Book Review - First You Plz by Nisha B. Thakur

‘FIRST YOU PLZ’ is a SWEET, yet PREDICTABLE, and a POORLY-EDITED book.

Genre: Romance/ Fiction

Publisher: Power Publishers

‘FIRST YOU PLZ’ is the first novel by Nisha B. Thakur. I am still confused whether I should call it a novel or a short story, as it is just 96 pages long (if we only consider the story). Anyway, ‘First You Plz’ is a story of four characters – Avanti, Akash, Rachana and Meenakshi.

Avanti, Rachana and Meenakshi are best friends who join a MBA college in Matheran. Upon reaching their hostel, Avanti’s gaze fell over a handsome lad, Aakash, who loves to play cricket. She gets attracted towards him, and eventually falls in love with him. Though, she befriends Aakash, her best friends Rachana and Meenakshi help her to find out if Aakash is already dating someone or not. Once they are assured that Aakash is not dating anyone, Rachana and Meenakshi help their friend Avanti in conveying her love for Aakash. Avanti, though a sweet and charming girl, is a bit immature at heart. She reacts all too soon, and is quite judgmental at times. Aakash, though likes Avanti as a dear friend, is uncertain of Avanti’s immature behavior. He is afraid that like his ex-girlfriend, Avanti will also prove to be an immature girl friend, who will complain constantly. What will be the future of Avanti and Aakash’s friendship? Will Aakash overcome his fears of a failed relationship, and accept Avanti’s love? Read the book, and find out your answers.


Now, the REVIEW...

As a first time writer, Nisha B. Thakur has done an ‘okayish’ job. The story is sweet, but offers nothing new. A few scenes are sweet though, and I would love to mention them here. There is one scene when Avanti finds Aakash online on a chat. She combs her hair, and checks herself in the mirror, and then realizes – it is not a web-cam chat, and she smiles to herself. Then there is another scene when Aakash and Avanti visit a temple, during Navratri. Avanti prays ardently and cajoles God to make Aakash say to her those 3 magical words!!! And Aakash says – Jai Mata Di. Then there is a sweet and meaningful story recited by Avanti, about Wealth, Knowledge and Trust. The poems are good, and the description of Matheran’s scenic beauty is worth a mention. Scripting a book is a tough job, and I really applaud Nisha for the effort.

As I said earlier, there are a few sweet moments in the book, but overall, the book disappoints. The story, or the short story, offers nothing new. The characters are not well described, and a reader cannot imagine them. The look and feel of the book is as if no effort has been made by the author or the publisher on the cover design. The pages, in the last two chapters are also jumbled up, which further annoys the reader. The editing of the book is its major drawback. There are some instances where the book is narrated in present tense, and at some instances, it is in past tense. The grammar and punctuations are wrong at many places, and sometimes you don’t even feel like completing this 100 page book. For instance, the dialogues in the quotes are terminated by a full stop, instead of a comma –

“Absolutely right.” said Rachana.

This should be:

“Absolutely right,” said Rachana.

These are very basic mistakes, and publishers should take care of these before printing any book. The price tag of this book (INR 170) also disappoints me. But the author has nothing to do with the price tag, and hence I am targeting the publishers.

On the whole, Nisha B. Thakur’s ‘FIRST YOU PLZ’ is an ‘okayish’ first attempt. It offers nothing new, but may go well with the readers who want to read a short story. I am going with a lenient yet motivating 2.5 out of 5 stars for Nisha B. Thakur’s 'First You Plz.’

Verdict : SWEET. PREDICTABLE. DISAPPOINTS.