That Thing About You By Abhaidev

The Blurb:

What if co-incidences in our lives are nothing but a result of a dice thrown by some higher being?

What if, to the heavens, our lives are nothing but rows of dominos ready to be put into action?

What if we all are mere pieces of pawns carefully played upon by a cosmic chessmaster?

'That Thing About You' is an uncommon story of a common man rejected in love. This is a story of a man walking on the path of self-discovery. Subodh, a regular IT employee, is perceived as an immature man by everyone, but he isn't bothered until his love interest rejects him citing the same. Although dejected and crestfallen, he soon befriends an unusual, mysterious woman who knows everything about him and seems to have all the answers. Soon, his life goes through a lot of unexpected turns—from doubting his sanity and visiting a psychologist to a failed arranged marriage attempt made by his parents. Everything in his life seems to be in fast-forward mode. One thing that does not change, however, is this unusual “friend” of his who refuses to reveal her identity and chooses to appear at her whim.

Who is this mysterious woman? Why is she prying into his life? Where will this strange friendship lead him? Is some impending danger awaiting Subodh or is it something else altogether?

The Story: 

The story starts with a conversation between two men, one old and another young man, who appeared to be from some other world. 

Chapter 2 starts with the introduction of Subhod a 27-year-old, IT employee with a lack of disciplinary in life who shared a room with his office colleague in Mumbai. Its a story about a guy who is not sure what he wants in life, no plans for career and he seemed to be a bit loner too not socializing much and it results in people around calling him immature, which he was but didn't care. So after the heartbreak from the only girl Subhod liked, Subhod became more irritated than ever. And instead of socializing with office people during the office trip, Subhod spent his time shopping at an antique shop and sleeping on the bench of the theme park. And strangely after that one night, he hears a voice talking to him. Voice of a girl, at first he just doesn't believe what he heard but then the next day he hears it again and to his shock, the girl knew everything about him, from his faults to his weakness; she knew it all. Which made him obsessed with her. Almost after talking to the voice for 3 weeks for everyday Subhod realizes that he needs help and checks himself into the psychotherapy. So will the voice stop? why is he hearing a voice? Is it because he can't accept his own life so his mind is playing tricks? or is it simply an inner voice?

My take: 

As I read the first chapter is confused me a bit, because there was no backstory or introduction of the characters, which resulted in mystery from the very start, who are they, that were never introduced or repeated again until the last page of the book. It just made me speechless. I never expected the story to end this way, such a magical and mysterious story. 

The main character of the book Subhod is not our everyday lover types of character but a normal self-doubting man child, who is not serious about life. Author Abhaidev has described the issues and problems of the character every relatable, one can relate to it when they read along. The most favorite part of the book is the ending. It made me gasp, and I found myself dumbfounded at the twist that the author wrote. Also the unique thing about this book "That Thing About You" is that you can't expect what will happen next. Because the more you listen to the voice talking with Subhod, you too will start to think the voice is real. Oh, wait! maybe she is. Or maybe he is just losing his mind just like you with the mystery? Or maybe he just can't face his own fears so it's his inner voice guiding him?. 

Overall I love the book and would definitely recommend others to read the book just to find who the girl is that Subhod keeps talking to. Click on the link to find out, and answer your own question, What would you do if you start hearing a voice that makes you obsessed with it:https://www.amazon.in/That-Thing-About-You-Abhaidev/dp/8193890361/