Prassant Kevin can write. Oh yes, he can and his second offering, ‘King of Hearts’ gets as close to a blockbuster hit status as an eventual one does. I don’t really know the current status of this book, it’s standing in the market and reviews et al but I do know that of all the writers’ works that I have gone through so far, his is the one with widest scope and biggest canvas. King of Hearts has powerful characters at its core with sublime themes of ‘love’ and ‘friendship’ and Prassant never lets the intensity drops down at any stage of the book. A classic rags to riches story seldom gets a climax as good as this one.
Ayan Kapoor and Misha are two central characters of this book and they are the fastest of friends. They share all of their feelings, tastes and stories with each other and always get the back of other whenever the need arises. Like the time when Ayan, an aspiring writer, finds nothing to work upon that suits his taste and later, when he finds himself plagued with early on-set Alzheimer symptoms, Misha was always there for him and during the first of these many events, Ayan, a dream man for many girls and women, realizes that there couldn’t be anyone better for him than Misha and she really can’t say no to him being his best friend but Misha does exactly that for she always maintained and that too without any premonition and reservation that best friends can’t be lovers and they both even made rules for not getting trapped into all that familiar ‘cliché’ of love. She leaves Ayan and goes onto living her own life with his husband. Meanwhile, Ayan’s hard work finally pays off and he goes onto become the most successful writer of his generation. A fatal accident that ultimately leads Ayan to his Alzheimer condition reunites him with Misha and then they both reveal Ayan’s serious mental digression to the world to the bewilderment, astonishment and shock of entire nation. Their story ends with a message that ‘when nothing works, courage rises’ and yes, I agreed.
A poignant and heartwarming story Prassant here comes up with as you might now have some idea of and he backs it up with powerful scenario and moving dialogues. Ayan as King of hearts knows that he has a responsibility now being the most famous personality of a billion-strong nation and thus he reacts gracefully to every challenging circumstance he gets to face. Prassant has helped him there with most suitable, stylish and elegant dialogues. He more than often gets to address the public of thousand in attendance and millions at home and thus he has to be very responsible and alert with his words and action. Misha comes across to readers as that one girl who everyone wants by his side and Hitesh, Ayan’s long time friend, his best friend. One realizes only after reading this book that Ayan wouldn’t have been that successful without the ever-so-reliable support of Hitesh. King of Hearts in this way comes across as those rare of books that develop their characters to the full.
However, the book isn’t without its detractors and all detractors come across from a single category, I.e. technical. All the promise that’s the magnificent book cover shows is nullified by the innumerable grammatical (tense as well as spelling) mistakes. I don’t know why but this problem has become generic and almost every book can be said to be reflective of same symptoms. Then there is this odd choice of printing this book with ‘Calibri’ font. Frankly speaking, this is the first time I am getting to see a book printed with a ‘font’ other than ‘Times New roman’ and being a management professional, I do know that Times New Roman is what every reader, businessman, and scholar prefers. It might be the unwritten rule of publishing industry that doesn’t always needs heeding but it does seem right to write in Times New Roman font. That’s pretty much the standard. Another silly mistake I found out and that I would label big for it contradicts the premise that book cover claims. It says that at 25, Ayan makes the whole world cry and author certainly is referring to his Alzheimer condition here but one later finds out while reading the book that Ayan is diagnosed with this mental condition only when he has completed 26th year of his age. I found it very irritating and certainly uncalled-for. Some may even find book’s plot to be scarcely believable but I would counter that for we are living in India and almost every success story one hears of here is one of constant, hopeless struggle. Pricing is another aspect where I’d give a green signal to both author and publishing house.
In this way, I would definitely suggest to everyone to have a go at it and I’m sure you will find a purpose in your life somewhere through Ayan’s life passages and deeds or at least, you will feel entertained and that’s a big positive too.
Rating: 3.5/5
Ayan Kapoor and Misha are two central characters of this book and they are the fastest of friends. They share all of their feelings, tastes and stories with each other and always get the back of other whenever the need arises. Like the time when Ayan, an aspiring writer, finds nothing to work upon that suits his taste and later, when he finds himself plagued with early on-set Alzheimer symptoms, Misha was always there for him and during the first of these many events, Ayan, a dream man for many girls and women, realizes that there couldn’t be anyone better for him than Misha and she really can’t say no to him being his best friend but Misha does exactly that for she always maintained and that too without any premonition and reservation that best friends can’t be lovers and they both even made rules for not getting trapped into all that familiar ‘cliché’ of love. She leaves Ayan and goes onto living her own life with his husband. Meanwhile, Ayan’s hard work finally pays off and he goes onto become the most successful writer of his generation. A fatal accident that ultimately leads Ayan to his Alzheimer condition reunites him with Misha and then they both reveal Ayan’s serious mental digression to the world to the bewilderment, astonishment and shock of entire nation. Their story ends with a message that ‘when nothing works, courage rises’ and yes, I agreed.
A poignant and heartwarming story Prassant here comes up with as you might now have some idea of and he backs it up with powerful scenario and moving dialogues. Ayan as King of hearts knows that he has a responsibility now being the most famous personality of a billion-strong nation and thus he reacts gracefully to every challenging circumstance he gets to face. Prassant has helped him there with most suitable, stylish and elegant dialogues. He more than often gets to address the public of thousand in attendance and millions at home and thus he has to be very responsible and alert with his words and action. Misha comes across to readers as that one girl who everyone wants by his side and Hitesh, Ayan’s long time friend, his best friend. One realizes only after reading this book that Ayan wouldn’t have been that successful without the ever-so-reliable support of Hitesh. King of Hearts in this way comes across as those rare of books that develop their characters to the full.
However, the book isn’t without its detractors and all detractors come across from a single category, I.e. technical. All the promise that’s the magnificent book cover shows is nullified by the innumerable grammatical (tense as well as spelling) mistakes. I don’t know why but this problem has become generic and almost every book can be said to be reflective of same symptoms. Then there is this odd choice of printing this book with ‘Calibri’ font. Frankly speaking, this is the first time I am getting to see a book printed with a ‘font’ other than ‘Times New roman’ and being a management professional, I do know that Times New Roman is what every reader, businessman, and scholar prefers. It might be the unwritten rule of publishing industry that doesn’t always needs heeding but it does seem right to write in Times New Roman font. That’s pretty much the standard. Another silly mistake I found out and that I would label big for it contradicts the premise that book cover claims. It says that at 25, Ayan makes the whole world cry and author certainly is referring to his Alzheimer condition here but one later finds out while reading the book that Ayan is diagnosed with this mental condition only when he has completed 26th year of his age. I found it very irritating and certainly uncalled-for. Some may even find book’s plot to be scarcely believable but I would counter that for we are living in India and almost every success story one hears of here is one of constant, hopeless struggle. Pricing is another aspect where I’d give a green signal to both author and publishing house.
In this way, I would definitely suggest to everyone to have a go at it and I’m sure you will find a purpose in your life somewhere through Ayan’s life passages and deeds or at least, you will feel entertained and that’s a big positive too.
Rating: 3.5/5
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