‘Once In A Lifetime; Happens Again’ – Book Review

Title : Once In A Lifetime; Happens Again
Author : Lovely Kumari & Ashish Kumar Mall
Pages : 224
Publisher : Leadstart
Genre : Fiction

Rating :

Cover : 4/5
Writing Style : 3.5/5
Presentation : 3.5/5
Story: 3/5
Overall : 3.5/5

Overview:

How far can a girl go to make a guy like her? Meet Ashwin. Know his deepest desires. Nothing more than being in love, and not being hurt in the process. Know Ankita, his best friend, his confidant. What will happen when, not just one, but both of Ashwin’s consecutive crushes, think he is playing a puppet master? Fate, as usual, has its own way.

Review:

The first thing that holds the reader is the book cover and the title of the book. For ‘Once in a lifetime; happens again’ both of these things goes exceptionally good. Cover concept is a well thought production and the title is catchy. But when we turn the book, blurb seems to be a bit disappointment. Blurb fails to catch the attention.

Coming to the storyline; story basically revolves round Ashwin and two of his crushes, as written in the blurb. Ashwin’s chemistry with both of his love interest takes up the major part of the book and is interesting to read as well because it evokes our emotions of teenage and make us relive the days of college. Kudos to both the authors to maintain the simplicity while writing the book. Characters are well defined and are well connected as well.

This book is a simple read and is beautifully presented by two young authors. I enjoyed taking a leap into the world of Ashwin, laughed, felt the emotions and for a time being felt the escape which every reader wants to feel while reading a book.

This book is all about teen-age and I think it will appeal to a certain audience rather than everyone. If you love to read teenage stories of crushes and college sagas, this book will surely be your next ‘Good’ read but if you are tired of reading such stories, it will not leave a good impression on you.

Congratulations to both the authors and will be waiting for more in future.

‘3 wise monkeys’ by Jeet Gian – Book review

Title : 3 Wise Monkeys
Author : Jeet Gian
Pages : 400
Publisher : Leadstart
Genre : Comedy/ Fiction

Rating :

Cover : 3/5
Writing Style : 4/5
Presentation : 4/5
Story: 4/5
Overall : 4/5

Overview:

The trio Amar, Akbar and Anthony had no clue whatsoever about their goddammit indecisive-careers-and-indefinite-struggles.
And that was because they were born with the Peter Pan Syndrome and were simple enough to be tricked by anyone, including their mystifying girlfriends—Meghna, Farah and Sarah.
And as is the fate of all morons, they were drawn into trouble—deep trouble—of hiding crores of rupees of black money in secret offshore companies.

Will their mistake of turning a blind eye to the philosophy of ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ cost them their careers and put them in prison?
Or
Will Lady Luck change their fortunes forever?

Review:

First of all I would like to congratulate the author for discovering the way to Bollywood for his new book, 3 wise monkeys. Now as I knew that this book is going to be the next Bollywood flick from Sajid Khan, I read this book as a movie and the experience was amazing. The storytelling of the author could be the first fact of not able to put down this book but the length of the book forced me to take few breaks.

Coming to review, blurb of the book is interesting but isn’t revealing anything just the fact that you’re going to have a good time while reading the book. Story starts with 3 friends thinking to start a business after the studies are over and the struggle there after. The corporate world’s parties and big decisions taking place over few pegs was an amazing insight. I loved the way, the author has written the book. A hidden agenda of reading the climax of the book, kept the reader on toe. All the characters and their relations with each other is something that can’t be overruled while writing this review. The only thing that I felt as the led down was the book cover; it never excites you to read the content.

Overall this book is a sure read for all those who loves to read for fun.

‘Confused Bastards’ by Manav Vigg – Book Review

Title : Confused Bastards
Author : Manav Vigg
Pages : 224
Publisher : Srishti
Genre : Fiction

Rating :

Cover : 3.5/5
Writing Style : 4/5
Presentation : 3.5/5
Story: 4/5
Overall : 3.5/5

Overview:

What happens when three entrepreneurs initiate a start-up which shocks the nation?
Aakash, Jai and Vivek are mostly usual in their ways, except for some. Struggling with their own inner conflicts as well as the cruel world outside, they decide to show the world their true potential. To make it big. But how? They become the voice of the nation by starting up an online platform where people can upload unabashed, unapologetic videos, venting out their angst against people, politics, bosses, lovers, taboos, or just about anything. Even the founders themselves.
The platform spreads like wild fire. But when has fire doused without burning a few!
Confused Bastards is not just a witty, gritty, fast-paced journey of three friends, it’s also an intolerant story for a tolerant country!

Review:

After a long time I have read something with completely new concept. The book is about three friends and their start up that went viral all over the nation. The book starts as a very intelligent read as the start-up was actually intriguing and meant to grab everyone’s attention and when I say, everyone, it means everyone. Soon things started to go off and that’s the time when entrepreneurs are exposed to reality check.

