Book Review: Trisha by Swagnikaa Roy

Trisha, a book that I had awaited eagerly, was finally in my hands on 16^th feb. Yes, that was the day. The book was quite special to me due to my association with the beautiful authoress. I had read a few posts on her blog and felt that this dark fiction would strike a chord with me. Coming to the storyline, the book starts with the introduction of a Bong named Trisha living in Kolkata. She gets to meet Arnab, a guy she falls for later, through her official commitments. In time, they get to talking and knowing each other very closely. In no matter of time, like every fairy tale, even Trisha gets to know that the man she likes, loves her too and Arnab and Trisha become a couple, officially. Trisha feels her life is complete but she gets a jolt from the blue when she gets to know that Arnab has decided to get married to someone else instead of her as he cannot go against his family. Trisha is shattered and finally, after going through a lot of pain and stress, she leaves her job at Kolkata to pursue higher studies in Gurgaon. All the way from east, she lands up in the metro city with a hope to get over the man she had given everything. Here also, it becomes really difficult to cope up with the emotional and mental depression she had been into although she tries her level best. The moving part of the story is watching Trisha go through so much and even after that, how men started exploiting her state. I sometimes, feel helpless the situation of a girl becomes when men start exploiting her to the extent that they forget humanity.

What I loved about the book was that the author has portrayed the emotions of a exploited woman so well and in a matured manner. It’s quite common to see women getting ditched by men, getting deceived in a way that it almost sucks the life out of people. Well, it’s not just about gender; it’s more about the values people are losing these days. In the story, we get to know that the person who leaves her for marriage to his parents’ choice, was actually in a relationship with that girl for three long years. This is more of a plague widespread in India. Here, people love someone else and marry the person who their parents’ select. Why? If they are pretty sure that this is what they wish to go for then why spoil someone else’s life? There’s a wonderful message the book is trying to convey and that is about having the courage to love and accept it. I am so glad more and more people are writing on this concept. In fact, my second book also tries to portray something on the same lines. The victim often feels so helpless, feeble and lost that they begin to hate themselves. The last few pages will make you go out for the protagonist and the USP of the book is certainly the end.

As a debut work, Swagnikaa has done a nice job. At certain point of times, I did feel like why the story was stretching but probably, a few scenes were necessary to show what the situations had made her. My only point of suggestion would be that it’d have been amazing if the author had shown a little more about how she got over everything. The book shouldn’t have got over at the realization after suicide attempt, it should have shown how she corrected situation, how she stopped hating her body and got to seeing herself in the mirror. I believe this could have really helped a lot of readers who often go through what Trisha went but end up attempting suicide.

Another thing that I’d like to convey to the publishers is that wastage of so much of paper in today’s times is totally uncalled for. This was simply unacceptable and a big turn down to see you wasting so much of paper. I simply don’t get as to why one whole page got a single heading of chapter number, then again an empty page and finally, the story resumed. Editing is pretty fine and for the cover, it’s simply awesome. I believe Sunill Kaushik is undoubtedly the best cover designer we have today. Overall, a pleasant one-time read.  

Since I generally do not rate books, especially when they are debut works so please do not ask me to give my rating.

Thank you!

If you wish to get a copy for yourself, please order here:

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Book Review: Uff.. Ye Emotions 2

Eleven stories talking about emotions, the feelings that differentiate humans from animals, each with a flavour of their own. On a boring afternoon I started off with UYE-2 in order to take a break from the gruesome work piled on me. I'll be honest here, I didn't start off with the stories in their order, instead began with the ones written by people whom I call friends.

While Himanshu and Udita's story dealt with what is generally referred to as puppy love, Meghant and Heena's was about sacrifices made by lovers even at the cost of their lives. There's something each story teaches. NECRT of love taught us even though the kids may be unaware of the fact that babies do not get produced by a kiss but love is something that know no age and can be true even when all you care about is grades and that pink bag. Life is dear to all but love is dearer, the sacrifices made by Kent's parents is something you'll cry for.

Love can happen any time, anywhere, even if it's after marriage, 120 minutes by Sarvana was indeed a refreshing read. When you feel there's darkness around, all you need is to bend a little, love is just round the corner, probably that's what Ishani taught us through 'I'll be there'. Tarang Sinha's 'Dilemma' touches on two sensitive topics namely widow re-marriage and child adoption, how does society figure it out how you can sacrifice the man of your life for humanity and a child's love. Shalini Katyal's 'The Woman who Waited' is wonderfully written with a language that is sure to strike with the readers, love never dies even if death separates bodies is what the author has perfectly described. 'The Pale Pigeon' by Siddhartha Yadav takes you to the love of the old age, the love that has seen and fought everything coming out victorious and content everytime.

Mahi Singla and Vinit Bansal need no introduction and have carved out stories as per our expectation. While The Client depicts a love that sees no class, When Destiny Strikes talks about love that comes between friendship but again friendship and a good heart overpowers everything.

Two stories left to talk about are Hickey by Heema Shirvaikar and Moksha by Kunal Marathe. I would say these two are my personal favourites, all you'll react on reading them is a big WOW. I am not going to say anything about the story because all they need is your genuine read. Sometimes, stories leave you speechless and somehow, these two have left me with no words for their description because their beauty lies in the words.

