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- Genre: Fiction
- Source: Review Copy
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 240
- Publisher: Write India Publishers
- Publication Date: 2 June 2019
- My Rating: 3.5 stars
That Thing About You by Abhaidev starts with a conversation between a young man and an old man somewhere not on earth. They are having a disagreement, and the old man decides to go to earth for a few days. This is followed by the author touching on the importance of being curious in life. He mentions that everything in the universe was created as a result of curiosity.
The protagonist Subodh is a 27-year-old IT employee. He is considered by others to be immature, and his colleagues don’t take him seriously. He is not ambitious. He likes to do things differently than others such as riding a bike to work rather than taking public transport. He waits for his life to get interesting instead of making things happen by himself, just like a lot of us. He likes his colleague Sneha. He gets very upset when he finds out that she doesn’t feel the same. Subodh starts hearing a voice in his head that isn’t attached to any person.
I found Subodh’s character immature and delusional, which I believe is how he is supposed to be portrayed. It was a bit boring to read about him and his daily life as the main character. He tended to be very annoying at times. I constantly wanted to see if his character develops and if he learns something. The dialogue in the book lacked subtleness. It didn’t feel like that’s how people regularly talk.
There is a lot of discussion on life in the book. Various quotes and lines are mentioned everywhere. At times, they felt out of place and didn’t fit with the plot.
This book can be characterized as a coming-of-age book. Subodh becomes more “mature” by the end. It is his journey to understanding his actions and understanding what love is. It is also about him shedding his delusions.
The message and intent of the book are good, but they could have been executed better. Only we can change ourselves. We all have a voice within us that recognizes certain things or qualities that we need to change about ourselves. We don’t always need others to point them out. The ending made sense according to the plot.
I would recommend this book because of its message. I like reading about transformational journeys because we should all focus on self-improvement and self-awareness. If you’re looking for such a book, pick this one up!
