Love is Vodka [Book Review]

Title of the book - Love is Vodka... One sip ain't enough
Author – Amit Shankar
Publisher – Vitasta Publishing (2013)
Price – Rs 195/-

Don't judge the book by its cover, but judge this book by its back cover (That's what I did). Here's what it says:

Being a love child, Moon is anything but a conventional teen. With a leading news anchor as her mother, an aspiring entrepreneur as her boyfriends, the word LOVE baffles her. The whole idea of having one partner and love being eternal intrigues her.
Life turns upside down when she falls for her mother's boyfriend. Destiny further complicates things by blessing her with a mega modelling assignment and turning her famous overnight. A war between her head and heart exposes her to various hues of love
Will she decipher the true meaning of love? Embark on an exhilarating rendezvous with Moon and discover love like never before. 

A nice cover design, catchy title and an almost nice back cover summary made me read the book. Let's get into it:

The book starts with the author deciphering the word - LOVE. Asking us (the readers) what is true love, does it exists? If it does, will it last a lifetime? Did it for you? What the author also says is - Live for the moment. Don't think about whether it will last or not. Cherish each moment. Enjoy the love you have now.

To begin with, I loved the name of the Protagonist in this book - Moon. The character is very Moon lovechild of the famous senior editor of news channel Payal Malik and a French diplomat father. Moon is a crazy and confused teenager working as an intern in one of the best advertisement agency. She is just like any other teenager; bored of her BF Ash, not believing in the concept of sticking to one for your whole life and struggling in her relationship with her mother. She always feels that her mother never really accepted her and got her in this life to SHOW the world that she is an independent woman.

Moon starts taking interest in her office colleague - Akash, who with his charismatic charm and poetic language steals moon’s heart. They start spending a lot of time together in the city, roaming, eating exploring it. Until one day when Moon sees him in a gay party with his boy friend. Moon feels betrayed and being lied to. Aakash never comes back to explain anything to her. A heartbroken Moon gets attracted to her Mother’s boyfriend “D”. D is not just her mom's boyfriend but also the boss of the advertising agency Moon is interning in. He suggests Moon for a modelling assignment and makes her a star overnight, grabs her attention with his charm and smile and Moon falls for him.

Through all the happy times and the upheavals, her constant companion is Danzka, her favourite brand of vodka that not only gives her the courage to take recklessly flirtatious decisions, but also helps her gulp down the ensuing sadness after the many failed affairs. And it eventually takes many a powerful gulps of Danzka for Moon to discover true love, in most unlikely of places, in most unlikely of circumstances.

Moon has a sweet relationship with her biological father who has always kept in touch with her via phone calls and expensive gifts for her.

Moon has an online buddy Nikhil, who is actually in love with her charming nature.

Moon is not stable. She keeps falling in and out of love easily. She is confused. What does true love actually means? Does it even exists?

The book ends at good note where she finds her true calling, finds her true love and finally gets closer to her mother.

The things I liked about this book -
1. The way author has portrayed the power of women; their decision making and power to confront the society. The role of Payal Malik is strong and shows the present women who doesn't fear anyone, has self-respect and the power to achieve ambitions. Author being a male has done a good job in portraying female character with all her emotion and complex feelings. 
2. Comparison between vodka and love is quite interesting and has been portrayed a lot of times in this book.
3. The chapter titles - Life is too short. Be different, be weird; The best things happen when least expected; You were born an original, don't die a copy AND Don't be where you are tolerated, Be where you are celebrated, etc.
4. Love is Vodka is the very real and relatable way it has been put together. The use of modern 

Certain lines I liked from book -
1. If love is all about freedom and honest expression then how can one associate it with loyalty? 
2. If it is meant to last, it will, and if not.. well.. Cupid shall find you again 

If you would ask me, I believe that True love does exists. There is someone for everyone :)

My Rating – 3.5/5

The read is crisp and really short. I finished the book in 6 hours but as always took me a lot of time to review.

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