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Review of Because I promised

BLURB:

At their college farewell party, Varnika publicly rejects Sushant’s candid proposal in the most disrespectful way imaginable, leaving everyone – including her gang of cousins – dismayed. She feels that her reasons are valid, for doing this to her best friend. What exactly are her reasons for making this upsetting choice? Did her mother’s move to Mumbai during Varnika’s formative years have a bearing on her? Or is it more than that? What is she planning to do at the NGO for eunuchs? Will she succeed in her chosen career? Would she be able to overcome her inhibitions before it is too late? This is Varnika’s journey as she overcomes her personal reservations and professional challenges, all the while contemplating her promise to lock her heart away.

MY REVIEW:

Get yourselves ready before reading the book, since there are lot many characters you need to keep in mind when you start reading. The book’s plot is kind of usual, a proposal being rejected, career prospects, hard work, success and so on. So the book has all sorts of emotion- friendship, romance, family drama, brother- sister sentiments.

The book starts off with an extravagant farewell party organized in the college. Sushant grabs this opportunity to open up his feelings and confess his love to Varnika, the female protagonist who is going be the driving factor of this novel. Sudhant proposes with a bouquet on one knee during the time when folks are almost gloomy and tired after an enthusiastic anthakshari which again was Sushant’s tactic to get Varnika into his proposal plan. That particular proposal episode was well thought out I must say; was indeed good to read through that part. But in vain, Varnika out rightly rejects.

Varnika stays with her extended family and her cousins along with her grandma, fondly called by all as Badi ma. Varnika’s mom Beena is settled in Mumbai, whom she visits as and when she gets time. Varnika planned to settle with her mom post her graduation. Varnika is showered with love and care from cousin brothers, sisters.

So after the graduation she moves to Mumbai and instead of taking up responsibility in her mom’s business, she decides to work in the NGO, started by her grandfather which is run for eunuchs and their well-being. Beena initially has hesitations, but agrees to it finally. Sushant meanwhile pursues MBA in Bangalore. Ulfat bi is one of the care takers at the home, who becomes the guiding light, friend , philosopher to Varnika. She also realizes that Varnika is in love with Sushant but is stopping herself to bring out her honest emotions.

In the amidst of this, Varnika is challenged by a bigshot to raise 50L for the NGO in a fair. So there begins a racy pace in the narration that they decide to accept the challenge. Beena brings in Sushant to assist her. What happens in the end? Does she win the challenge? Does she accept Sushant is the remaining part of the story.

The writing style is simple and engaging. Even though the plot seems to be usual the narration and other factors make it a good script for a Bollywood movie.

There are a lot many characters. Varnika’s cousin brother Swayam and his wife Avani, who are fond of her. Avani who is an equally enthusiastic character wishes to pursue fashion designing instead of settling in, bearing an offspring as per wishes of Badi ma. She even succeeds to pursue the course.

Varnika’s cousin Golu, a little chirpie kid. Tapasya, another cousin whose adolescent but still wishes to be considered an adult and to be involved in discussions.

Though there are many characters, the role of each is carved perfect and not over dramatic.

Overall, it’s a good read.

BOOK DETAILS:

  • Format: Paperback
  • Publisher:GJ Group (2018)
  • Language:English
  • ISBN-10:8193660250
  • ISBN-13:978-8193660256

MY RATINGS:

Cover: 4/5

Title: 4/5

plot: 4.5/5

Writing and Presentation: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

About The Author

Anupriya belongs to that generation of Idiots (the proud ones though), who did their engineering first and then decided on what they actually wanted to do. She completed her MBA in Human Resources and worked in the corporate world for 8 years, before taking a professional break. A mom by day and a reader/writer by night, Anupriya is a die-hard romantic. Yet she believes that love (in any relationship) is a part of life, not, the heart of life. And she aims to bring to the world, stories around this theme.

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Review of the Hidden children

BLURB:

Shayamukthy cruises through life: shooting hoops, daydreaming and listening to her favourite books. Even moving from the US to India, to a new school, a new culture, hasn’t really rattled her. But something isn’t right anymore and it begins when a New Girl joins the school. She pulls Shui into a world of magic and wonderment, a world she has been hidden from all her life. What starts as a quest to look for a lost book, hurtles Shui into a world where people live in trees, talk to the dead and speak to butterflies. But like all power, magic comes at a steep price and under all things wondrous lie demons waiting to crawl out. The more Shui learns, the more she doubts everything and everyone around her. Will she be able to master her powers, or will they devour her and everyone she loves?

MY REVIEW:

Firstly, the book is one of a kind. Yes, longing for a young adult fantasy by an Indian author. This book best deserves to be one of it.

The book is about Shayamukthy who daydreams and listens to books. She moves to India from the US. The change in diverse culture, the language, a new environment and new school do not seem to bring in a change in her. She is not upset by the vast changes that she encounters when she moves here.

Shui joins the school and there begins the adventure. When she comes across a floating pencil and a girl who speaks to butterflies’ things start changing. The authors narration and references to Mumbai are truly wonderful. And what more the book has illustrations that’s makes the reading part more interesting.

