Category: debut author

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Review of together forever to never

BLURB:

No one can love like you… if I lose you, I will be left with nothing’ So says Sariyanka, a girl from a small town, madly in love with Samar. Having lost true love once before, Samar too believes that Sariyanka is his other half whom Zeus, the Greek God had separated from him.. In a chance conversation with his friend Mayank, Samar discovers some shocking truths. As the story unravels, a series of events follow that forever change the meaning of love for Samar. Is Sariyanka the one Samar calls his ‘other half’? Will Samar get the love that he always longed for? This highly anticipated novel by Satish Goyal is an emotional roller coaster that bravely explores the highs and lows of love. It’s a story of love – unshaken and unquestioned; yet unfulfilled and unrequited. A saga of deceit served on a platter of lies. About the author: Satish Goyal is a finance professional and works at a US multinational company. Since his days at the university, he had dreamed of writing on subjects close to his heart, but had put those dreams on hold to focus on his family and career. He finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with his first novel ‘Together Forever To Never”. Satish believes that success cannot be measured in terms of wealth or titles. The true measure of success is happiness that one is able to achieve in life. Satish is now writing his second book, “The Coaster Series”.

MY REVIEW:

Samar and Monali, sweethearts at young age, married happily for ten years. Samar, the protagonist has everything in life-great career, a loving wife and an adorable son. If life is described as a fairytale, their story should definitely be one of the chapters.

While the story goes on happily, a tragedy struck. Monali exits their world and leaves Samar in deep sorrow. Human spirituality, psychiatrist’s advice, he embraced life again. There we have another entry. Sariyanka came into his life. That is when he realizes he has found his better half. They fell in love madly with each other.

One fine day, when he was conversing with his friend Mayank. He comes to know a shocking truth. The truth gets proved by a couple of evidences which raises a doubt of loyalty on Sariyanka. After deep thinking, he confronts her and gets shattered. He moves on after a long struggle. A very engaging tale that makes you enjoy the feeling of love.

I loved the way it was printed the quality of paper used. Being a debut novel, it was written well and sequences placed at the right points. The narration was good and the character portrayal was really good.

Love makes you blindly trust people, that makes you forget everything. But falling in love with the right person makes the difference.

I just loved the way the cover is designed, that makes you want to pick it up and read it right away.

BOOK DETAILS:

  • Paperback: 188 pages
  • Publisher: Paper Towns Publishers; 1 edition (15 December 2018)
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B07LDVQL3J

MY RATINGS:

Cover: 4.5/5

Title: 4/5

plot: 4.5/5

Writing and Presentation: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

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Review of high heels and haywires by Shama Farheen and Suraj Dey

BLURB:

Cover of high heels and haywires
Cover of high heels and haywires

When the roller-coaster of mixed emotions hit Sameera. She finally decides it’s high time and she needs a break from the life she has been living all these years in the small town of Himachal. That when she decides to run away one night, in search of a perfect life she had always longed for, only to find herself getting deeper into the clutches of what she has been running from. In the new city she befriends Shikha and Akanksha who are haywired in their own war of destiny much like her but with very much opposite characters.High Heels and Haywires is all about them, their friendship, love and heartaches. Something most of you could relate to in one way or the other.

MY REVIEW:

The story revolves around three female characters as mentioned in blurb- Sameera, Shikha and Akanksha. Sameera is new to city and bumps into Shikha like in a Bollywood movie. AN instant connect between them and she immediately moves in with Shikha. Shikha on the other hand is carefree.

Sameera meets Akanksha in office and comes to know she’s on the lookout for accommodation. She decides to bring her into the picture with Shikha.

The three girls have loads of fun staying together. There are few other characters such as Vineet and Abir- Sameera’s colleagues, Kartik & Sonia who are Sameera’s childhood friend, Pooja Abir’s ex-girlfriend.

The romantic portions are very well portrayed with not an iota of over exaggeration.

The plot moves in a pace that seems to be engaging and unputdownable.

The narration was simple and crisp. There was no drag or over exaggeration anywhere.

The female emotions were portrayed absolutely well. Sameera’s thoughts were so clear and she was just characterized as a girl we meet up every day. Abir seems very reserved but the portions of him and Sameera brought out a smile every time.

I finished the book in a day, since it’s a light read.

