Life Is What You Make It

Life is what you make it is Preeti Shenoy’s second book. Her first book, 34 Bubblegums and Candies is a lighthearted book about the journey called life and the bittersweet experiences that we get out of it. It’s delightful and it’s peppy. Her second book however, is in a totally different league.
Life is what you make it is a story about Ankita Sharma, a regular college kid. Her life is like that of any youngster, revolving around her friends, studies, with a few romantic swings thrown in as well ! She is smart, intelligent and very sure of what she wants out of her life. Life for her couldn’t be better. Suddenly and totally unexpectedly her life is thrown out of gear as starts showing symptoms of a mental illness and is finally diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. What follows is a gripping tale of how a mental disorder turns a young girl’s life topsy turvy and how she manages to come out the abysmal depths of her depression and fights tooth and nail to regain her sanity and her hold over life. This book is about growing up, not only physically but mentally and emotionally, by redefining your beliefs, your opinion about life and emerging out of a life threatening incident as not only a stronger but a far more insightful person.
There are two things that stand out about this book. One is the unusual but very sensitive topic that Preeti has chosen to write about. Almost all the books that we read now days are either chic lits, or books about college life (I am sick of Books about life in IITs and management institutes! ) or about the corporate jungle. Preeti has dared to go off the beaten track to write about a topic few people know anything about, let alone would care to write about. The second thing that actually makes this book such a good read is the way Preeti has written it. The topic could have been dealt in a cold clinical manner or in an over emotional rambling way that would just make the reader pity Ankita and shed tears. Preeti however, has dealt with the issue in a very sensitive and perceptive manner without being over dramatic. In the first part of the book, She takes us through Ankita’s life as a college student with the usual escapades and happenings that gives us that `been there done that` feeling and brings a smile to our lips. But Preeti truly comes into her own as a writer in the second half of the book when Ankita goes through an emotional roller coaster thanks to Bipolar Disorder. Preeti has described the fears, agonies, frustration and pain that Ankita goes through in a very touching yet realistic manner that moves you beyond words and leaves you totally numb. The narration is simple, yet extremely eloquent. Words flow easily and lucidly and do a much better job in portraying feelings and emotions than complicated or intricate sentences would have done. Life is what you make it is that rare blend of emotions, sensitivity and excellent writing that makes Preeti a class apart from the other writers that we see these days.
This is a very intense book. A book that moves and inspires you immensely and makes you realize that life can change at any moment and within the happy, carefree and supposedly balanced individuals that we see every day a mental illness can rear its ugly head at any time. This is also a highly inspiring tale of determination, courage and a tribute to the indomitable spirit within each one of us.

I have been through the highs and lows of bipolar disorder today.

Well, not technically.

Preeti Shenoy's second book, a full length fiction called "Life is what you make it" is the story of Ankita Sharma, a young girl (my age in fact!) from a middle class Indian family. She's beautiful, she's talented and she knows it.
Then life takes a turn for he worse.

Yes, you've heard it before. The typical drama.
Except it is not. It is anything but.
It is a story about finding oneself and not having to force upon yourself the baggage of new age gung ho forced positivity. It speaks the truth.

Preeti has managed to show us through this story that life is not always butterflies and roses, even for the apparently "lucky" ones: and she has not made a pretense of an unreal out of the blue happy ending.
It's about the process of a girl next door faced with an extraordinary situation.

In many ways it answers back to the society that we are raised in. Ankita's multiple love interests, her inability to respond, her often dreaded "belittling" of love, her decisions to drop out of a prestigious college, her admission in a "mental health" facility and the ultimate phoenix like rise from the ashes to pursue what lies true to her heart speak out loud that a person can go through hell and in Ankita's words "proudly live to tell the tale."
They all tell us one thing: it is a person's own life and what they make it is in their hands. even when faced with a seemingly impossible situation; albeit with the right kind of help.

Preeti has dealt with a real issue in a very real manner. Mental health is real. It exists and making it a taboo only accentuates the problem. She tells us that pretty girls who have it all can have a disease of the mind as much as they can have a road accident. They can also deal with it if given the right kind of support.

I only have to say that a hundred bucks is nothing for a read like this. Generally books from young, new authors are considered light "metro" reads. While I will refrain from estimating it's literary value (which is a matter of personal choice anyway), I will go out on a limb and say that this is what new age classics are made of. A real issue, characters we can relate to, a very practical yet emotional approach.

Loved it!

I ordered this book from Flipkart around two months back. But yesterday I opened it finally. And also completed in just one sitting.
I liked the starting and the way author created the suspense. I kept guessing the reason and was proved wrong at the end. Its very well written and is also a lesson for people who try to commit suicide. It tells you how important is your life and its very easy to enjoy it.
All depend on you how you move forward. There will be situations in your life when you are highly frustrated but its all part of life. In book she got the doctor but in real life you get someone and you dont even realize to thank her for saving your life.
Author described the kind of pain in stomach, its very much similar to a guilt feel or a kind of frustration which we feel when things are not in our favor or when some betray us or even you betray someone for a selfless reason.
I liked the way author portrays the feeling of a person to damage her body to get rid of the mental pain.
Its a must read. Hats off to Preeti Shenoy

To read a work of fiction in familiar surroundings is not one usually gets a chance to do in life.

Here I have an opportunity to read a chapter of my life and how I grew up through an author who happens to be my best friend those years…A rarity in all ways …The book is a masterpiece of the surroundings I grew up .. I am thinking of giving this book to my girls when life’s decisions are thrust upon them …and say this is how it was and we still made it and you will it after all “Life is What you make it”

A very compelling title and a story that keeps you in touch with realities of conservative families in the late 80’s. The book also illustrates of how innocent our ambitions are how important they are at certain stages of life. It shows how one gets drawn into relationships that end in consequences beyond one’s control. The book captures circumstance in a real life yet things or actions least expected makes an impact .Finally everyone makes life the way they want it. It is only a matter of when!

The book is well written and keeps you engaged till end. It is set in a world where we had no modern gadgets and yet we nurtured log distance relationships and wrote letters.The world is so different yet ultimately “ Life is what you make it”

A great book and must buy!

Just now i had completed reading this book. As i proceeded with the book i first found it simple, cos not many of the authors can make you long for more right from the first page, honestly, this one did not either. after covering 10-15 pages the storyline slowly began gripping me and made my eyes read faster to unveil what the end has in store both for me as well as for Ankita(the lead character which had been projected in the book). Nevertheless, as i reached the part where Ankita is ill and experiencing fits of some kind(wont reveal here or it will end your thirst to read the book altogether),the author has stretched into pages which could have been narrated within the span of a few pages or so. This part gets stretchy as well as repitations of lines and words is seen which have already been told in the earlier page or in the pages preceding it. Towards the end, however, the story catches the speed again and maintains the pace till the last word of the last line.

At the end part it really inspires any one who has received a blow from destiny in one's life, at same time those who haven't, to make perseverance and faith the main essence of life for the successful sustenance of one's existence beyond all odds.

The book is lucid and inspiring. Besides getting a bit stretchy in some parts its a fun -to-read book in all.Enjoy