ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sudeep Nagarkar is a well-known Indian author, with twelve bestselling novels to his credit. He featured on the Forbes longlist of the most influential celebrities for two consecutive years. Nagarkar also received many awards such as Celebrity Author 2013 from Amazon, and Youth Icon of the Year at the Zee Awards in 2016.
Few Things Left Unsaid, That’s the Way We Met and She Swiped Right into My Heart are some of his well-known novels. Nagarkar is also popular for his inspiring TEDx talks and guest lectures.
SYNOPSIS
The story follows Disha, the protagonist, as she traverses the different stages of her life. The author narrates every minute detail of her character with such perfection that one cannot help empathizing with Disha from the very outset.
As for her personality, Disha is a shy, introverted girl, who craves warmth in her life. She endures many a heartbreak and broken promise in her quest for true love. She eventually starts believing that she is simply unlucky in matters of love and gives up on her pursuit of Mr. Right. Dejected and heartbroken, she agrees to marry the person her parents have chosen for her.
Disha starts adjusting to her new life with the support of her husband and in-laws. Just when things start looking good for her, an unexpected turn of events rocks her boat.
Will she finally succeed in finding true love in her partner? Or does the same fate await her in her married life?
WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT A SECOND CHANCE
As a story, A Second Chance almost instantly strikes a chord with its readers. The conversations between Disha and her dadi are both touching and insightful. The prologue portraying Disha’s apprehensions about arranged marriage is quite realistic and relatable.
Furthermore, the language is pretty simple and uncomplicated. The supporting characters, such as Disha’s dadi, her best friend Kajal, Raghav and Dhruv add value and do justice to the plot.
The relationship between Disha and her in-laws is quite refreshing, too. The author has done a terrific job at using the narrative to convey social messages concerning girl education and gender equality.
WHAT WE DID NOT LIKE ABOUT A SECOND CHANCE
The first half of the novel is a high school and college romance à la Bollywood. There is absolutely nothing interesting happening except for a few incidents here and there. The plot is too predictable and tends to get preachy at times. While the book is meant for young-adults, the use of cuss words on every other page is a bummer.
QUOTES
Hurricanes in our lives strengthen the foundations of relationships.
Relationships require openness, which means we have to let ourselves be vulnerable.
CONCLUSION
A Second Chance is the story of Disha’s search for true love. While the plot does have some interesting elements to it, it fails to hold the readers’ attention. Avid readers of the contemporary-romance genre will find this a disappointing experience due to the insipid story line. Overused clichés and the utter lack of any twists mean that readers will not mind skipping this one.
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