By 
Book – 400 Days
Author – Chetan Bhagat
Genre – Mystery cum Romance
400 days is the latest book by Chetan Bhagat that I recently read. It’s a good light read, and I finished it in two days.
The story is about a mother, Alia and her missing daughter. Her daughter Siya was kidnapped from her grandparents’ house just before her thirteenth birthday. Everyone, including the police, tried their best to look for her but to no avail. Eventually, everyone gives up, but the mother in her cannot. She wants to keep looking for her, so she approaches two amateur detectives, Keshav and Sourabh, to help her. The story revolves around the mystery of the missing girl and the attempts to rescue her. Added to this is the attraction that Keshav feels for the gorgeous Alia. He simply cannot take his eyes off her.
The book and its plot are quite predictable and expected: not much of a mystery there! There are no twists and turns to keep the reader hooked. The characters are also quite mediocre, with not much depth in them. But the book has its elements of humour and sarcasm, which make it light-hearted and enjoyable. I quite liked the character of Alia, who is grappling with several issues but manages to hold her own. Despite being a mother and a wife, she is a woman with an existence outside of these roles. Though I am not a great Chetan Bhagat fan, I like his books for their simple style of writing, something that you can relate to. All his books are effortless reads and, therefore, a great choice if you are new to reading or are looking for a quick read. Since his style is quite contemporary, young urban people can relate to it.
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The book is not a literary wonder, but the reader should know this before picking up this book. The author is not known for being a literary genius. Chetan Bhagat novels are contemporary and have a next-door appeal to them, and that’s the best part about them.
But even then, there could have been depth in the plot, and some unnecessary things could have been left out. For instance, the romantic angle was quite shallow and cliched. The story could have been related without it too.
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The Chetan Bhagat latest book didn’t seem like a mystery to me as it was supposed to be, but it was a good time pass.
You will enjoy the book if you have no expectations.
I would give it a rating of 3.5/ 5
What do you think?