Dear Augustus
Dear Augustus is a story of romance, friendship and heart-breaks. Good friends, college life crush, a sudden meet with prince charming, prom nights, coffee dates, emotional setbacks and happy moments...all found place in this story. I won this book at a writing event on Penmancy and was looking forward to read it. Finally I got hold of it and managed to finish it in a day.
A romance novel involving a teenager named Violet who falls in love with a guy named Augustus. When her friends make fun of her singlehood, she decides to go on a blind date. Violet dials the last number from her call list and ends up meeting Augustus, who turns out to be a staff of the café she visits frequently. She falls in love with him instantly. Their rendezvous continued for some time until Augustus decides to part ways for good.
The characterization was fine. Adrian, a troubled teenage boy and Violet’s first crush from college played his part well. His emotions and actions were quite justified throughout the story. He stood by Violet as a good friend and in return, she acted as a pillar for him; a shoulder to lean on during his difficult moments. The portrayal of true friendship was handled finely. Augustus on the other hand was a down to earth guy who had responsibilities to shoulder. He quit college to work in order to pay their debts and hence decided to let go of his relationship with Violet, who was seeking a prince charming and fairytale love story. He was quite restrained in his speech and actions; a level-headed guy who acted sensibly. Violet was quite a typical love-smitten girl, who falls in love with Augustus, and finds it hard to let go of her first love but gives in to his decision eventually.
The language was simple making it an easy read. The descriptions were quite visual and the narration went smoothly, with dialogues and Violet’s account of her own thoughts. Except a single instance of brush off, there were no memorable incidents as such to keep the readers hooked. It was more of Violet’s point of view, thoughts and actions, her feelings for Augustus and her encounter with the other characters which sounded quite flat and typical. Except for a glitch on page 69 where a dialogue got printed twice, there weren’t any glaring ones to mar the reading. Yet, somehow I felt the story could’ve been great if the author added some fireworks, a clash or a meaningful twist in the story. That would’ve added charm and made it a gripping tale.
I liked the character of Augustus, but a bit of details about him and the other characters would’ve helped me to feel and connect to them. Moreover, the names hinted that the premise was a foreign land, but there was no mention or description of the setting. As a reader, I was looking for more, something that could make this book a page-turner. I missed the spark of a romance novel, but nonetheless, the last scene and the plot was quite emotional and a thoughtful way to close this story on a good note. These are simply my thoughts, and by no means do I intend to discourage the author. I believe many readers out there might just love this book and review it differently based on their reading habits.
The author has added the blurb of the next part from this series which was quite inviting. I wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
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