The Ex Factor – A book review
About Harini Srinivasan – The Author
Harini Srinivasan is an Indian author who has penned diverse books like the historical thriller ” The Curse of Anuganga”, “Ek Confusing Love Story”, and “Death at Arcade Emporia “, as well as a children’s book called “The Wizard Tales: Adventures of Bun-Bun ” and a number of short stories. Her latest work is a romantic comedy ” The Ex-Factor”.
Having worked as a civil servant earlier Harini Srinivasan now prefers to work as an editor and content manager during the day and as a novelist at night. She mentors young authors through Scholastic Authors Academy and offers advice on improving their work, particularly in the area of historical fiction. She currently resides in Gurugram with her family and is a movie buff of Hindi Classics.
Book Details of The Ex-Factor by Harini Srinivasan
Title – The Ex Factor
Author – Harini Srinivasan
Pages – 194
Price – The Ex-factor is only available in the paperback format currently and it is priced at Rs 195/- , available in book shops and on Amazon.in
Publisher – Om Books International
Language – English
About the Book – The Ex Factor
The Cover page illustration of a chic young girl wearing a perplexed expression is attractive specially the bright and peppy colors which seem to convey that this book will be fun to read.
Narration
The book has nice paper quality which makes reading a pleasure and keeps reminding me why a paperback feels better than a digital book. Thankfully the editing is on point and the book is free of grammatical mistakes. Harini Srinivasan has chosen a first person account to tell the story of the sometimes clumsy and hasty but mostly Feisty Young Bengali girl Oindrilla Roy , and her now-hot- now- cold romance with her old schoolmate and now colleague Vivek Rao.
The very first line of the book hooks you.
“Everything that could go wrong, went wrong today. Every single thing.”
How could you not read on after that opening!
Oindrilla or Oinks as her friends call her , uses a lot of urban Hindi surprisingly very less Bengali even though she is a Bengali by birth and only recently came to Delhi. Unfortunately, the slang in her speech that can be a little tough for people to follow who are not well versed with this but for me as a North Indian, the book became just a little more spicy and relatable with her ‘Aaj Toh‘ and “LMAO ” etc. She also uses the F-word quite liberally on almost every other page of the book, I’m not sure if that’s how the younger generation is really expressing themselves nowadays since I belong to the older generation.
Honestly speaking, the first chapter seemed to drag on a bit and I almost lost my interest when the nastiness at work seemed to go on and on in an unending rant but Harini soon gets back into the game. Maybe that was her intention all along and that’s how we were supposed to feel and acknowledge the mess her life was and the need for a breather , the need for some respite and then the story takes a turn and moves on.
Storyline of The Ex Factor
As the title gives it away it is about an Ex.
Just when things were already looking bad for Oinks ,e.g. her posting far away from home, her hawkeyed boss, back biting colleagues, her ex-boyfriend , her schoolmate and ex-boyfriend Vivek Rao makes an entrance as the new colleague, looking hunkier than ever. Her heart still sore from the previous heartbreak with Vivek (mostly because of her own hasty decision to quit), will Vivek’s comeback be a curse or a chance to rekindle love?
Just throw in office politics, a best friend who is also a lesbian and you have everything that should keep you in splits at the wise cracks and the twist and turns till you reach the happy ending.
I did spoil it for you, didn’t I ?
But I think sometimes it helps to know what you are in for before you pick up a book for a particular mood.
This one will cheer you up!
Characterization
While I get to know how Oindrilla reacts and thinks in many situations and her loves and hates , I do not get to know how she looks , what is the color of her eyes, what she wears , which may have been intentional by the author to focus only on the storyline but it left a lot to imagination. Naturally, in a romance novel, the physical attributes help in understanding and highlighting the attraction between the lead characters.
I feel The Ex-factor by Harini Srinivasan lacks a bit in that part , painting a picture of people and places , not even the beauty of the picturesque Shillong gets much of a mention. What she does give you a lot is how the people behave and react.
To conclude
This book “The Ex Factor ” by Harini Srinivasan is a light and short read , perfect for those lazy beach vacations or airports when you want something that will entertain and keep you turning pages but won’t bog you down with emotional trauma or heavy drama, or even with its volume.
” This review is powered by ” Blogchatter Book Review Program “
Before leaving do check out some more of my #bookreviews here
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#abetterlife #sinplypretty #bookreviews #TheExFactor #Harinisrinivasan #IndianLiterature #Indianauthors #fiction #romcom
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