Book Review of The Witch’s Pit by Ishita Padiyar
The Good shall triumph whilst the bad always fails. Book Review of The Witch’s Pit by Ishita Padiyar
Book review of Retrace Love by Malini Amaladoss
Can love be embraced again. Book review of Retrace Love by Malini Amaladoss
Book review: Slice of Life by Smita Das Jain
A book of short stories portraying nuggets of everyday human emotions. Book review of Slice of Life by Smita Das Jain
Book review of The Search by Sajita Nair
Sometimes, we make certain choices which might lead to a path full of hindrances on the way, but are they the right choices? Book review of The Search by Sajita Nair
The Soul of Truth By Shaji Madathil | A Book Review
Publication: Bloomsbury India Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Page Count: 360 pages Review: Fiction This book starts off where we would usually expect most to end. After all, it’s not every day that one would start off reading about the death of the main protagonist. I mean isn’t that the most unlikely if not shocking way to begin a book. The sudden and unexpected death of Uthaman in Bahrain sets off a whole flurry of events. The initial actions and reactions of his friends, workmates, employers and of course his family are expressed in such a matter of fact manner that one can simply look on in a detached manner. According to Hindu customs, over the next 42 days, the Soul takes its time to get ready and move on to the next realm of its onward and upward journey. That is when the final rites are performed and the soul is set free. Over this period, the Author takes us back and forth telling us about the short life of Uthaman. The youngest and eagerly awaited boy born after several sisters in an idyllic village of Kerala. His journey from childhood to college is interspersed with glimpses of young love followed by the inevitable hurdles, responsibilities and youthful dilemmas. Despite his initial reluctance, Uthaman does take on the mantle of responsibilities though unfortunately succumbing way earlier leaving behind the distraught women and innocent son who regroup and slowly build on their inner quiet strength. Recommendation: Despite its morbid theme, this novel turned out to be quite the page-turner. Simply yet beautifully written, the author manages to keep you engrossed right till the very end. The characterization is well defined and you can actually imagine as the events unfold. Though inherently a tragic book that deals with a young death, you still find some kind of hope and peace by the end. Not really philosophical but you do get insights about Hindu traditions and culture. Rating: 3/5
She Stood By Me | Book Review
She Stood by Me by Tarun Vikash Love is not a relationship Most of us have experienced first love, first heartbreak, that we occasionally remember, and this novel She Stood by Me by Tarun Vikash, is a reminder of those memories. Like the subtitle implies love is much more than a friendship. This romantic fiction is about a love story that begins in teenage years and grows with the age of protagonist. Aparna and Abhi who starts their relationship as friends with a one-sided crush, and then their friendship is transformed in time into a lovely story of love. Their friends Manish and Nidhi also have their own love story, and they are an integral part of the life of Aparna and Abhi. Abhi who comes from a lower — middle — class family, he has responsibilities waiting for him in the future, he is career-oriented, but he believes in romance and first love concept. On the other side, Aparna comes from an upper — middle — class family with an urge to prove the world about her existence. She is career-oriented but somehow she doesn’t believe in love, in a better way to say that she doesn’t have time for love. This Love story ought to be difficult as one person is madly in love and another person is aloof with love as a feeling and living in denial. Their love story has many obstacles like studying in different cities, job pressure, and then family drama. In small cities Love and then Love marriage is still considered as a taboo. Most of us have experienced first love, first heartbreak, that we occasionally remember, and this novel She Stood by Me by Tarun Vikash, is a reminder of those memories. Like the subtitle implies love is much more than a friendship. This romantic fiction is about a love story that begins in teenage years and grows with the age of the protagonist.Author Tarun has very aptly defined the feelings of love, responsibility towards the family that are so contrasting to each other. Though this book She Stood by Me is his debut novel, he did quite a remarkable job with the characters and the story.Every character in this book has been nicely thought of and then put on paper. The character I most connected to was Manish, as he reminded me of Bollywood movies that had one best friend who made fun of the Hero, pulled his leg, but then he also stood with him in every thick and thin of the situation.Unfortunately, my problem was that most of the novel was like reading Abhi’s private unrealistically goody – goody diary with individual dialects and dialogues, which became quite uncomfortable instead of smooth flowing reading, which I am used to. Somehow the story seemed little stretched with too much detailing of unwarranted information which could have been omitted.I would like to rate this YA romantic fiction novel 3.7 out 5. It is one time read that is quite entertaining in its own way. This book will remind you about your first crush, first love and your life before 25 hit you.
