Hooked, Lined & Single by Rashmi Kumar

• Book: Hooked, Lined and Single
• Author: Rashmi Kumar
• Publishing House: Srishti Publishers
• Category: Fiction
• Rating: 4/5

Story-in-Short:

If you are a woman in your 30s, and are yet unmarried or deserted or divorced, living in India will make you belong to a category which finds extremely hard to find the right man to just be with. Such women will be labelled as cynical, and acquire disastrously special statuses such as unreasonable or demanding or chronically single or bossy! In this title, one such woman is pleading with God, asking the same question that might be resonating inside the minds of the rest of her kind – “where have I gone wrong?” Alafia Singh is on a similar journey, as she has set out to find a life partner for herself, but by following traditional methods. Will she be successful in her attempts?

In my view:

More than a unison of two lovers, marriage in India has become a social obligation. There are some who tie knots only to please the society and stay away from the taunts that it throws at them and their family members. And those unmarried, witness, questions being raised on their character, exasperating labels put on their personality, etc. But it is appropriate to get married to a person with whom you don’t really get along very well? Author Rashmi Kumar’s story is about a one such woman and her struggle to find a husband! 

Hooked, Lined and Single, revolves around Alafia Singh, the protagonist in her early 30’s and her efforts in finding a suitable husband. Singh’s previous marriage couldn’t last long, as she and her former husband couldn’t get along very well, ensuing in their divorce. A strong and confident Alafia then sets herself to find a perfect groom for herself. In this course, with highfalutin expectations, she comes across a lot of men, falls for them and thinks they are perfect. However, something goes wrong each time and they part ways. Eventually, she feels low about it and begins to wonder whether something is wrong with her. But, what is in store for Alafia? Is she destined to mingle or stay single? Well, read the book to find more! 

Through this fascinating anecdote, the author attempts to bring in limelight the dilemma and feelings most experience while passing through this phase. 

The cover of the book is simple, yet suitable for the story. The narration is engrossing and the narrative is enthralling. The story is set in Delhi and there are not many characters for a confusion to ensue. The story is appropriately edited and nowhere there are editorial errors to create irksome. In fact, the author has well dealt with and balanced the characters in her story. 

However, boredom and monotony invade the story for a while, before it gets back on the track. Apart from that nowhere does the book go down and a reader is bound to enjoy the tale!

Everyone out there, looking forward to read something refreshing with a realistic touch, should go ahead for this! 

Considering everything, I am rating the book with 4/5. Congrats and best wishes to the author for her second novel! I am looking forward to reading more from her! 

NOTE: A review copy of the book was sent by the author. 

•  You can purchase Hooked, Lined and Single via: Infibeam,   Crossword, Uread, Flipkart, Rediff.