third clique

Popular YouTuber Prajakta Kohli, known to her audience as MostlySane, makes her debut in world of words with “Too Good to be True.”

Everyone has a different definition of a good romance, I agree, but a cringey love story surely is not preferred by the majority, or so I hope. The famous content creator Prajakta Kohli forayed into the literary world with her debut romantic novel called ‘Too Good to be True’, published by Harper Fiction India, priced at Rupees 260. The book explores a classic chick-flick storyline between a 22-year-old law student, Avani Joshi, and a 31-year-old billionaire CEO, Aman Raina. It clearly cannot get more banal than this, can it?

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I was excited to pick up a desi rom-com after all the Western reads but to my dismay, it failed to hold my interest. The story is set in Mumbai, India, and hence, for once it was nice to have the references, slang, and the quintessential Bollywood banter that is often missing in the western works. It is a very easy-to-read story, but at the same time, it doesn’t hook you up in a way that you are unable to put it down. However, I wouldn’t shy away from agreeing that there were a few moments in the narrative that had me grinning sheepishly.

The plot felt as though it had been pulled from a mould, with a storyline that was too predictable and familiar. It features a young student trying to find her path in life while caught in the mundane struggle of figuring it all out. Alongside an extraordinary billionaire CEO, who possesses everything from private jets, to a palatial mansion in the hills. My initial thought after a few pages into the novel was, ‘Oh, this again.’ While the narrative may not capture the interest of young adults and older readers, it could still prove exhilarating for young teenagers. I had hoped that a work by the famous content creator, who clearly understands her audience well, would be much better than it turned out to be. MostlySane (Prajakta’s online alias), is an avid romance reader, as evidenced by the numerous stories she shares on her Instagram, which only heightened my expectations.

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Almost every author uses raw material from their own lives to fuel their writing, but Prajakta made the lead protagonist, Avani, strikingly similar to herself in terms of looks and preferences. This often made it difficult for me to view her as a distinct character, separate from the author. I am writing this review because I found myself eagerly searching for one after the release, backed by top-notch PR, and marketing strategies, which made it visual everywhere on social media. However, It was tiresome to find an unbiased critique. Feeling restless, I decided to purchase the novel myself, enabling me to provide you with an honest review that I couldn’t find elsewhere.

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It’s a super breezy read, perfect as something you can flip through on a commute or during a lazy afternoon. But honestly, if you’re over 18, it might not hit the mark as it seems to be unintentionally geared towards the audience aged from 12-15 years.