Book Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Headline Review, Hachette India
ISBN: 978-0-7553-8403-7
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 215
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

Do you believe in love at first sight? And does love at first sight happens because of collective circumstances that lead to it? The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a book as the title says, quite what it is – love and the chances of it at first sight.

When Hadley misses her flight to London by four minutes, she never expects to meet Oliver – someone she instantly connects with, someone who has his own set of problems and so does she, and it is quite interesting to see how they solve their own problems, one by one, over the course of one day.

The book is a young adult romance so to say and yet it is written with so much maturity on so many levels. I could relate to Hadley in so many ways when I was seventeen – the same anxiety, fears and worry about the future. Hadley has had an estranged relationship with her father. She is on her way to London from New York to attend her father’s second marriage and does not know how to react to it.

Oliver on the other hand, has his own life which he doesn’t share initially but the layers are soon peeled and reality sinks in. The reality that when they are done with the journey and land in London, (they are seated next to each other 18A and 18B for seven hours on the flight) what will become of their friendship/relationship. Will they meet again? What does life have in store for them, if it does for the two of them together?

I found the book a sweet read. There were no mushy romantic moments and I liked that. The book in that case does not get boring. Jennifer E. Smith knows the craft of writing for young adults. It is not the typical romance novel, and that’s why it worked well for me.

Jennifer writes with a quick pace. She doesn’t make the reader wait for things to unfurl. She knows that the reader expects this and this is what needs to be given. The ending worked very well for me. It is sweet for almost all characters and a little fluffy. The book makes you want to travel, because at the end who knows what might happen on an airplane ride to two strangers. To read something light without it being too mushy, you must pick up this book.

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Book Review: The Flying Man by Roopa Farooki

Title: The Flying Man
Author: Roopa Farooki
Publisher: Headline Review, Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0-7553-9417-3
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 338
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

Roopa Farooki’s new book is unlike anything else I have read by her earlier. Even the writing for that matter is different from her other books. The Flying Man is about a man’s life, lived through cities and countries and in various disguises, from where the title comes about.

The Flying Man did take me some time to get into, as it didn’t start with the aplomb I thought it would. However, once the story got me going, I could not stop reading it. The central character of the novel is a man who cannot stay at one place (as you would expect from the title, and the story keeps up to it). This is because he is a criminal (well for that you have to read the book), has had many wives and children (in almost every city) and now, years later, his past is catching up with him. His name is Maqil – also known as Mike, Mehmet, Mikhail and Miguel, and it is all these characters and men (different and yet the same) that Ms. Farooki brings alive in her book.

The book worked for me on various levels. It spoke of conscience, love, fathering children (which I couldn’t relate to), the children’s view about their father, his tracks left behind and of what it feels like when the past is ready to catch up with you, only to culminate in love at the end, as with most stories and plots.

Roopa Farooki writes swiftly and without wasting any time. The urgency in her words and writing is apparent and maybe that is what works best with a book like this. The character of Maqil is of course well charted and documented, however it is also the other characters that equally add to the plot – his many wives, his estranged relationship with his children and their voices and that of his creditors as well, adding sometimes the much needed humour. The Flying Man has its moments of almost every emotion on the range and that’s what makes readers connect to it. I highly recommend this book as a season read.

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