, Advaita Kala lifts her novel above a Bollywood version of chick lit romance with an entertaining tale starring an almost thirty- year old single.

Harriet Klausner

Almost Single started off a little confusing, but soon enough, I found myself wanting more. I couldn't put the book down. It's a light, easy read; certainly not a deep, thought-provoking novel, but entertaining all the same. It's classic romance meets the 21st century. I would recommend giving it a try. This book has earned its spot on my bookshelf.

The book started off with a lot more promise but fell flat quite quickly. This was an impulse buy in the airport for me. I thought it'd be an interesting unfolding of the single Indian girl's life in the city (the snippets on the cover suggested it'd be a Bridget Jones meets Sex and the Indian City. But instead of bold and witty characters, all this book had was pathetic, alcoholic, wannabe, half-developed characters. The worst part is that I could not understand why the hero falls in love with the heroine. Aisha is awkward, drunk (to the point of passing out) all the time and the conversation between Karan and her is unbearably boring (if at all there are words exchanged!!!) each time they meet. You don't sense any sexual tension between them except that she thinks he's hot. Add to that the fact that she sounds neither attractive nor confident (but entirely self-absorbed) and that he is supposedly a Greek god with brains to match - you just can't understand how there's a connection between the two at all!!! I kept hoping for some witty banter or any interesting twist to the story but it was all in vain. The one twist was when Karan proposed to her but it made no sense why a guy who hasn't seemed to have connected with her yet (in fact quite the opposite) would propose so out of the blue - that too on the first night of his mother being in town?!?!?! Just ludicrous!!!