If It's Not Forever. It's Not Love.

by Durjoy Datta, Nikita Singh

To the everlasting power of love . . . When Deb, an author and publisher, survives the bomb blasts at Chandni Chowk, he knows his life is nothing short of a miracle. And though he escapes with minor injuries, he is haunted by the images and voices that he heard on that unfortunate day. Even as he recovers, his feet take him to where the blasts took place. From the burnt remains he discovers a diary. It seems to belong to a dead man who was deeply in love with a girl. As he reads the heartbreaking narrative, he knows that this story must never be left incomplete. Thus begins Deb’s journey with his girlfriend, Avantika, and his best friend, Shrey, to hand over the diary to the man’s beloved. Highly engrossing and powerfully told, If It’s Not Forever . . . tells an unforgettable tale of love and life. Read less

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Love, Romantic, Indian Literature, Novels, Contemporary

239 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Durjoy Datta canvases a beautiful story in If It's Not Forever, It's Not Love.
The title suits the tale perfectly. The cover with an ancient look on it, seems attractive.

[Rohit Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

“IF IT’S NOT FOREVER ” ... it’s CERTAINLY not Love....


Genre: Romance/Fiction


Publishers: Grapevine


“IF IT’S NOT FOREVER” is a Romance/Fiction novel, penned by best-selling authors Nikita Singh and Durjoy Datta. It is the story of Deb, a writer cum publisher, whose life takes a dramatic turn when he miraculously escapes a powerful blast in New Delhi. He escapes unhurt, but he is emotionally weakened. He realizes that life is too short, and one should not shy away from confessing his/her true feelings. Still scarred and haunted by the tragic incident, he visits the blast site and finds a half-burnt diary – a diary written by someone, with initials RD, who, possibly, died in the blast. He reads the diary, and realises that they are the unspoken words of RD, who loved Ragini truly, but ‘somehow’ never mustered enough courage to convey his feelings. Deb takes up the responsibility and a journey, to convey the ‘final’ words of RD to his true love, Ragini. But the road is not easy. The last few pages of the diary are burnt, and Deb has very limited clues.


Avantika - Deb’s true love, Shrey – Deb’s best friend, and Tiya – Shrey’s girl friend join him on this journey to unravel the unsolved and unspoken love story of RD. Their journey takes them to different cities, as they slowly put together the pieces of RD’s love story. But, will they be able to solve the mystery of RD’s story? Will they be able to find Ragini, the true love of RD? Who is RD? Is he really dead? You will get all the answers, after reading this book. I don’t want to spoil the magic by revealing the details of the story and the climax.


Now the REVIEW!!!


Nikita Singh and Durjoy Datta, being the expert writers, have done a fantastic job. The story is intriguing, right from the word go. The characters of Deb, Avantika, Shrey and Tiya are beautifully sketched. The writers have done full justice to the supporting characters like – Piyush, Nivedita, Sumi, RD and Ragini. The story starts on a strong note, and continues effortlessly till the end. The scenes, the dialogues, the expressions and the emotions are perfectly expressed. The language is typical Nikita-Durjoy style, which I generally don’t prefer. But in this book, the way the characters have been written, few slangs here and there don’t do any harm. The humor is witty, and will make you smile and laugh. The emotional scenes are well written, and will make you sad (weak-hearts may cry). As a reader, you will smile and laugh on Shrey’s and Deb’s witty dialogues, and the inner pain of Deb and RD will make you sad as well. Avantika’s character is adorable and Tiya is sweet. My favourite chapter is the one in which Deb meets Nivedita, RD’s sister.


The only negative, which I felt, is too much reference about sex, in the first half of the book. It, momentarily, diverts the reader from the main story line, which otherwise is very captivating.


In a nut shell, “IF IT’S NOT FOREVER” is Nikita Singh’s and Durjoy Datta’s best work till date. The story is strong, the characters are adorable and powerful, and stay with you long after you have finished reading the book. The book is fast paced, and offers lot many moments to remember. I am going with 4 out of 5 stars for Nikita Singh’s and Durjoy Datta’s “IF IT’S NOT FOREVER”.


Love is beautiful...
Love is strong...
It flows...
Like a romantic song...


It makes you believe
To face the odds, rise above
But, if it’s not FOREVER...
IT IS CERTAINLY NOT LOVE...
(Sorry for the stupid poem...)


Verdict: A Sure Shot Best Seller!!!

