NON REVIEW RANT

This book was recommended to me by a fellow Goodreads author. I checked the cover (you can read how I felt about it), the number of pages (43, sweet) and decided to go for it.

Here is the thing, when someone recommends me something; I feel obligated to follow their recommendations. Sometimes, I have read most boring books on recommendation. Thankfully, it was not the case this time.

Alright, let’s get down to this review.

Book Details

Title: Locked In

Length: 43 pages

Published: 9 November, 2019

Price: INR 71 (Or you can borrow it for free if you’ve Kindle Unlimited subscription)

Link to buy from Amazon: Amazon.in

Book Description

Two hurt hearts, one locked room and a panic attack…Sometimes you have to be locked in to see you never wanted to escape…

Jiya is raised to be a perfect lady, she’s taught to obey, even if it is her husband asking for a divorce, after he promised to love her forever. It’s okay. She’s fine. She just wants to sign papers with dignity and end it all civilly.

Dev is pissed. For five years, he worshiped the ground Jiya walked on. And what did he get for it? Loneliness and heartache. And while he wants to punch the wall, his beautiful wife is sitting demurely signing papers.

Fate intervenes in the form of two best friends, by locking them in the very room in which they signed their divorce.

What happens when two people who never stopped loving each other are forced to confront their mistakes?

****There is no sex. Has some swearing (f-word usage)****

Author’s Profile

Iris is a data scientist. This is her first self-published story. This is part of Pen To Publish 2019 contest. The length is less than 10000 and it therefore qualifies to short form category.

PLOT SUMMARY & REVIEW

I will always fall short; not fair skinned enough, not tall enough, not successful enough. Why am I never enough?

I thought it was just me who has that question. Eheheh!

Locked In is a story about Jiya and Dev Saurya – a young couple truly, deeply, madly in love once and now preparing for divorce.

Their lawyer friends lock them in a room to resolve matters, as love is still in the air.

Jiya blames herself for everything tgat went wrong in her marriage. Dev blames her for shutting down, as they never discussed things.

So, once they are locked in, they finally talk. We see both sides of the coin, hear both sides of the story, and try to understand and empathize with them. It gets overwhelming, though, I must admit. There’s too much of head hopping. It left me confused and dizzy.

The story tells us a lot of things. Most importantly, it tells us to talk, to open up, to discuss expectations and to share your feeling with your loved ones instead of shutting off from the world.

But it ends well. Great!

That’s what I call a nice romance story. I mean, romance in its purest forms and not one laced with erotica…

The concept of palimony

I didn’t even know that India has concept of alimony. I thought it existed only in the West. Then, I googled for palimony. What would my life be without Google?

The expression `palimony’ was coined in USA by California Superior Court in 1976 in the famous case of Marvin v. Marvin. ‘Palimony’ means grant of maintenance to a woman who has lived for a substantial period of time with a man without marrying him, and is then deserted by him.

But they were married, right?

Claustrophobia

Claustrophobia… Ah, oh so relatable. I know someone just like her. Me!
And, that breathing problem… I have it since college days and I suffer one attack every week, at least once. It is not claustrophobia that causes the shortness of breath but any sort of anxiety triggers it. While reading the scene where she suffers panic attack, I felt it so strongly, I couldn’t breathe myself. I don’t know if it is really good writing or my freakishly vivid imagination. Let’s give half credit to both.

The Language

There isn’t purple prose and it isn’t as simple as day to language either. It isn’t very poetic or very plain. However, in a few places, I felt that some words didn’t fit in.

Talking about purple prose, does anybody remember Joey’s recommendation letter in FRIENDS? He writes when Chandler and Monica are trying to adopt a baby. That scene is so hilarious. I really want to post about FRIENDS, since it is a big part of my life. I just don’t get the time. Correction, I make the time for writing fiction and these blog posts but FRIENDS needs more time and commitment than that. It is epic!

****There is no sex. Has some swearing (f-word usage)****

Although, there is a disclaimer about usage of f-word. I think it was not ‘some’, but a lot. don’t understand people’s obsession with this word. I don’t see people swearing like that IRL.

The Cover

I know I shouldn’t say this because the covers for my books are plain and boring. This book uses a great photograph. It has bright colours, looks tasteful, and suits the genre. However, I have one tiny problem – the overlapping fuschia boxes that contain the title. I hope it is called fuschia. At least that’s how I remember that dark pink colour.

That’s the review guys. Alright, I admit it is more than a review. But, hey, that’s my style.

I will see you in next review.

Shabana Mukhtar