Author: Sachin Garg
Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 9788192222622
Pages: 224
Price: Rs. 100.00

‘I’m Not Twenty Four’ by Sachin Garg is really not the regular story you will go through from another regular author from the MBA background types. ‘I’m Not Twenty Four’ has much more to it than the title makes it to feel about. Sachin Garg, the writer, may have killed the chance of brilliant marketing of his book by the mere naming of his novel as another regular chick-flick, which strictly it is not. The cover page may draw the attention of random readers and college going kids looking for cheap entertainment, but hardly would it manage to catch the attention of the serious readers and critics. There’s a story (mentioned in the Prologue) behind the picture on the front cover, but that surely does not stand strong as an excuse for the same. At the same time, the naming also does not justify the plot, or for that matter, the apparent practicality and lessons the book manages to offer. If I had not received this from Blogadda as a part of their ‘Book Review’ program, I would not have ever bothered to pick this book up from the bookstores. The cover and naming itself is a big turn-off.

If this were your preliminary reactions, what waits for you in between the covers should be as unexpected as it was for me. The storyline was almost a rip-off of some Bollywood movie. But praiseworthy is the way the author has managed to portray the characters/protagonists pushing them all the time to the foreground of the story. One starts to believe in Shubhro’s ‘Move On Theory’, one starts to get under the skin of Saumya and feels her excitement or for that matter, the lack of it, time again and again, while going through the book.

‘I’m Not Twenty Four’ is a story of an MBA grad from Delhi, Saumya, who is just like any other Delhiite girl of her age – the mall trotting, high heeled spectacles that they offer. Devastation strikes when ‘her’ dubious name makes ‘her’ appear to others as a ‘him’, and a result of which she ends up having a life which is almost a part of horror movies, a far cry from what she deserves, and also what she has always dreamt for herself. Bengali guy Shubhro appears out of nowhere and like a dramatic ensemble, she finds herself plunging deep into the oceans of infatuation towards him. Eventually, life brought them closer to each other, and yet kept a distance inexplicable enough between the two. Life made Saumya a wise lady from the happy-go-lucky just-college-pass-out girl that she was. You bet it was the biggest thing she could have ever asked of life!

Writing: Sachin Garg, the author stood out as much as the storyline did for ‘I’m Not Twenty Four’. The fact that the story was almost similar to the concepts behind Bollywood movies like ‘Summer 2007’ (yeah, the one with Gul Panag) makes it a no-brainer that the author needed to outshine himself with every new episodes in the book. And he almost did exactly that. The ‘blog’ approach to share the story of protagonist Shubhro has been a clever move, certainly. All in all, a recommended read, surely.

Overall rating: 8/10.

More Details:
The author on Facebook: Sachin Garg
The novel on Facebook: ‘I’m Not Twenty Four’
The author’s website: www.sachingarg.me

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