Book Review: Shall We Tango, Charlie? by Chetna Lumb Bedi

(I painted the bookmarks)

There was a television serial called Aarohan and it was my favourite! When I read the blurb of this book, I was so intrigued and excited that I decided to read it, as it tells about a woman's journey, her struggles in the Indian Air Force.

There's something very cool and touching about the Armed Forces. And soldiers are something else. 

And it actually reminded me of Aarohan. (Plus the cover indicated that it was a love story, and my mind instantly ran back to Pallavi Joshi and Tarun Dhanrajgir). 

The book starts well. I like how Ahana and Dana met and then became friends. Aunt Shashi's part was really good. Ahana and Aunt Shashi's bonding is endearing. 

But to be very honest, I am a bit disappointed. There are several reasons. First: it's unnecessarily lengthy and repetitive, at times.

Second: While I liked Dana's character, Ahana's character was a bit annoying. It felt like she was praising herself too much, trying to be extra cool. 'Why is my strength always a topic of discussion in India? Someone should encourage gals to kick a little ass around here.'

'So THIS is combat training? I find you dancing to Bidi Lagaile?' Commander Matthews said.

'It's jalaile, not lagaile, Commander,' I said, interrupting him.

I don't know, but I found it really odd. And there are several such instances.

Confidence is great. Straightforwardness is fine, but there's a sense of superiority in the protagonist, which I didn't like much. 

Maybe because it's been told in the first person. It might have felt okay if the author has chosen the third person perspective. The voice would have been different.

Talking about writing: The writing is good, sometimes really good that creates nice imagery and all that, however I felt there was too much telling than showing (and I'm not a fan of this kind of writing). 

And one thing that really disturbed my reading was the font. It's too small (and it's a 394 page book), even for a normal eyesight. Plus, frequent use of italics wasn't really helpful. 

Overall, it's a good book, content wise. But not as exciting as I expected it to be.

I received this book from Writersmelon for an honest review. And this is my personal opinion.