Chained:Can You Escape Fate?

Mehek Bassi’s novel Chained is an extremely gripping one. I was hooked to it from the very beginning. It might not be something you haven’t read or seen before, but the plot is compelling and the story is all innocence coupled with deception.

The story begins in 2015 as we see Arjun mourning the loss of his beloved wife Shiya. He still loves her immensely and doesn’t want to remarry in spite of pressure from his family. Shiya had been the only one for him – his heart, his body, his soul. The rest of the story takes place as a flashback and the readers are taken to 2006, when Shiya had been an aspiring singer. The daughter of a rich industrialist, she is an extremely simple girl, not very fond of pomp and splendor and showing off and believes in simplicity. She meets Arjun and slowly their friendship develops into a deeper relationship. They are immensely in love, but when Shiya starts gaining fame as a singer we see the possessive side of Arjun, who most of the time behaves like an insecure boyfriend. But their love keeps them going, and though they encounter a number of difficulties, they do not lose sight of their love.

The novel focuses on their lives and the lives of the people around them. Shiya’s dad Shekhar is also a significant character in the book. How every person’s stories connect makes for a fascinating read.

The themes in focus are love, relationships and ambition. In my opinion, it is a combination of the romance and thriller genres, which makes it all the more enjoyable. The language is simple and easily understandable. The story has been told in a clear, well-written way, enough to hook the reader’s attention. However, the novel does have several typos and grammatical errors which take away from its appeal as a package.

Mehek Bassi, however, is a promising writer and seems to be a poet as well, evidenced by the poems that she has aptly chosen to include within the text of the novel. The poems add to the story a hint of sensitivity and poignancy, which keep it from turning into a dull, flat read.

I also thought the book’s title was quite mature. It drew me in and made me want to scratch the surface and take a dip into the book. Chained makes us realise that how bound we are by the games of fate. It is a good description of the meaning behind the story. Mehek Bassi has done a good job with this novel, and we hope to see even better work from her in the future.