[Avanthika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Huh-Huh! Typical Durjoy Dutta novel. Too mediocre.
Deb - Avanthika, icing on cake :P

[Sundeep Supertramp · Rating 4 out of 5]

If it's not forever, it's not love...

Nice title, great cover design. I just picked it up reading the title.. It sounds pretty cool..

The story was pretty good.. Not like anything expected from Durjoy... I started liking his stories now..

Firstly, the very theme is new -atleast for me. Finding a diary and chasing down the story all across India, collecting bits of story, wow, its damn exciting..

Hmmm... there is not much which i could explain, just read it once, it is worth a read..

And ya, its my first signed copy so it is special...

[Damini Agarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ritam's diary did manage to arouse curiosity but later the book turned out to be a damp squib.The characters were hyped .Avantika's description is repetitive .Her and Deb's story doesn't agitate emotions as love stories should but
Ritam's part can be called "sweet".The words are simple and easy to understand.The ending was expected.The title may attract a few love story readers but the description is not as intense as the title.The story though was good and should have been presented in a better way.
All in all it's a light book but definitely not for serious Literature readers who want to feed their minds with fruitful stuff. This is the first Durjoy Dutta book I ever picked(even the first young-adult love story) and I'm never reading anything similar again.

[Swathi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do I even bother?
Please don't waste your time with this one. Please. Re-read a Bhagat, but don't you dare read Dutta. However, if you're an aspiring writer, this one fills you up with hope and encouragement. If Dutta could, you definitely can. Heck, dull History teacher had better imagination than this guy.

[Ayushi Agarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

'4.5 RD stars'

If it's not forever...it's not love is a romance novel. This is a story about Deb, a writer who was a victim of Delhi bomb blast thou not physically harmed but was emotionally weakened. After a few days he returns to the crime scene and finds a half - burnt diary with initials RD on the diary. Deb reads the diary and chooses to convey the final words to Ragini whom RD couldn't convey to her till his last breathe. Then starts the journey of love where Deb, his girlfriend and friends go on a journey to give this diary. But the road is not easy since the diary is pretty much burnt and there are very less clues to reach the destination.

"Just as she walked past me, I felt the world come to a standstill, the birds chirping, the wind stopped blowing, and the sun stopped shining...It was only her, it was only me."

"Every day I don't see her, is a day not worth remembering. Because ever since I first saw her, she defines my life."

"I don't know whether my love is shallow or unfounded, since we have never talked. But unrequited, untold love is the purest form of love. There is no pretense in that."

"I don't think colours and hues makes her beautiful. It's the other way around."

"I don't believe in putting a timeline on love. It will happen when it has to. It doesn't start on a specific date, nor does it end on one. It's eternal."

"What good is intimacy if you don't love the person you are intimate with? I have never understood it and I never will."

I totally loved this book. It was intriguing, fantastic, well - written and engrossing. It tells us no matter what happens in life you do not stop loving the other person no matter what. I was in awe with the feelings written in the diary by RD. The love poured from his heart for Ragini can be felt and was heart throbbing. Literally you get goosebumps knowing how much a person can love another with no expectations in return only giving and giving. I adored RD.

[Bookdragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a book by durjoy Datta before and it was not good at all. I just gave it 2 stars being generous.( bcz a lot of efforts goes in writing a book , editing it and all that stuff).
I was going to give 5 stars.
It's 4 now and I liked the characters.
yeah Tiya seemed annoying in the beginning but it was all settled up in the end. I am happy for Ragini that she survived and got Ritam. and I am jealous with her too and a lot angry because she has used him throughout. From forcing him to go to banglore to forcing him to leave her alone in rehab. I kind of think she don't deserves Ritam .
I loved Avantika fr. She is sensible and unlike all the female charcters in the book she is independent and overshadows Deb too.
I loved Ritam and I relate so much with him. He was such a nice guy, oh god. I didn't liked Shrey and Deb much in the story because Ritam has taken all the limelight. I hated Nigel though.
The twists were unexpected and i was so happy when both of them were alive.
Overall It was worth it and I loved it.

[Asha Seth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dear Durjoy,

After much waiting I got a copy of your new release , and I am not much thrilled. Least to say is disappointed. Probably, because I held such high expectations which fell flat on the ground with this one. Or maybe it is just that I did not really like this book as much as

or or

The simple reason being the plot was thoroughly predictable and resounded a lot like Nicholas Sparks' 'A Walk to Remember'(my all-time favorite book in the entire universe) toward the end and Ravinder Singh's 'Can Love Happen Twice?' through the middle few pages. But again that's my perception of the book.