BOOK DETAILS:

  • Format:Kindle Edition
  • File Size:1020 KB
  • Print Length:167 pages
  • Publisher:INDEPENDENT (5 September 2018)
  • Sold by:Amazon Asia-Pacific Holdings Private Limited
  • Language:English
  • ASIN:B07H4ZG6NC

The book is available on amazon. https://amzn.to/2CWFxYV

MY RATINGS:

Cover: 4/5

Title: 4/5

plot: 3.5/5

Writing and Presentation: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

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Review of Zidd by Hetansh Desai

BLURB:

Vihaan looked at the skies, took a deep breath and shouted, ‘I want to be on the hoarding outside Raina’s flat!’ Parth did not react right away. After a few minutes, he asked, ‘Sorry? What is that?’ ‘She said she doesn’t want to see my face. So, now I want to ensure she sees my face every day the first thing in the morning.’ Parth took a step towards Vihaan. He shrugged his shoulders, confusedly. ‘I don’t understand.’ ‘There’s a hoarding outside her flat.’ ‘And you want to be on it?’ ‘Yes!’ Turns out, the hoarding outside Raina’s flat was the most expensive in the city! Witness the roller coaster journey of Vihaan, a college dropout and Parth, an illiterate tea vendor, who have an accumulative savings of 3500, set out to earn 20 Lakh in 18 months to buy the coveted hoarding space.

MY REVIEW:

The story does not fall into any specific genre, but has elements of all romance, fiction.

The plot is about two boys from contrast background who have different perspectives.

Vihaan is a rich kid who is kind of arrogant, impatient and is determined not to continue business studies and take over his father’s kite business. HE wants to pursue at SLS .

On the other hand, we have Parth, whose father is a tea seller. Parth wants to set up his own business but does not know how.

The story starts with childhood scenes from Vihaan’s life. A train journey where Vihaan’s father is worried about his business. One idea from Vihaan and he is all successful.

Here at Parth’s end, his father wants him to be a good salesman so that he can sell more cups of tea.

After his father’s death he starts working at an IT company and is very successful selling software.

Their paths cross and they both end up in the same hostel.

Vihaan falls in love with Raina, things speed up here and finally the girl rejects him and conveys she does not wish to see face. This ignites Vihaan’s ego.

So Vihaan and Parth decide to become successful. Vihaan wants to put up his hoarding near Raina’s apartment so she wakes up to it every morning, ironically see his face every day. Parth helps him. Do the love birds reunite, does Vihaan get a hoarding, Is Parth successful in setting up his own Business is what we will have to wait and watch.

The book has a perfect blend of all feelings- love, ambition, most importantly bromance. We also see a couple of business concepts being clearly explained. The book is a pleasant read with lucid writing. The characterization could have been improved especially that of Raina, who seems to be missing for a really long duration and just comes up finally at the end.

The book is a light enjoyable read and I would recommend it as a one-time read. The book uses some unsuitable talks which may not be suitable for a bit younger audience.

BOOK DETAILS:

  • Publisher:HALF BAKED BEANS (15 August 2018)
  • ASIN:B07GJLW5LH
  • No of page: 165

MY RATINGS:

Book Title: 3.5/5

Book Cover: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 3.5/5

Narration: 3.5/5

Language & Grammar: 3.5/5

Final Rating: 4/5

The book is available on Amazon https://amzn.to/2MSOlo8

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Hetansh Desai is the Founder and CEO of Vital20Communication, a marketing consultancy based out of Mumbai. He has pursued his graduation in Liberal Studies and post-graduation in Entrepreneurial Leadership from Babson college, USA. You can find him in Ahmadabad- as his family lives there- or in Mumbai, or on a cheap, midnight SpiceJet flight.

In his free time, he loves playing and watching cricket, reading the Bhagavad Gita over and over again and listening to music. His hobbies include writing and public speaking.

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Review of heart quake by Ishita Deshmukh

BLURB:

Bhuj. Circa, 2001. A city wrecked by a massive earthquake. They met after ten long years. Their hearts wrecked by the promise of togetherness that could never be. As love tries to bloom again in the unlikeliest of places, intrigue sets in. Fleeting shadows… Hidden eyes… Mysterious deaths. What will happen when the tremors of love collide? Will he make it to the epicentre of love? Will her heart quake? Only Heart Quake will tell…

MY REVIEW:

The plot is set in the disastrous background of Gujarat earthquake in 2001. Sonal Patel whose a nurse comes to Bhuj to assist her team of doctors to treat people who keep coming in the wake of the quake. It is predominantly a romantic story also highlighting the ghastly reality of a natural disaster that shook the nation in 2001.

Sonal comes to Bhuj to look for her friend, Smita; who lived in the same city . But she comes across Tejas her ex-boyfriend; who was there to pick themost challenging medical cases for his soon to be launched multi-specialty hospital.We also have Dilip, who was Sonal’s friend all these years and was to be her fiancée.There are a couple more relationships going on this plot. Say nurse Pooja from Sonal’s team who falls for Tejas.

Amongst all this, unidentified to any of them, there are uncivilized agents at work in this disastrous times hell-bent on filling their pockets at the cost of scarcely surviving human lives.

Can Sonal find Smita among the rubbles? Will she resolve her troubles with Tejas? Or will she move ahead to the next phase of life with her fiancée.

