Book Review: Letters to my Ex

Book: Letters to my Ex

Author: Nikita Singh

Publisher: HarperCollins India

Genre: Fiction| Romance

Pages: 138

Price: 199 INR

Blurb:

'It feels like I'm on autopilot; I have no control over anything. The pain of losing you is so crippling that I can barely hold pieces of myself together. The slightest nudge could break me. But somehow, my possessed brain knows what I need. It's telling me to stick to my choice, to stay away from you, to open a Word document and bleed on paper, try to throw up all my jumbled thoughts in form of words, collect all disconnected facts, try to make sense of it all.' From the bestselling author of Like a Love Song and Every Time It Rains, a story of heartbreak and things left unsaid...

Letters full of unadulterated emotions, that seemed repetitive at times 

Letters to my Ex by Nikita Singh is an epistolary novel. We get to know the entire story through a collection of letters and online chats. The protagonist of the book, Nidhi starts writing these letters after she called off her engagement with her long-time boyfriend, Abhay. The exact reason why she called off the engagement and broke up with her boyfriend is revealed gradually through the letters. There is a letter or online chat in every month, starting from January to December. 

Although it is difficult to understand and like Nidhi in the initial chapters, we gradually understand her point of view and why she behaves a certain way. Abhay is a more likable character, but Nidhi has many layers to her personality. This is the reason the character of Nidhi fascinated me more than Abhay, who seemed to be a one-tone character. 

The letters are full of unadulterated emotions and at times, they seem repetitive. The author has tried to show the circular thought pattern of Nidhi through the letters. I liked the way the novel begins by generating a suspense around why Nidhi broke her engagement, despite being in love with Abhay.  In the middle, the novel loses the pace and I found myself trying really hard to stay glued to the book. Again in the last thirty pages, it picked up the pace and surprised me with the ending. I really liked how the author chose to end the book. 

There are a few quotes in the book that I really liked:

"You were my anchor in the little storms I seem to face constantly in my life. You grounded me when I was all over the place...I wish you were here."

"The laughter we shared was a good distraction from the pain I was feeling in the pit of my stomach."

"We are worth fighting for. When we come to that, I will always choose fight. But if I choose fight, you cannot choose flight. You cannot run away."

However, I felt "Letters to my Ex" could have been so much better. The novel couldn't totally engross me into the lives of Nidhi and Abhay. Although I tried hard to feel for the characters, I wasn't able to do so. It dealt with a very important question: Can you trust the same person again who broke your trust?

Letters are a great way to express emotions, but I felt a certain restraint here. Instead of the letters being repetitive, I wish they had a lot more depth. Having read Nikita Singh's earlier books, I feel sorry to say that this book couldn't meet my expectations. 

But it is a good one-time read especially for people who are in relationships or have recently broken up. I am going with 3 stars.

'I received a copy from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.'

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