All through the book you seemed more than eager to glue Shrey & Tiya together with the not so easily found true love thing. It would take a lot more than just a road trip for someone like Shrey to fall in love with a girl. Again, what surprised me is the fact that you did not really elaborate Tiya's character nor did you pay hints to why exactly she fell in love with Shrey finally. It is just not my thing. Your book , which I so loved and adored that I made almost all my friends read it and now with this one I don't know if I want to recommend it to anyone at all.

For one, I love your books as they are rich with emotions which were damn missing in this book and I could relate myself to Deb too who's turned out to be one of my favorite characters for the past five years of his life that he is sharing with us. For second, Shrey seems so disorganized all the time and just toe-following. I wanted to yell in his ears - Boy, grow up!

I guess you got the idea!

Although I loved Deb's innocent intention of letting Ragini know of Ritam's undying love for her,
Although I loved Deb's new found aim to keep confessing his love for Avantika at all possible times,
Although I loved Deb's empathy for Ritam earlier and later for Ragini,
I still couldn't really bring myself to fall in love with this book unlike your other books as I listed above.

I am now skeptical about reading your other recent release

But like I've heard 'Not all the grape balls are sour on a stem', I might just give it a try hoping it doesn't follow suit with


- Yours sincerely,
A Rather Disappointed Reader!
Asha

[Smriti Agarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have not yet finished reading it,but cant stop myself from writing the review..

I am tired of reading how good, sexy, nice, out of this earth Avantika is... and how ugly the guy is. How he is 'tooooooooooooooo lucky' to have her on his side...how crazy tiya and shrey are...

its like reading bits and pieces of story between the same few lines repeated time and again!!!!!

Also, I dont see a bit of truth in the story.

Avantika trying to get wild after a comment from Shrey - I mean are people really so shallow that one comment from someone can make them shift gears and turn into someone you no longer are?

Also Avantika being all preachy to tiya - How can avatika be preaching Tiya about 'Family values' when she herself had run away from her home?

[Bharath · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing great about the book. Just aimed at teenage readers who feel a sudden flow of love in their veins whenever they read a love story.

[Suraj · Rating 3 out of 5]

If It’s Not Forever, it’s not love Novel Review: The love of the dead guy.

Delhi was struck by an unexpected bomb blast which exploded in the vicinity of the high court in late 2011. It killed several people and destroyed several lives. In the memory of those hapless children, women and men, Durjoy Datta and Nikita Singh teamed up to write a romantic novel. This novel inundates from time to time the life of a person, who narrates the incidents.

The authors have tried to bring out the story as a semi-travelling romantic story, with bits of unnecessary elements diffused at some parts of the book. The main character is Deb, the story being narrated by him. So it necessarily points out to the novel, mostly being written by Durjoy at large. There are not going to be any big spoilers in the review, for I would want the read to read the book with novelty. As it starts off, Deb is caught in the middle of a blast besetting a heap of people. He wakes up to see love and concern in the eyes of his girlfriend, Avantika. He suddenly is bogged down when he picks up a half burnt diary, from the scene and is held by only one thought; to get the story of the dead guy from the diary to his lover. And he goes on a road trip with his buddy, Shrey with only few leads to his dispatch. He’s left with no choice but to tell Avantika, Shrey and his newly met girlfriend, Tiya; the truth. Soon, they uncover the mystery about the dead guy and are dumbfound by what they learn.

It goes without saying that, there’s a lot of love-making and sexual talks which is to be inferred from the genre. But thankfully, that ends with the first half. You wouldn’t believe how horrible it reads when Deb is narrating the story. I mean, he’s just a lustful guy. He talks about love at one point, says something nice and appends it with a sexual comment. I think that was the most awful and abhorrent aspect of the novel along with a use of lot of spontaneous comments and phrases created apathy. Everything literally narrows down to intercourse with this guy. But what made me stick to the novel was the enigma and curiosity to find out what happens next.

The Final Word:

Whatever the reason may be, I am not repelled by this novel. In fact, I’ve come to like it. Though don’t expect much from this amateur writing style. I thought, at some point, Chetan Bhagat might have been able to do something more if he wrote this one. But that doesn’t take away the novelty of a bland created by Durjoy and Nikita, by infusing it with a thriller touch. Also, look out for the climax, actually two of’em. The climax singlehandedly made up for the disgusting and sexual comments.

The storytelling was what kept me going though, something could’ve been done about the perspective of Deb towards women. One wouldn’t know what Durjoy and Nikita garnered about the case or the diary, but they convert an atrocious act into a memorable romantic story.