Book blurb is interesting, cover at first glance may feel strange but it goes good with the overall theme of the book. Title is fantastic and the plot is unique.

As the book is on start-up and at present times, start-up is every youth’s dream because of many reasons, I would say that the author’s thought was hitting bull’s eye. Confusion of the youth has been portrayed brilliantly and there are some valuable life lessons hidden within those pages.

The story is good and is having great potential to hold the reader but I think that the slow pace of the book is a downfall. Language is good, narration is good, and some of the dialogue sequences are excellent. Overall, this book is really a good read and deserves to be on everyone’s shelf who loves to read something different than the usual.

‘I Might Look Happy: Sigh of Kashmir’ by Rahat Farooqi

This is a guest post from Rahat Farooqi

*****************

I might look happy though
But,
In front of my eyes are the walls of slavery.
I might look happy though
But,
Inside my every story there is a pool of blood.
I might look happy though
But,
Inside my soul there are memories of martyrs.
I might look happy though
But,
Inside my single smile there is a sigh of broken promises.
I might look happy though
But,
Inside my every nerve there is a widow shedding her tears.
I might look happy though
But,
Inside the darkness there are women being rapped by saviors.
I might look happy though
But,
The rise of the dawn starts with the wounds of torture.
I might look happy though
But,
The sun sets with the horror of another death.
I might look happy though
But,
The Freedom of life is being caged by the brokers of humanity.

‘Love bi the way’ by Bhavna Arora – Book Review

Title : Love bi the way
Author : Bhavna Arora
Pages : 248
Publisher : Penguin
Genre : Fiction

Rating :

Cover : 4/5
Writing Style : 4/5
Presentation : 4/5
Story: 4/5
Overall : 4/5

Overview:

Rihana is a painter who is trying to find inspiration in love. Zara is a businesswoman trying to make a niche for her company in a male-dominated world. Rihana is fire, Zara is ice; Rihana is openly sensual, while Zara is more cautious with her heart—they are opposites that attract. They are different people bound together by their house—‘Cupid’—and their pet golden retriever, Tiger.

As both of them navigate their fulfilling careers and try to leave behind troubled pasts, they find solace in each other. But Tiger’s not the only male in their lives. Rihana finds herself a string of sexy men, while Zara emerges out of her shell and meets an actual prince who sweeps her off her feet. But can these relationships last? And what road will they take when love happens bi the way?

Review:

Rihana, a girl full of life and Zara, a quiet and serious kind of a girl. Opposite in nature but had a great bonding. The blurb of the book talks a lot and same is with the cover. I read a lot about the book before reading it and I knew that the subject of the book is LGBT but after reading the book, I can say that the book is having a lot to question. Through her characters, author put questions upon our existing society and some of her points are bang on. You will agree on most of them and that’s what the beauty about this book is. It never leaves you bored within the parameter of ‘Society Satire’ but tries to blend in everything and serve an exciting read for the readers.

Bhavna Arora is a big name among Indian Authors who write in English language but whoever has read her previous book will never have anticipated that her new book would be of this kind. It is actually a very good book and the author has literally nailed it.

Book is full of one liner that you will love to cherish or mark for further reading. Some of the moments are pretty memorial and will stay with you pretty longer. Language is like a flowing river and story is gripping. This book is a perfect read, if you are looking something really good and fresh.

‘Life is not easy’ by Arghya Dutta – Book Review

Title : Life is not easy
Author : Arghya Dutta
Pages : 213
Publisher : Frog
Genre : Fiction

Rating :

Cover : 4/5
Writing Style : 3.5/5
Presentation : 3/5
Story: 3/5
Overall : 3.5/5

Overview:

Life is Not Easy is a work of fiction about betrayal, suicide, passion to live and the dilemma of marriage. Life is all about endless struggle but suicide can never be an option. Yet some experiences are so dreaded and inhuman that we can seldom forget. Rahul is a young engineer who got jailed after his marriage lasted for 72 days. Kavita married Rahul only to extract money; her heart lay with her long-time boyfriend. How Rahul deals with the emotional and financial turmoil in the backdrop of the false law suits forms the base of the story. Destiny has strange ways… Rahul finds love in Avantika but cannot marry her. For Avantika, now suicide seems to be the only way out… Life is just like a game of Scrabble. We don t get to select what alphabets we want but are forced to play with all that we have. You get everything by luck. Skill lies in arranging them. Yes, we commit mistakes and are left to face the reverberations. And sometimes, we have all the letters we need but then it s too late to understand their importance. Thus we end up losing. Something similar happened in the lives of Rahul, Kavita and Avantika.