The portrayal of characters is very well done with notable importance to each and every character. The character of Sonal’s mom, was also portrayed well where she calmly advises her daughter. But in the end its only Sonal who gets the Spotlight.

The narration was lucid and flows fluently. I didn’t have to look up words to understand what they meant, such simple was the use of words by Author. The emotional quotient was managed commendably.

BOOK DETAILS:

  • Author: Ishita Deshmukh
  • Paperback: 255 pages
  • Publisher: LiFi Publications Pvt. Ltd. (2018)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9386191490
  • ISBN-13: 978-9386191496

MY REVIEW:

Book Title: 4/5

Book Cover: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 3.5/5

Narration: 3.5/5

Language & Grammar: 3.5/5

Final Rating: 4/5

The book is available on Amazon https://amzn.to/2oakecS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ishita Deshmukh is, in many ways, a mascot for national integration! Born to Bengali and Gujarati parents, she grew up on a steady diet of Tamil culture and French literature in Puducherry. If that wasn’t enough, she is married to a Telugu bidda. She has this uncanny (and unnerving) ability to switch between six different languages in the course of a conversation. She is a multi-tasking marketing professional who currently runs a small home business in Singapore and helps with her family business back home at Puducherry. She is passionate about the arts, loves painting, playing the piano and embroidery, but has always dreamt of becoming a writer. She is a regular fixture at the neighbourhood library and has a special place in her heart for romantic fiction. So, get ready to devour Heart Quake, the first of many delicious fares from her literary cauldron.

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Review of Lovestruck by Prasupta Roy

BLURB:

Kaatyaani works as an English teacher in a school. She enjoys her job as she finds it both challenging and rewarding. She dreams of excelling in this field and getting some recognition in her life. But, life takes a different turn when she marries Hemant. She now has only one wish-to become a mother. For, she thinks a baby will fill the void in her life. But fate has different plans! Amidst the turmoil when life seems meaningless she meets Siddharth, a tall and handsome man in his mid-thirties. In him, she finds her ideal man, her soul mate. They come closer, fall in love and wish to spend life with each other. But Kaatyaani won’t leave Hemant. For, she thinks he will be shattered if she forsakes him. Fate plays a game again when Hemant gets transferred to Bangalore. Her heart craves for Siddharth while her mind demands fidelity. In this tussle, between her heart and mind who will win-the heart or the mind?

MY REVIEW:

Lovestruck is about Kaatyani’s life. She works as a school teacher. Life takes a major turn when she marries Hemant. It’s the usual story of “expecting a child’ after marriage. They decide to visit the expert. We see a long episode at the hospital involving a big wait now that is something at least that is depicted about the real world. Hemant is always grumpy and Kaatyani is a cry baby. We see a lot this happening in fact throughout the book. Then we see an affair blooming between Kaatyani and her new found social media friend( Siddarth alias Sid as she fondly calls) whom she decides to meet after a couple of message exchanges. She decides to meet him regularly during Hemant’s absence.

And it’s so unbelievable that she decides to bring him home when Hemant is away on a tour. Fortunately for her or unfortunate for Chennaiites the flood happens so she makes him stay with her for ten days and nobody in the apartment knew about it. And her husband only calls on the day before he is expected to come to check on her and inform about his arrival.

Hemant gets another offer and the story shifts to Bangaloru. We have yet another affair in the book and that is Hemant with another woman. I’m not revealing the details of who it is, since there might be people who would want to buy the book and read it. And they get a quick divorce like how we purchase a tatkal ticket.

Kaatyani moves back to Chennai and starts searching for Sid. Sadly she gets a letter written by him from one of her old neighbours. Who has carefully preserved it to be handed over. In the era of fast communication, I’m not sure why will someone wait for the person to arrive in person to handover the letter. And our lady here, just tries dialling his number and finally resorts to writing a letter to him since she couldn’t reach him over phone. Kaatyani wake up, he found you through social media.Why not you try the same. So, she waits for another 10-12 years for him to arrive back and then reunites. THE END.

First of all, the plot is very usual. I noticed a couple of grammatical errors which should have been avoided, given the fact the author is a teacher. Secondly, the book is not gripping to read continuously, but could have been improved given a usual plot. Some parts were of very little details say the divorce the between Hemant and Kaatyani. The choice of words could have been better. Overall I would give it a one time read.

BOOK DETAILS:

Author: Prasupta Roy

Genre: Romance Fiction

Published by: Half Baked Beans

Number of pages: 130 pages

My Rating: 3/5

MY RATINGS:

Cover – 3.5 stars

Title – 2.5 stars

Blurb – 3 stars

Plot – 3 stars

Writing – 3 stars

Presentation – 3 stars

Overall – 3 out of 5 stars

The book is available on Amazon

https://amzn.to/2PxBDZw .