My Rating: 3/5.

[Abhranil Dutta · Rating 2 out of 5]

First book of Durjoy dutta , and it was as expected .... nothing more or nothing less ....

The initial plot was good and quite interesting but after a 100 pages or so it was a tiresome read .. I would have given 3 or 4 stars if the editing was good ...

The humor was quite good "I feel like a woman - clean and organized - after living with a girl . Girlfriends tend to slowly turn you into a woman. You find yourself using moisturizer and lip balm after a few days" :P :P (*true story*)

To be brutally honest after a certain period i was fed up of all the characters in the book ..

Deb - The lead character who seems to be hyper-sexual and thinks too much from his sexual encounters with her girl to the MYSTERIOUS diary he found .... :P

Avantika - A hot girl (*as mentioned*) who is a control-freak and is in love with Deb ..

Shrey and Tiya - Two unnecessary characters .. Shrey a friend of Deb and Tiya the g.f of Shrey .. Still dont know why the author dedicated so much pages to them

Ritam - He used to keep a dairy and was obsessed with the line 'I wish I could see her tomorrow' .. He hes feelings for a girl but he kept it to himself ... (*I think this has become a trend*)

Ragini - A cute girl who seems to have relationship with every boys in her college ...

There were other characters too ... But its better you find it out if you want to read this book .. :P

[Akshat Solanki · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a book by Durjoy Dutta and Nikita Singh, who have been writing shitty novels since their first book got published.
Apart from 'Till the Last Breath(e)', there is no book by Durjoy Dutta that would instill some good values, good thought process in you.
It doesn't matter what theme you're writing on but the thought process with which you go ahead with the plot.
The authors have chosen a good them and ruined it to the core by too much addition of sexual activities.
It deserves one star just for the sake of its story theme and the reason Goodreads doesn't provide the option of zero stars.
Don't waste your time and money reading this book.

[Karthick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Author mentions "This book is a tribute to all innocent lives we have lost to senseless acts of violent and terrorism", but half of the book deals with hero-heroine love/sex extravaganza!

"When you find a bathroom, dining room, guest room, wash room, bed room or any room-make whoopee! Shrey-Tiya lived that part :P

diary portion satisfactory!

#Why I hate Indian Romance novels#

[Karthik Manohar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best so far from Durjoy..you rock man :)

[Ami · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so problematic. I hated it

[Manav Parekh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than reading random books I preferred the best one. Thank you Shruti for this beautiful gift again.

The story is quite different. A boy survives from Bomb blast and then after few days later he visits same place. He got a diary from there and he reads all of it's pages and tries to find it's owner named "R D".

I can't share whole story here but sure I'll recommend this book to you.

[Ankita Srivastava · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a good book build up in the Indian background. It thouroughly touches the mind as a mystery and later touches the heart as pure love flows in the last.

[Vishal Keswani · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far the best book by Durjoy Datta, Ending could have been better but overall a great book.

[Goblin Reaper · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you die tomorrow, what would your last words be?


If It's Not Forever, It's Not Love is a romance/fiction novel, penned by bestselling authors Nikita Singh and Durjoy Datta. It is the story of Deb, a writer-cum-publisher, whose life takes a dramatic turn when he miraculously escapes a powerful blast in New Delhi. He escaped unhurt, but he is emotionally weakened. He realizes that life is too short, and one should not shy away from confessing his/her true feelings. Still scared and haunted by the tragic incident he visits the blast site and finds a half-burnt diary - a diary written by someone with initials RD, who, possibly, died in the blast. He reads the diary and realizes that they are unspoken words of RD, who loved Ragini truly but somehow never mustered enough courage to convey his feelings. Deb takes responsibility and a journey, to convey the final words of RD to his true love, Ragini, begins. But the road is not easy. The last few pages are burnt, and Deb has very limited clues. Avantika - Deb's true love, Shrey - Deb's best friend, and Tiya - Shrey's girlfriend joins this journey to unravel the unsolved and unspoken love story of RD. Their journey takes them to different cities, as they slowly put together the pieces of RD's love story.
The story is intriguing, right from the word go. The characters of Deb, Avantika, Shrey, and Tiya are beautifully sketched. The writers have done full justice to the supporting characters. The story starts on a strong note and continues effortlessly until the end. The scenes, the dialogues, the expressions, and the emotions are perfectly expressed. The humor is witty and will make you smile and laugh.
The emotional scenes are well written, and will make you sad (weak hearts may cry). As a reader, you will smile and laugh at Shrey's and Deb's witty dialogues, and the inner pain of Deb and RD will make you sad as well. Avantika's character is adorable and Tiya is sweet.
The only negative, which I felt, is too much reference about sex in the first half of the book. It momentarily diverts the readers from the main storyline, which is otherwise captivating. I totally loved this book. It was intriguing, fantastic, well written, and engrossing. It tells us no matter what happens in life you do not stop loving the other person no matter what. I was in awe of the feelings written in the diary by RD. The love poured from his heart for Ragini can be felt much and was heart throbbing. Literally, you will get goosebumps knowing how much a person can love another with no expectations in return, only giving and giving. I adore RD