Review:

There’s no denying that life is indeed not easy but for some people, life becomes much more complicated than others. It is all about how we face that situation and overcome from the obstacle that life throws towards us.

Life is not easy by Arghya Dutta is the story of three individuals; Rahul, Kavita and Avantika. Rahul, an engineer gets barred behind the law after 72 days of his marriage. Kavita, with whom Rahul got married is the reason behind the difficult phase of Rahul’s life. False law suit, financial and emotional turmoil becomes the centre theme of the book but then things changes for Rahul when Avantika comes into the picture. Happiness doesn’t stay long because Avantika is suffering from other situations. Life is not easy, becomes the hardest reality for Rahul.

Overall the story of the book is good but the slow pace is the problem in the storytelling. Blurb of the book is good and the cover is highly innovative. The courtroom drama looked interesting at first sight but falls flat. Otherwise on the emotional level, this book is actually a good read and maintains the interest of the reader. Writing of the book is another plus point where the author should be appreciated.

‘Anamika’ by Soorina Desai – Book Review

Title : Anamika 
Author : Soorina Desai
Pages : 234
Publisher : Leadstart
Genre : Fiction

Rating :

Cover : 3/5
Writing Style : 4.5/5
Presentation : 4/5
Story: 4.5/5
Overall : 4/5

 

Overview:

“Life perhaps has no story to tell. This book is about birth, a search for an identity, intense emotion, illusion, disillusion, acceptence, death and a personal definition of eternity. All pieced together for us to look back and see that we managed because we survived from moment to moment. Even an ordinary life has one extraordinary chapter of love in it. This is Anamika’s tale of a pure but forbidden love, set in newly independent India, an era when romance had a different meaning and the language of romance had a different allure. Perhaps the content of this book is for everybody who has been ruled by the heart, lost a lover without loosing love, asked questions to God but found answers within, and embraced life knowing it can be enjoyed only in small doses. It is about finding peace through simple things, glimpsing heaven in a beloved pair of eyes, of recognizing blessings through a child’s laugh and living through the undulating journey of pleasure and pain with endless gratitude for having experienced life.”

Review:

I have read Soorina Desai’s other two books as well and can proudly say that she is an institute herself about how to write descriptively and how to evoke the exact feeling in the reader’s mind what you have while writing. Her books are good in two ways; one from the reader’s perspective and another from an author’s perspective.

Talking about Anamika now. This book was first published in 2005 and then got reprinted by Leadstart publication in 2015. This book is about a girl and the story begins from her birth within political turmoils. Her name is interesting, Anamika; which mean ‘of no name’. The story behind her name is also an interesting read. The struggle of finding her identity in her parent’s eye is the beginning of the story of the book. But soon an unexpected event, provides a complete turn to Anamika’s identity when a childless couple adopts her. There begins the story of forbidden love of Anamika that is as pure as it could be.

The story is set in the era of young independent India where love had another definition than it has in today’s time. Those were the time when Ghazals were the way to talk about love. Beautiful Ghazals of those times make this book an interesting read. Beautiful quotes at the beginning of each chapter are another thing to mention about. I will not mention it again that the writing of this book is magical as you can’t expect anything less from the author.

Overall, this book is a must read who loves to read literature at its best.

‘Kill me, Again’ by Sekhar Kadiyala – Book Review

Title : Kill me, Again 
Author : Sekhar Kadiyala
Pages : 317
Publisher : Notion press
Genre : Thriller

Rating :

Cover : 3/5
Writing Style : 4.5/5
Presentation : 4/5
Story: 4.5/5
Overall : 4/5

Overview:

A serial killer throws an open challenge by killing the wife of case investigation officer; the most baffling case then gets reassigned to Madhumita Sharma from CBI. After an exhaustive investigation, Madhumita unveils the killer’s hatred towards God and the uncanny pattern in which the murders were being executed.
Visesh Gupta, owner of a private investigation firm, specializes in solving missing cases. He gets acquainted with Madhumita when their paths cross during one such missing case. Visesh gives a tip about the serial killer to the police, and in an attempt to kill his so-called last victim, the killer gets shot by Madhumita.
Things take an interesting turn when Visesh solves a mysterious case and in the course, realizes that the notorious serial killer is still on the loose. It gets further complicated when the killer starts a nasty game of hide-and-seek with Visesh while police start suspecting Visesh. Visesh, who is now running against time to save his family, joins hands with Madhumita to stop a killer who is always two and half steps ahead of them.

Review:

I feel pity on the publishers when they don’t recognize what they have just ignored. Kill me, again by Sekhar Kadiyala comes from a publisher who is publishing books in dozens every month; notion press. And when a publisher is so busy in publishing books, he can never pay attention over a particular ‘Good’ book.

