There are few stories which have never ended the way one thinks about. Readers always have some after effects after reading incomplete stories. Author Shubham Arora in his novel "One Last Time" narrates one such story with a mix of some events from the past and a future which is left to reader's imagination. So has he succeeded in his efforts or not is the thing to be found out in this review?
One phone call changes it all for him. Her phone call. After one full year. She is in the US, informing him about her marriage. She wants to meet him.
He had moved on, at least thats what he had made himself believe. Unsure of everything, he books a flight from New York to Carolina to give his past the final closure.
The journey brings all the painful memories back to him. They have both come a long way since they first met as kids and then again as adults, before parting ways and . . . moving on.
But flight 1549 is not destined to reach its destination. Unaware and oblivious, he is lost in his memories of her.Ambala. New Delhi. New York.Love. Career. Distance. Longing. Separation.Will he realize her importance in his life? Will she ever find out who she is actually meant for?
What if he doesn't live up to the day to meet her one last time?
The title is touchy no doubts about that. The cover page ain't that impressive. It just doesn't gels with the title. The blurb hints towards an emotional story which instantly connects with the readers. The cover image could have been much better if compared to the title and the blurb of the book.
The story is a mixture of past and present of Ishaan & Tithi and their journey from childhood to the teens and the years which were lost because of an uncalled for separation and then meeting again by chance and rekindling their old romance. They depart again by fate and choice and problems galore and then it's upto them to get out of the mess. Will they be able to get back together or fate has planned something else for them?
The narration is smooth as per reader's taste. The author has chosen to keep it simple in terms of vocabulary. The story has been divided into three parts: Ambala, New Delhi & New York. Ambala talks about childhood, New Delhi about their romance & New York about all the problems. This concept works in the favor of the story. A few encounters with Aman are a reminder of good old school days.
The story lags a lot in terms of emotions, depth, connectivity and expectations. Many events in the story happen out of the blue. A slow and low 1st part, a bit charming second part and totally out of sorts third half have marred the story's reach to the reader's heart. Love is all blink and miss in this novel. Emotions loose footing time and again. Cricket has taken too much of space in the story. Paragraphs in the entire book should have been much more shorter in terms of length.
There are not too many brownie points in the story except for an end which is a bit different from the rest of the story. It should be U.S flight not us flight. It looks more like us than a country's name. It just doesn't get the treatment in terms of expressions and love which was the requirement of the story. It won't suffice a readers expectation if you are looking for an extraordinary love story.
RATINGS:
2 OUT OF 5.
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