You Never Know When You’ll Get Lucky! Book Review

With a plethora of urban romances, structured around the lives, careers and relationships of young women (I choose not to use the term “chick lit” since I’m not terribly fond of it and feel that it undermines the character of a book, narrowing the perception of a reader) , written by young and educated, career women,  filling up book shelves swiftly these days, here’s another one in the form of Priya Narendra’s, You Never Know When You’ll get Lucky! Narendra has worked in advertising and according to her many of the hilarious incidents in the book have come from her stint in the industry. The book follows the hilarious life of Kajal, a young, independent and bold copy writer who works in advertising agency in Delhi and always ends up finding herself in clumsy and embarrassing situations. Kajal firmly believes that one should marry for love and furiously fends off her mother’s many unsuccessful attempts at trying to hook her up with prospective grooms.

 The book begins with Kajal trying to evade her mother and annoying childhood companion turned pursuer Bunty, at a wedding, where she ends up hiding under a table and bumping into Dhir, a handsome and suave investment banker from Bombay. Though there is an instant spark between the both of them, Kajal puts everything behind her since Dhir lives in Bombay and she can’t see how they can ever be together. Kajal finds herself in another short lived relationship and eventually dumps the guy at a family dinner where she realizes that he is a mamma’s boy and can’t up for her. This is when Kajal decides to get serious about her career and finds herself in the middle of an important ad campaign. Kajal ends up going to Bombay for a shoot related to this campaign and ends up meeting Dhir again, but this time the attraction is stronger and the pair of them realizes that there’s something deeper to what they feel for each other- the challenge remaining a long distance relationship which can often cause misunderstandings, as it does with Kajal and Dhir. The rest of the book follows how Kajal pulls off the ad campaign she was heading successfully and how Dhir and she finally work their relationship out.

The book is funny and engaging and Narendra has done justice in fleshing out the characters of Kajal, Dhir and other minor characters who add to the fun of the plot and the short chapters add to the pace and momentum of the book. But, frankly there’s nothing that sets this book apart from others in its genre and the predictability of some parts of the book are a tad disappointing as well. If you must, this book is best read on a long commute to work or during a slow day in the office.


(This is a book review requested by the publisher)