A Ticklish Affair by Sunil Kapoor & Sudhir Kapoor | Book Review

Bookworm 101: Never judge a book by its cover.

But us bookworms simply don’t learn, do we?

A Ticklish Affair is a short story collection that promises to explore the underbellies of different professions and life in general while being mindful of the emotions that the people involved go through. But while the promise is immense, and there are also a few bright spots for this book, the book as a whole left me underwhelmed and disappointed. It broke my heart because just look at that cover!

This book is a collection of 10 short stories, each one of which attempts to be out of this world but falls short and ends up being excruciatingly normal. It’s not a jibe; it’s just that there’s nothing in this book that we haven’t read before. There are a couple of real life incidents too, but too many of these stories reminded me of stories – real-life or otherwise – that I’ve already read or heard of before.

There was lack of consistency in some places in the book. Be it certain facts and figures that the authors are telling us about the plot, or of certain logics that the authors have laid out between us – I’d have loved to ignore them, but their repeated occurrence rather got a stronghold over my head and now, I can’t let it go!

Every story from start to finish is rushed, with details and plot twists being crammed in like there was no tomorrow. Coupled with the normality and the predictability of the stories’ concepts, the hurried putting out of details and plot twists makes it feel like the authors just want the story to be over with while giving you severe whiplash. There’s no establishing context, no build up, no smooth end – I know these are short stories, but plateaus are not what short stories are made of.

On the bright side, however, the pace of this book makes it an easy, breezy read that you can get through in one sitting if you gave it about 4 odd hours. The writing isn’t top-notch, but if you’re much more forgiving than I am, then this is a book that you will definitely enjoy.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Until next time, keep reading and add melodrama to your life. 🙂

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