Book Review: Cyrus Broacha’s 23 1/2 Ways To Make A Girl Fall For You

By Joginder Tuteja -

October 22, 2016 - 7:23 PM IST

I keenly look forward to reading books authored by Cyrus Broacha. They may not be the most consistent piece of work but one thing that stands out about them is the quirky humor that is brought in each time around. Some of it is just superb (Karl, Aaj Aur Kal), some average (The Average Indian Male) and some plain disappointing (Netagiri). However different they are, this is where you expect Cyrus' latest book 23 1/2 Ways To Make A Girl Fall For You to score as well.

Book Review: Cyrus Broacha’s 23 1/2 Ways To Make A Girl Fall For You

Thankfully, this one does turn out to be more than just a decent read. In fact, the humor quotient in there allowed me to break into a smile at many occasions and at times, a good hearty laugh was in order as well. Now this was a welcome relief as the combination of quirky humor and witty narrative ensured that I turned over the pages of this 180 odd page book at a rapid pace, something that I didn't particularly do for the author's last two books.

As the title of the book suggests, this time around Cyrus - in his own inimitable style - takes a reader through many ways in which a girl could be made to fall in love. Of course, this also means that the book is largely aimed at men-folk. However, it isn't as if there isn't any content out there for women to enjoy. As a matter of fact quite a few situations that Cyrus narrates have some element to reality to them, even though he brings in good deal of fiction in there as well to spice up the affairs.

Inherently though, there is a good deal of sarcasm coming into play. This he does through a series of 'Ask Me' letters that make for 90% of the book. So what you go through are a bunch of (fictional) readers writing letters to Cyrus and the author responding them in a style in which only he can. What makes it all the more important is the fact that Cyrus, in the process of responding to these letters, also makes a statement on the general mentality that many men continue to carry when it comes to wooing a girl.

This means everything from stalking to being possessive to being meek to being confused to being self-obsessed to being underage lover to being demanding to being boring to being unresponsive to not quite understanding, the needs of women is brought in this book. Okay, so not every chapter is uniformly superb. In fact, a few just do not manage to excite you and at times, there is a level of monotony too that sets in. Still, just when you wonder that there is a sense of dullness that could possibly set in, Cyrus manages to pull it all back with a hilarious chapter that ends up entertaining you all over again.

The best way to actually read the book is not to run through it in one go but perhaps just 2-3 letters a day. That would allow the book to be on your shelf for around a month and also help bringing in consistent humor day after day without the fear of monotony setting in.

Rating: 3*