How is that sometimes the most meaningful books fail to make an impression and sometimes, silly ramblings of a woman find a place in your heart?
Today, I am thinking of reviewing the Secret Diary Of An Incurable Romantic by Chitrangada Mukherjee. It’s a book – a year in the life of a recently widowed woman. Quite unusually, it’s not a sad story but a fun and silly account of this woman navigating her life after that loss.
I have already reviewed this book on my Booktube channel. But at the time of writing this review, I have processed my thoughts about this book for over a month. And since then, I have been wondering what really appealed to me.
On the face of it, I didn’t find it as funny as it’s supposed to be. Several actions of the character in the book weirded me out. Unacceptable. Unsavoury. And yet, I ended up liking this book so much. Why?
You see, as an avid reader, you start to burden yourself. The pressure of always picking up a meaningful book… something exceptionally good… and then, the pressure of liking it… it takes the joy out of reading. Is it happening because of social media? You tell me!
So, I get it how some of you may not even like the secret diary of an incurable romantic. It’s a light entertaining read… the one that doesn’t want to serve a message but want to entertain. At least, that’s what it seems to me.
I think there’s something special about the books written in the form of a diary. They connect with you at a deeper level. You feel like you’re the part of the story… you’re reading somebody’s secrets. All of it is surreal.
Reading about this recently widowed young woman… who doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do after the untimely death of her husband… it appealed to me at so many levels. The feeling of loss of your love and yet, having to live with it and learning to move on with it… doing all of it unapologetically… how often do you find such stories? Most of the love stories end at two people meeting or sometimes, dying together in name of love.
I am deeply interested in knowing what happens afterwards. After you get together. And if by chance, by the bad luck bestowed upon you, you lose your love to not something dramatic from a fairy tale setting but something as real as death!
What I liked about this book was even though it feeds on a heartbreaking event, it’s not a sad story. In fact, it’s funny and weird. There are characters who irritate you… and then, there are funny astonishing characters.
The vamp in the colleague school teacher or the mother-in-law who would have shined even more if she had more space in the story… and the guys! Oh god! When will women learn to pick the right ones? When will they learn?
If you’re reading my book reviews for the first time, no! This is not how I usually write my reviews. I try to be objective… discuss the good and bad. But the truth is – this book, the secret diary of an incurable romantic, is just different for me. I can’t say what sort of people would like it. It’s just a book that if it resonates with you, you will be grateful that you read it and if it doesn’t, you will just wonder how some people like me ended up liking it so much.
It’s simple. It’s silly. It’s weird. It’s good!
My ratings: 4/5 stars
Hi, I do am reading your reviews for the first time but the screenshot for the post is misleading, I thought you were reviewing an action movie 🙂