Alisha Singh

Durjoy Datta is an Indian author and screenwriter known for his coffee-table novels about the romantic life of young Indians.I once again sat down like I'm giving my board examinations and read the close-to-300 pages in one day. Today, I am writing this review. Judging by the book cover and the blurb, I did not know what to expect. The blurb said that the story was dark, edgy and quirky and that’s what I expected it to be. But I found the story more gloomy than dark. Not that I am complaining, it was a highly satisfying read with well thought of plot and strong characters.But before I dig into the review, let me tell you a little about the story first.“The Boy Who Loved” is the story of a school going boy called Raghu Ganguly who lives in Delhi with his family. On the outside, he is just your regular guy – loving parents, good academics, a respectable family with decent means.But that is just a façade. Deep down Raghu harbours secret guilt – that he had let his friend down; he had let him die.The guilt gnaws at him from the inside, killing him slowly and painfully every day until he comes across Brahmi who promises hope and a new life.But life throws unforeseen challenges at him every second day. Will he be able to find hope again? Will Raghu find solace in Brahmi; a girl who is just as broken as he is? Then another novel came named "unconventional love story". So, my first experience of reading the novel of a bengali writer was beyond words .