Arpit Shrivastava
2018
Half Baked Beans
The Unceremonious Revenge is a fictional account of the trials and tribulations of a college drop out. The female lead falls for the young, responsible gentleman who is a victim of circumstance, having had to shoulder family responsibilities at a young age, at the cost of his education and career. The quintessential heroine looks beyond the obvious and marries him for the true gentleman that he is. His mother supports her in pursuing her dreams post marriage but destiny has other things in store for them as the villain steps in. A spoiled brat from a political family, the villain wrecks havoc in their otherwise perfect lives. The rest of the story goes on to describe the revenge plot laid out by the hero who constantly claims to not be a good guy. Having avenged the tragedy that has befallen his family, he goes back to a life of normalcy in the end. I am not sure why this revenge is unceremonious.
A young adult novel, Shrivastava’s writing has all the masala suitable for the make of a Bollywood cinema. The story line has romance, adventure, tragedy, drama and emotion in it. Throw in a few songs and it would be a cliched romantic movie, complete with Hero, Heroine and Villain. The modern day romance has a doting mother in law instead of the sinister one. While the plot has enough twists and turns, it is predictable at most places. I give him credit for starting the tale where most of the other young adult fiction seems to be ending. There is an attempt to throw in a bit of reality but the hero is always good and the villain is always bad. This misses out on the complexity of life which I tend to like in stories. The book would have definitely been more enjoyable with better proof reading, if not editing.