He’S 33. She’s 21. He’s divorced. She’s never had a boyfriend… They shouldn’t be together. But they can’t stay apart.” Does this sound like romance or a red flag? It’s a question that has divided the Internet since author Chetan Bhagat announced his new book, 12 Years: My Messed up Love Story (HarperCollins India). Online, some have called the age-gap plot “creepy”, others have even termed it as “grooming”.

Bhagat tells Sunday mid-day, “The book hasn’t even been released yet. Nobody knows what the story actually is or how the age-gap issue has been treated. I think some people on the Internet might have been quick to jump to conclusions.” So why the moral outrage over Bhagat’s novel? Is it as Bhagat says, do people just love to hate him? Or are our ideas of “morality” and “moral policing” increasingly spilling over into our TBR (To Be Read) lists too?