The plot is intriguing and a gripping read which we can finish at one go; though the book seems to be on the bulkier side.

The writing is simple and narration is subtle. YA fantasy that was long awaited has now hit the bookstores , so why wait , grab your copy of the wonderful read.

BOOK DETAILS:

Reading level:12 – 16 years

  • Paperback:420 pages
  • Publisher:Two Ravens Publishing (13 November 2018)
  • Language:English
  • ISBN-10:9353216206
  • ISBN-13:978-9353216207

MY RATINGS:

Cover: 4/5

Title: 4/5

plot: 4/5

Writing and Presentation: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Travel writer and novelist Reshma K Barshikar is an erstwhile Investment Banker who, as she tells it, ‘fell down a rabbit hole and discovered a world outside a fluorescent cubicle.’ As a travel and features writer, she contributes to National Geographic Traveller, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, The Sunday Guardian, SilverKris, The Mint Lounge and The Hindu. Fade Into Red, published by Random House India was her debut novel and featured in Amazon Top 10 Bestsellers. She also holds well renowned workshops for young adults at both BDL Museum and Kala Ghoda and is keen to build a strong Young Adult reading and writing community to fill the desperate lack of young adult fiction in the Indian Market. Her new Young Adult novel, The Hidden Children, will be launching at the Vizag Junior Literary Festival. Reshma is from the ISB Class of 2003. She calls both Mumbai and the Nilgiris home.

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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 corridors of time by Vinay Krishnan

Blurb:

Corridors of Time tracks the story of a sensitive young man who grows from carefree childhood to eventful manhood – one who stumbles before learning to stride through those dark and dense passages.

Set in Bangalore – a city of paradoxes. of gardens and garbage heaps. of technology and traffic snarls. of friendly people and failing infrastructure. when bungalows had gardens and pavements were meant for pedestrians. this is a narrative of the human spirit.

Rohan, an idealistic young sports lover experiences rejection, dark dejection and isolation and hurtles down the path to self-destruction.

Shyla, attractive and successful is everything his heart yearns for and his body desires, except, she is married!

Chandrika, simple and devoted fails to understand the man she loves.

The shuklas long for justice denied by the system.

And khalid fears nothing and no one …anymore.

MY REVIEW:

I am someone who believes in the saying that ‘excessive strictness and blind discipline are bad teachers for kids’. But we do know kids whose parents are in army are brought up with utmost strictness and discipline. Likewise, here in this book, the lead character Rohan is the son of an ex-Army man who is very strict and follows principled lifestyle. In fact, he follows principle for everything, he can be aptly known as Rohan’s teacher than his father. Such approach being showcased while bringing up children, often creates disruptions in the child’s life. As mentioned in the quote above, too much strictness towards him, Rohan grows up with a carefree attitude.

Rohan is an excellent sports person but a bad performer in academics. Due to this, he was always being pinned down as a failure in academics. This in turn worsens his performance when he joins college. He falls in love with a woman(Shyla) even after knowing she is married. Taking her as role model, he tries hard to complete studies by joining evening class. The lust angle that is usually looked at when a relationship between a bachelor and a married woman is spoken off is not visional here since the Author has sensibly avoided the details. The relationship between them takes a toll and they part ways to be good friends.

Rohan becomes dejected. After years, he secures a job where a girl(Chandrika) falls for him. He decides to proceed and go along but this time her parents reject the proposal. But they plan to move ahead and face a lot of hardships.

The plot is set in a timeline of two decades ago in Bangalore, but can be related even now owing to the current scenario of the city. The plot is more relatable when Rohan meets Chandrika and a couple of instance more relatable by a middle class family’s daily household.

The author has brought up more sub plots within this book, which have individual importance but I feel they could have been reduced to keep up the current pace of Rohan’s story. The climax was a bit unsolicited and very delicate.

BOOK DETAILS:

Author: Vinay Krishnan

Publisher: GJ group

Genre: Non fiction

Cover design: Envy designs

MY RATINGS:

Cover- 3.5 stars

Title- 4 stars

Blurb- 3.5 stars

Plot- 4 stars

Writing and Presentation- 4 stars

Overall- 3.75 out of 5 stars

The book is available on Amazon.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2OCmG7g

About the Author:

Vinay Krishnan describes himself as a ‘complete Bangalorean’. A student of Clarence High School, he graduated in Humanities from St Joseph’s College. Earning a diploma in Business Administration, he began his career at Usha International Ltd and rose to a position of Senior Sales manager. Vinay has now set up a construction firm of his own. He also writes and devotes his time to an NGO assisting people with disability. The city of his dreams, Bangalore, where he stays with his wife and daughter, continues to inspire and exasperate him. He can be reached at – vinaykrshnn@yahoo.com.

Praises for the book:

The book is simple in style and content, for often it is this simplicity that bewilders and rouses
Interest.
~ Shri S . Rajendra Babu, Former Chief Justice of India
The book has excellent literary craftsmanship, passion humour and adventure. Highly recommended.
~ Mr. Namboodiri, former Asst. Editor, Deccan Herald
This charming book about old Bangalore is written in a racy easy-to-read style.
~ Deccan Herald, Bangalore.