It is said that one should not judge a book from its cover. True. One more thing, though, that I’ve come to learn over time is that a book should also not be judged from its rather innovative or interesting title because there’s a chance that the imagination and creativity begin and end just there. This book, sadly, qualifies as one such attempt on some counts.

The story is about a young girl, Moon, who is a regular teenager. She’s moody, confused with her notions of love, rebellious for no reason and blames everything unpleasant in her life on destiny. She’s a love child and is very well provided for by both her parents. Her mother is a successful career woman and spends lot more time at work than Moon would like. Theirs is a tricky relationship where the crucial mother-daughter bond is seriously missing.

A summer job in an advertising agency, courtesy of her mother’s contacts, changes her life forever. She’s fortunate to get recognised soon enough amongst other competent people and contributes creatively through her writings, poetry, etc. However she realises that her calling lies elsewhere when she’s asked to model for a contract that her firm is trying to land. The firm does get the contract while Moon becomes the face of the brand and gains popularity overnight.

Though her professional life gives her many reasons to rejoice her personal life is anything but. Although she has one boyfriend to fall back on she’s always on the lookout for someone new and improved. She has no qualms on festering carnal desires for others while her boyfriend fumes and disagrees. She falls in love with her gay colleague and her boss (who’s also her mother’s boyfriend) while getting intimate with the latter only to walk all over her mother’s pride.

In between heartbreaks, leaving her mother’s home and coming back and modelling assignments she meets someone who changes her attitude towards life and teaches her the importance of the role that she can play in the society. He shows her the other side of life which isn’t glamorous like hers and is made up of real people and challenges.

To his credit, from his grip on Moon’s personality and her layered character one cannot easily guess that the author is a male. However, not everything seems in sync and in tandem with the storyline. Some twists only confuse and are unnecessary. Moon’s character walks a lonely path with no help from the supporting ones. Sympathizing with her is tough since most her problems are self-invited. Also, even when she’s sad and depressed, her character fails to evoke the same pain inside the reader.

To place vodka in the middle of all this is baffling to me. Two lovely intoxicants in the title but the book fails to get you high. Teenagers will probably ‘dig it’.

I’ll give this book 2/5 stars.

BOOK DETAILS
Author:                      Amit Shankar
Publisher :                 Vitasta Publishing
Publication Year:      2013
Language:                  English
Binding:                      Paperback
Number of Pages:     212 Pages

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