Well, leaving these things behind, let’s talk about the book. This is my kind of read. Fast paced, unpredictable thriller. From the first page it invites you on a trail to follow a mad murderer and till the very end, you stay hooked to know more, what will happen next, who will get killed, how the hell will he get caught or is there something that is totally out of context? You wait for the climax and once it starts, you forget everything around and immense yourself in the beauty of storytelling. That’s the kind of magic that Sekhar has created in his book ‘Kill me, Again’.

There are many ‘feel good’ elements in the book for every thriller lover. The antagonist is challenging and the protagonist is also strong. One thing that I loved about the book is that the book is not all about blood and gore but there are few elements of love as well. Author is good with his writing style and knows how to unveil the secrets while maintaining the pace of the story and interest of the reader.

The only thing that I felt low about the book was its blurb. It reveals too much. Other than that, book is an awesome read and should be on the shelf of every thriller lover out there.

‘Song of A Flying Sparrow’ by Rajeev Pundir – Book Review

Title : Song of a flying Sparrow 
Author : Rajeev Pundir
Pages : 135
Publisher : Author’s Ink
Genre : Ficition

Rating :

Cover : 3.5/5
Writing Style : 3.5/5
Presentation : 3/5
Story: 2.5/5
Overall : 3/5

Overview:

Chiya is born and brought up in a wealthy business-class family. When her mom Rini, a highly ambitious woman, tries to fix her marriage with a millionaire divorcee, quite senior to her in age, she refuses categorically. As a result an ugly argument ensues between them. Chiya’s life turns upside down when Rini reveals an unpleasant secret pertaining to her life during the heat of the conflict. Then she embarks on a mission-the sole aim of her life. What was that secret and the mission thereupon? To find, explore the novel-Song of A Flying Sparrow-a tale of emotions, love, betrayal, ambitions, greed, cynicism and twisted relations.

Review:

Our identity is the only thing which defines us and we should be loyal with it. Song of a Flying Sparrow is a well thought title and that explains in one of the very beautiful scene of the book where the protagonist (Chiya) is talking to some kid. Cover is beautifully designed as well. Blurb is short and basically does give you the main theme of the book.

Coming to the story, it starts as predicted from the blurb. Chiya is the girl who is not behind the wealth as her mother but wants to follow her dreams. But as the blurb of the book promises, there are some twists and that keeps you hooked to the book.

Writing style of the author is good. Pace of the book is also satisfying (except the climax). The best thing about the writer’s style is that he deliberately puts some scenes in the book that are not long but portrays very different scenarios from the main story. For example the police station scene. It had nothing to do with the story but a sharp satire on VIP culture prevailing in India.

If we talk about the story, it was average for me before the very end of the book. There was a good surprise waiting for the reader at the climax. Story isn’t bad and nor extraordinary, it is average and demands for one time read.

Song of a flying sparrow is a good read and is having a story that will keep you interested. Surely recommended for a one time read.

‘Betwixt Twists And Turns’ by Mona Mohanty – Book Review

Title : Betwixt Twists And Turns 
Author : Mona Mohanty
Pages : 122
Publisher : Partridge India
Genre : Anthology

Rating :

Cover : 4/5
Writing Style : 4/5
Presentation : 4/5
Overall : 4/5

Overview:

Dragonflies are said to be harbingers of rain, but they may be much more for one unsuspecting woman. A household dog finds a reprieve when Grandma comes to stay. A young man stops by an ATM at night and finds himself encountering robbers-and a young woman who may not be what she seems. In Betwixt Twists and Turns, author Mona Mohanty presents a series of short stories born from random thoughts that popped up out of nowhere, overheard bits of conversation, parables of family lore, and anecdotes from friends. These tales come from a variety of viewpoints-an older woman who receives an unexpected telegram, a businessman who encounters what might be a ghost, and various animals sharing their impressions of human life. These stories vividly capture the routine of existence-but with a surprising twist. This collection of short stories set in India features tales with unexpected outcomes from a wide range of perspectives, both human and animal.

Review:

This is the first anthology that I completed in a one go. Generally, for me, it takes time to come out of one story and delve in another one. The reason could be because stories are really short and there is no useless build up in the stories. All the stories are to the point and focuses on the twist at the end rather than building the drama around the main plot.
The cover of the book is well designed and forces you to pick it up from the shelf. The blurb is beautifully written and explains what to expect inside. Now coming to the stories. All the stories are just 2 or 3 pages in length and are having unexpected (Well mostly) endings. Stories are taken from all around us and are beautifully presented by the author. The main thing that will strike you while reading this book is the vocabulary of the author. She’s brilliant when it comes to use the words. She seems to be well read and that’s what an author should be.
Overall, this is a kind of book that will take just few hours of yours but will keep you in hangover for pretty longer. I would surely recommend this book to everyone who are looking for some quick and ‘twisty’ read.