Book Review: Friendship, Love And Killer Escapades (FLAKE) by Pankaj Giri and Apoorv Wanikar

Title and Author: Friendship Love And Killer Escapades (FLAKE) by Pankaj Giri and Apoorv Wanikar
No. of Pages: 242
Publication Date: PenPoint Publications; 1st edition (1 July 2015)
Genre: Indian Writing, Action, Adventure, College Life, Student life, Debut, Engineering College
Language: English


Book Review:
Friendship Love And Killer Escapades by Pankaj Giri and Apoorv Wanikar is the story of four people so different in nature and yet connected by the college they all join to study Engineering. This story is their story full of their experiences in an Engineering college filled with struggles, first love and all the usual mix of action one goes through in college.


I liked the cover of the book that is catchy and attractive. The title is also intriguing. The blurb is interesting and had me intrigued enough to pick up the book to read.


The opening chapters of the book are slow and contain several wrongly used words that are out of context and difficult to understand, phrases and misused tenses. It seemed like the authors were trying to fit in difficult dictionary words to make an impression on the readers. While some people think that a book is good only if it contains new words and makes you look up the words in a dictionary several times, I don’t agree with this. I have read some really memorable books that are written simplistically and yet leave such impact that they remain in our minds for ever!
So while I wanted to read the book, the misuse of words and grammar had me wanting to stop but still I persevered because I wanted to read more so I could form my opinion about the book.


The plot is predictable and I have read many books with similar story line. The pace is slow at the beginning and then catches up but still stays medium paced.


The characterization is promising and the authors managed to give us four very different people and their own experiences are described admirably. Prakash sounds like he represents the author himself. He is shy and his innocence reminded me of myself when I went to my Engineering college for the first time. 🙂
Purvesh, Richa and Anand fit their roles well and I could connect with them.


It shows throughout the book that this is the first book by the authors. The intimate scenes are described with shyness and it looks like the authors are not comfortable writing sex scenes which sometimes sounded awkward and sometimes so funny that I could not help from laughing. Now, I don’t think one should write things one is uncomfortable writing. It is not necessary to include intimate scenes to make a story good. The plot is the king and can be made entertaining even without including sex scenes.


Some opinions on women in this book rankled like girls’ dressing categorized them either as good girls or not-good-girls which is unwarranted and definitely not expected from well educated young people like the authors or for that matter, from anyone. 


My advice to the authors is to write in simple, conversational sentences without going all opinionated on someone sorely based on their attire or other external factors. A little more time spent on plotting and researching the story will make them go a long way.


All in all, Friendship Love And Killer Escapades is a predictable story but a promising attempt from the authors. 3 out 5 to it and recommended to readers who love college stories. I wish the authors the very best and look forward to reading more from them in the future.

I received the book from the author, Pankaj Giri and I am very thankful to him. The above review is my honest and unbiased opinion and in no way influenced.


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