UNNS-The Captivation
UNNS-The Captivation is a 2017 novel by Sapan Saxena. Background. Saxena had initially decided to write a sequel to his first book "Finders, Keepers" but was persuaded by his family to write a "romance" novel. He decided to write a tale between two lovers who unknowingly take a stand against each other and the love-hate relationship between them. In an interview with Half Baked Beans, Saxena mentioned that "UNNS is an unconventional love story".. In his interview with Hindustan Times, Saxena claims "Unns is a story of love beyond any terms and conditions." Seven stages  of love. As per Urdu and Sufi traditions, there are seven stages of love. These seven stages are The concept of the seven stages of love has been discussed elaborately in Hindi movies like "Dedh Ishqiya" and "Dil Se". Plot summary. The novel is an international espionage with conflicting romance as the theme. The story spans across three countries, India, Germany and the United States. Atharva Rathod and Meher Qasim fall in love when they are in school. The romance is short lived as Meher abruptly breaks all ties with Atharva and leaves for Germany forever. Fifteen years later, Atharva  travels to Germany on a secret mission where he meets Meher again. The mission ends up as a failure and Atharva is imprisoned for 12 years on charges of acting against the Research and Analysis Wing of India. As Atharva is freed after twelve years, his mentor trusts him with an amateur mission in the United States where he meets Meher once again. The story is divided across three parts, each representing a season symbolizing the maturity of love between the protagonists: spring, fall and winter. Each part is further divided into seven sub-parts, each representing one of the  seven stages of love as per Urdu. The chapters are named after the three seasons along with each of the seven stages of love. The story ends on the last stage of love, which is death. Characters. The main characters of the novel are: Reception. Noted cartoonist and creator of Super Commando Dhruva, Anupam Sinha reviewed the book before its release and commented that it "will keep you at the edge of your seat". "Indian Express" covered the launch in Chandigarh which was attended by Bharatiya Janta Party MP from Meerut, Shri Rajendra Agarwal. The Chandigarh launch was also covered  by "Daily Post India" in its Ludhiana chapter and Hindi daily "Punjab Kesari" in its Ludhiana chapter. The book received fair to positive reviews after its launch. "Daily Post India" called the book truly captivating and commented, "Setting of the story and the sub-plots created all necessary elements." CNI Channel called the book "True to its name" and called it a "chaos of shrewd mind and innocent emotions." Richa Sharma of Lucknow Bytes said that "The storyline isn't a hardcore tale of romance. It has its own share of thrill, suspense, fight and war." Samata Dey from IndiaCafe  said, "Sapan has narrated the story well and managed to balance the element of romance and thrill in a perfect manner ensuring that the readers are not able to put the book down before finishing it." Adarsh Srivastava from Feeble Lines said that the "story moves with a constant pace with flashbacks and current events along with the twist and suspense at the end of almost every chapter". Jaideep Khanduja in Pebbles in the Still Waters said, "There are a good amount of twists in the story. In addition, it is full of suspense."