The Elephant Girl | A Booxoul Review
The Elephant Girl By Chitta Ranjan Amidst the foothills of the Himalayas, somewhere between Bengal and Assam, people claim to have seen a mythical maiden who rules and rides wild elephants. When Raj Narayan, the crown prince of Paschim Behar hears about this, he is unable to resist going in search of the Elephant girl despite his very pregnant wife Divya needing him. Dodging two attempts of murder, the Prince still continues on his quest. Even as dark forces take over the Palace, Raj cannot seem to get away from the Enigma of the Jungle. Needless to say what follows is deceit, treachery, murder and mayhem. Recommendation: A nicely written book that showcased the various characters with grace. One could actually envision the period of Maharajas, Gora sahebs and tribals of Assam. Chitta Ranjan had me entranced right from the beginning as she transported me straight to the lush green jungles of the North East, where I could vividly visualize the surprises awaiting the Prince. It felt like almost stepping back or should I say falling back in time. Furthermore, the author has done a wonderful job of addressing the complex relationships and power games whilst keeping the mystery alive right till the very end. Just as I would head towards a conclusion, Chitta would subtly nudge me to ponder upon something else along with Raj. Has his brother truly gone mad? Did their step mother and step siblings orchestrate the whole thing? Are there some other darker forces at play here? Question is who can the young King trust and consider family amongst all these subtle power games? In this game of royal subterfuge, Raj Narayan is kept guessing as he desperately tries his best to figure out the secrets of the royal family while constantly being pulled by the thoughts of the magnetic Elephant Girl. This complex story unfolds with plenty of change in dynamics as finally all the loose threads are neatly tied up. If you enjoy History with a bit of Mystery like me, this one is definitely for you. Rating: 5/5
The Leap by Nita Bajoria
The Leap When you have a toddler around you, Kindle becomes your best friend as paper books are not safe at home. Thanks to Booxoul, it seems after ages I have read a paperback and it was a pleasant experience. As aptly mentioned by various studies around the world and Author Nita, Earth is no longer a suitable place for us or to be precise, way to mention that through our selfishness and greed, we are making this earth unsuitable for us. Thus, in this contemporary science fiction novel, few scientists decide that they need to search new home for humans that is Mars and the journey begins. Though this concept sounds familiar due to various Hollywood blockbuster movies, nevertheless author has ensured that there is far more than just a familiar concept. “Following the light of the sun, we left the old world” For colonizing on Mars few people are selected from various countries and each person has their own motive to be part of this project. This project is a dream come true for few people but for few it’s just an escape route from life complexities and terrible past. Under project The Red Planet, they have to leave this earth and set up a permanent home on Mars, no looking back is possible. However, before leaving earth they have to prepare themselves by simulation. The best part about this novel is that there is a background story for each character which makes them real and relatable for me. But at the same time, too many stories will be baffling for someone who does not finish a novel in a few days. As narration is very aesthetic, it is fun to read and each character story is defining a complex life of an individual. I was rooting for Michael who believed that ‘Life is a one-way ticket to death anyway’ but somehow in the second half his character was non-existent. There were a few times where the story seemed little stretched and predictable. Also, cover page design is not justifying this interesting novel. However, different backstories have made this novel as thoughtful gripping sci-fi creation. I would like to rate this book as 4 out of 5 and I will be looking forward to the next part.
The Last Dawn by Shyam Kumar
The Last Dawn The Last Dawn by Shyam Kumar This is a tale of love, hope, family and the never ending wait. The Last Dawn is a story of Raj, and his love for one woman. A woman he craved most in his life. Anjali. The story spans across thirty seven years of Raj’s life, where he meets many women but falls in love with only one. But fate rudely intervenes and forces him to sacrifice his one true love and marry someone else. And so the year trickle by and so does his hope of finding his love that is Anjali. What do I think of the of the story? Shyam’s The Last Dawn was a beautiful and an emotional read. A different experience altogether. It was a melancholic journey of waning hope. The author narrated the story in his own pace.It was neither slow nor fast. It was smooth as flowing river, I was being swept in its every way. Author took his own time weaving such intricate emotions we humans go through into a beautiful quilt of a story. Furthermore, language used in book is easy to understand and crisp although I felt it needed more editing otherwise it was all good. What do I think of characters The characters were taken from our everyday life. I could relate to their life in so many ways. So humane and had a very middle classy vibes to them. One can see author’s hardwork in crafting the characters. The most incredible thing about the book was that it had only 3-4 characters to focus on, rest were shadows that flitted in and out of story for just a few secs. Do l recommend this book Yes, l highly recommend this book. Though this book is for mature readers and don’t mind reading a book laced with heavy emotions. I give it a 3.5 stars out of 5.
