Author : Jyoti Arora
Published : Pothi.com
Lemon Girl, a self-published Book about Nirvi who has huge internal and external demons to fight with. She is scared of her future, and ashamed of her past. She is failing herself, and knows it. She has had a long line of boyfriends, and hated them all. She detests the guy she is living with, runs away from the one she loves , and seduces the one who can never love her
When Arsh first sees Nirvi, she's a free and frank girl in whose eyes sparkle the lemony zest of life. The next time he sees her, she is a voiceless doll draped in clothes that cover her body less and shroud her soul more. And Arsh can't rest till he finds out what made Nirvi give up her own real self. Nirvi knows she is dragging herself on a path from which there can be no recovery. Can her spirit survive the treacherous downfall? Or is the pull of fear and push of desperation just too strong to withstand for a girl who believes she has "nowhere else to go" but down.
Author paints the characters with broad strokes - there is chauvinistic boyfriend, orthodox parents, candle marches, a heavy dose of anti-corruption movement, live-in relationships and a luxuriant lifestyle portrayed at times. To be fair and give credit to author, all this blends well with the story line which gives narrative required texture. The author manages successfully to allow the lead character to ask difficult questions to both herself and to the society. There is an inherent preachiness one would associate with such stories and this one is no exception.
The book is fast paced and the writing dwindles from being brave to pretentious. Since the book is self-published, there are few grammatical and punctuation mistakes which i am sure can be taken care off in the next version. I am going with 2.5/5 for Jyoti Arora's 'Lemon Girl'. If you are worried about women safety and want to dwell into the internal metamorphosis of such people, this may be a decent read.
