"Amazing" was the word I breathed as I shut the book in my hands.
But still, "amazing" didn't feel like the right word, because the book I just finished was so much more than just that. It was all sorts of amazing.
Not a lot of chic-lits have impressed me, and if I were to give a name of an author whose books exemplify my ideal chic-lit read, I would say Cecelia Ahern. But after reading "The Love Detective", I now have another name to say: Alexandra Potter.
I've never really read any of Alexandra Potter's books before, even though I come across them every single time I drop by the bookshop. Sure, her books look pretty (even her website is pretty!), but they're all chic-lit, and chic-lit is a genre I'm very cautious about.
The fluff and romance, I can handle, but when the book turns out to be nothing more than a stack of sheets about sex with a shallow plot, I easily lose interest, and just stop reading.
I'm very much aware that most girls and women read chic-lit for the sex parts, but if I wanted to read about sex, then I would've just flipped through the pages of Cosmo OR if I were that desperate, I would have just purchased a set of the Fifty Shades of Grey series, which I will never do in a thousand years, because it will be a waste of time and money.
Fortunately, Miss Potter made a good first impression with The Love Detective, and now, I'm looking forward to getting hold of her other books.
So, what drew me in to read The Love Detective? Well, there's the gorgeous cover, which caught my eye, and then there's the perfect setting: India, which caught, pretty much, all of me.
India is my dream destination, and since I don't have the means to go there too soon, I imagine visiting the place, while reading about it in travel books, websites, and, of course, novels.
The Love Detective follows the story of Ruby Miller, a thirty-something romance writer, who loses faith in love after discovering that her fiancé is nothing but a lying cheat. Taking a time off, she hops on a plane to incredible India, where she's swept into an unforgettable journey of finding love again.
What I liked most about The Love Detective is how it shed heartbreak in a different light.
Sure, Ruby is bitter about her breakup - who wouldn't be?! - but she's a strong woman, who still gets to humour herself (and the readers) through her outrageous thoughts even in her sorry situation. Yes, this book is ridiculously hilarious! It's so funny (and impossible to put down) that it sent me into fits of laughter in the middle of the night to the wee hours of the morning.
It's also fast-paced and unpredictable, presenting a mind-blowing and heart-tugging twist in almost every chapter.
And being the travel novel that it is, it exceeded my expectations of "feeling" India through the book, because I didn't just "feel" India. I was in India.
It's pretty awesome how in just three-hundred-plus pages, I was transported to the land of my dreams; relaxing in the sandy beaches of Goa, panicking over lost bags in Delhi, tasting local cuisine in a downtown eatery, falling in-love in Agra, stargazing in an Indian desert, wedding-hopping in Udaipur, and taking a peek into the touching lives of different Indians with Ruby.
It's a lovely and breathtaking read that deserves not just five, but a myriad of stars.
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