Love the most subtle yet the most
powerful emotion is a celebration in itself. It’s rare if anyone has never been
touched by love – love of parents, sisters, lovers or even the little pet! Love
stories, likewise, are enthralling. A happy love story can leave you content
where as a sad end might keep you thinking for long.
Pride & Prejudice has been my
favourite romance classic till date - always seems to leave you on a high. And
when you steer your eyes from the Mills & Boons and Erich Segal you chance upon ‘Urban Shots – The Love Collection’ – a
new and refreshing book by a host of Indian budding authors.
Unlike other novels these short stories
are real, urban and closer to earth – stories that you can imagine happening
next door or even can relate with yourself. Edited by the talented Sneh Thakur,
this book is a collection of 31 love stories by 27 authors. From juvenile sweet
love to matured bolder love this book contains a myriad moments where you can
feel and absorb love. Unlike the regular ‘happily ever after’ you can read some
off-beat stories for a change and enjoy the shades of grey and that’s what makes
this different from the crowd.
Some of the stories which I quite
liked were these out of the box ones where you can’t predict from the first few
lines. ‘Making Out’ by Hina Siddiqui (also the editor’s pick) is as
straight and blunt as the title explains but also unfolds some hidden truth and
the grey shades of society. My favourite has been ‘Twisted’ by Lipi Mehta,
you will find it simple until you read the last words, and yes that’s a great
twist to make a different love story all together. ‘Beyond Reasonable Doubt’
is very rustic and you can identify with the characters and their emotions very
easily. Stories like ‘Pause, Play, Rewind’ by Shoma Narayan
and the deep conflicting ‘Shahana and Shamim’ by Sangeeta
Bandopadhyay feels like a mini screenplay which you can imagine unfolding right
in front of you. ‘Strangers’ by Ahmed Faiyaz has been gripping and spooky and I applaud
him for that. ‘Reality Bytes’ by Anitha Murthy definitely is touching and
heart breaking and one story which you will love to read. It’s a must read in
this book. Other stories worth commenting are ‘High Time’ by Kailash
Srinivasan, ‘The Jhalmuri Seller’ by Bhabani Shankar Kar. ‘A
Girl can Dream’ by Ayeesha Khanna is simple yet beautiful.
There are some stories too which
didn’t go that well with me for may be the percentile factor! ‘The
Girlfriend’, ‘The Girl who was too Loud’, ‘Written in the stars’, were
nice but predictable for me.
It was a satisfying read for me,
in fact I am happy that I finished it off within a week even after a mad
schedule at work. Some of the stories were captivating and I read them almost
like how I read a thriller. After a long time I got to read the mixed emotions
of love, penchant, desire, guilt, anger, blues and so many more. To read minds
of young and budding authors is always pleasant. And it feels closer to you
when you can start relating stories with yourself and the others whom you know
who might have gone through similar situations.
My thoughts – Everyone needs romance, feel some love – all kinds of
it.
I thank Blogadda for the opportunity
to review this book.
My rating – 3.5/ 5
Book – Urban Shots – The Love
Collection
Edited by – Sneh Thakur
Publisher – Grey Oak in
association with Westland
ISBN – 978-93-81626-47-4
Price – INR 199
Pages – 226
Gengre – Romance, Fiction
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