12 years - my messed-up love story

26th October 2025

12 years - my messed-up love story, Chetan Bhagat's latest release, was in talks after its teaser had been released. I did pick up the book out of curiosity. Saket, who has gone through a divorce recently, leaves everything behind and moves back to India to follow his passion, stand-up comedy. Payal, who attends his first ever performance, keeps meeting him or keeps in touch with him even after the show. While Payal is a highly career-oriented girl, Saket has just changed stream and is building one from scratch. Saket is typical Punjabi, a Chandigarh boy, and Payal is a Jain girl born and raised in Mumbai. The age gap, which has been used as a trump card in promotions, was never a criterion for me. I picked this book up because after 2 states, I had high hopes.

Mudit is a true friend, supporting Saket through everything while he witnesses his terrible divorce and an even terrible breakup. Everyone deserves a friend like Mudit in life. Anand and Yashodha are typical Indian (Jain!) parents who want to control their daughter, no matter what.



Saket's real-life conversations felt more humorous than his stand-up sets. The places mentioned and the mention of contemporary elements like WhatsApp and social media make it a relatable read. The pacing of the book is good; most of it is dialogue or narration from Saket's point of view. I never thought I would finish a 414-page book in 4 days, but I did! It is an entertaining book; I had fun reading it. But do I really like it? That's a different story.

Excess of anything is bad, right? Excess of alcohol, lust, and Jain bashing started to appear more like cringe to me. A couple of things even came as cultural shock, although I laughed uncontrollably and took a pause after reading those parts.

While the book manages to keep us hopeful about love, motivates us to start our careers and follow passion, and fights the major taboo of age difference, I honestly expected a better narrative, or should I say, 2 States had set a higher benchmark for me already!

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