[Kirti Changlani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honest review -

I picked up only because it had Nikita Singh's name as a co-author. But, as I was down a few pages; I realized that this book has been entirely written by Durjoy because as far as I know Nikita just doesn't have such writing style. I have never read a single stand-alone book by him and god forbid I never will. How easily he writes it as if he can portray the protagonist as himself and his then girlfriend as well as herself - Avantika. And reader won't cringe? He goes ahead and even describes himself as the chief editor of a publishing house - Grapevine. Wow, just wow, no words for the creative imagination.

I would've given this one star. But, one additional star because I liked the central idea of finding a burnt diary, but he spoiled it with adding all the masala of love, sex, college romance to it. His tone while describing anything related to sex is so vulgar! Openly writing feeling horny over a numerous times! They call it being unfiltered but frankly, it's cheap.

Page 106 : *There are very few times when a girl looks better with clothes on than being naked and this is one of those moments.*

I lost all my interest at that point.

I wonder what he is trying to preach? How is the Indian youth is so crazy about these books ? Just because it is related to ; rather written about SEX?

I don't know what to comment further.

[Sahitya · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I have one of Durjoy Datta’s books and I really thought I would enjoy this but I was quite disappointed. Though the premise sounds interesting and I could feel the struggle that Deb was going through in the aftermath of the bomb blast, I couldn’t really empathize with him after a point because all he spoke about was how beautiful and good in bed Avantika was. It just became too much after a certain point. The diary entries also seemed a little creepy at the beginning but they were what I liked the most in the second half of the book. The relationship between Shrey and Tia also seemed a little forced and insta-lovey which I couldn’t connect with. On the whole, the only reason for my 3 stars are for the mystery of the diary and their love story.

[Anmol Rawat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frankly I did not like this book initially. It seemed too stretchy at times with exaggerated instances and stretched focus on the subplots rather than the original plot. It was later on that the book picked up and wow; it was better than I had imagined it to be. Very soon you get connected with the major plot of the book and then it keeps you reading till the end. It gets twisted and unexpected towards the end and that was the best part. The climax truly deserves appreciation. Very well done Nikita Singh and Durjoy Datta. It was emotional and if you like reading romance then it is very good on that part. I am sure I will read more from Nikita Singh now.

[Sangeethad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a good read. In between, got little boring but got up with the pace towards the last few chapters.

When you love someone dearly , its good to express without any ego as we really donno what is in store for us in life the next minute :>)

This book in a simple way helps us understand the term "Love" , and its complex feelings and emotions behind it . UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is what it finally culminates to which is very important.

Indian Writing always close to heart as we can relate to the characters sometime or the other in life, and thats the sole reason I enjoy reading .

[Satej Rao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice... I had just read 'Ohh yes I am single' of Durjoy Datta and was eagerly waiting for his new book... Had huge expectations and I must say I am not disappointed...
Firstly it is not a regular romance book... The author has given it a new sensitive angle which was a pleasant change... I must say...
If it's not forever...... It's not Love!

[Umang · Rating 3 out of 5]

its a very well written book, interesting and pretty engrossing. The' Avantika is so beautiful' parts sometimes get a little tiring. 'i wish to see her tomorrow' was a little irritating though it did make sense but............A big chaos but always kept me wanting to read further.

[Shikha · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I like about the book:
1. The plot is intriguing and exciting.
2. Very easy to read.

What I did not like about the book:
1. Unnecessary sexual description which are not relevant to the plot.
2. Might be more exciting for teenage readers (definitely not for adults)

[Richa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweetest love story ever read. Great work . in love with deb n avantika . Superb work by Durjoy Datta.

[Athul · Rating 1 out of 5]

എന്തിനോ വേണ്ടി തിളയ്ക്കുന്ന സാമ്പാർ!