All in all, a good attempt by everyone. All the best guys :)

This review has also been posted on Goodreads.

Get a copy here.

Book Review: Uff Ye Emotions 2 | Story #1 'NCERT of Love'

After what happened to my two copies of UYE-1, I could never get to reading it. While I wouldn't want to go into the history and bore you all, there was a small guilt for not having read Himanshu Appie Chhabra's work. For one, he had awaited my feedback for his published story and two, we shared a bond from the time we both were novices unaware of the ways of literary world. With time I have seen him rising and shining, from the time before Purple-Pen Blogs to the time of getting third time published Himanshu has come a long way.

Now that I have finally got my copy of UYE-2 and have no hostel girls to take away my copies and never return it, I started off with reading Uff Ye Emotions. And I made it a point to initiate the process with none other than 'NCERT of Love' by HAC and Udita.

Reading the story took me back to my school days when I'd see my classmates getting involved in a relationship. Since a major part of my school days were more of books and less of love, I often used to wonder if love at the age of 14 was actually true or not. But after reading their story, I kind of have a thought that may be it's more about feelings and not at all about age. The letters, the words, the thoughts, that feeling of first love and relationship have certainly been narrated in a great way.

There's an unknown honesty in the letters that comes out only when you are a teenager, only when you fall in love for the first time because after that we come to know that this world doesn't value honest people, it doesn't let trust and belief exist. This could well be sensed in every letter I read, the sheer honesty with which Udita shares her inhibitions and the infinite love that Himanshu express for her just tells you that love has its own ways of entering in our lives. A lesson learnt: Love is definitely blind and to the extent that it gives you the courage to kiss in the Principal's office.

I don't know about others but yes, I loved the story. However, I'd think twice before passing on this book to my 15 year old sister 

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Book Review: The Untold Story of Arundhati and The Black Emperor by Rashmi Singh

About the Book

This is the story of sluttish play of time which loves to stay with rich, famous and powerful and deserts the weak and poor!

A magical, mystical, passionate and sinful love story which played havoc with history-a story which was buried in the banks of Krishna River or somewhere amongst the mountainous valley of the Vindhyas in 7th century A.D.

This tale is intricately woven around Chalukya Parameshwara or The Black Emperor, Pulkasein II, (610A.D-643A.D.) of WesternChalukya dynasty, his untamed passion for wars and his unusual desire for the forgotten enigmatic beauty, Arundhati! The story also traverses the immortal love life of Pulkasein II’s contemporary, Narsimhavarman I of Pallava dynasty and his beloved Sivagami. “But you shall shine more bright in these contents than unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time.” ~William Shakespeare

About the Author:

Rashmi Singh is a well known author, avid blogger and a passionate painter. She made her debut with Love’s Journey in 2011 which earned her rave reviews. The Fallen Love is her second fiction. She has also written two self help books, Taming the Restless Mind and Back to School@30. The Untold Story of Arundhati and The Black Emperor-The Sluttish Time is her next fictional offering and fifth book. Rashmi has a Master’s degree in Management and runs a Personality Development Training Centre.

Review:

A highly gripping and addictive piece of work by Rashmi Singh. The author has showed her mettle yet again with her fifth book. I had read another piece of work 'The Fallen Love' and since then had been eagerly waiting for her latest work. When she first told me that she was working on a historical fiction I was a little unsure if I would love the book as much as I loved TFL but her writing has certainly left me amazed. I have no qualms in confessing that historical fiction is a genre that isn't my cup of tea, whether reading or writing. But when I picked up the book, there was no looking back. I just couldn't put it down. There is a different charisma in her writing, somehow she knows the portrayal of sufferings, pain, heartaches so amazingly well. There are a lot of complex emotions involved in this story and Mrs. Singh has left no stone unturned in bringing out each of them so flawlessly.

One thing that I'd like to mention here is the setting of the times where you've just read about and never been is a little difficult but not even a point comes when you would expect a loose end. The times of Pulkasein II of the Chalukyan Dynasty and his cunning ways have been brought into light. You can conquer land but not love, the curse of true love bites you from within, how efficiently the story has been written is when you suddenly realize after finishing off the book that you are in the 21st century. Believe me, I had dreams of Chalukyan Dynasty for almost a week. A well researched book that shows you the power of a woman, her strength even after being considered the weakest of all and to top it all the emotional highs and lows that you find in the book are simple incomparable. There's so much to learn about history which we weren't even aware of and mind you, this book has every element of hypnotism. Yes, it is addictive, it will stay in your mind for a long long time and would help you introspect within yourself and would make you think of the times gone by. Talking about the cover, it totally reflects the enchanting history with the painting being made by the author herself.
Through this review, I'd actually ask the readers to give this genre and book a chance. Take a break from the usual romances you read, this book is going to mesmerize you till the end. A complete package and a recommended read.

(The review is posted at Goodreads as well)

 Get a copy from Uread or Flipkart.

Book Review: The Homing Pigeons by Sid Bahri

What the book says:

In the middle of the catastrophic 2008 recession, Aditya, a jobless, penniless man meets an attractive stranger in a bar. Little does he know that his life will change forever.

When Radhika, a young, rich widow, marries off her stepdaughter, little does she know that the freedom she has yearned for is not exactly how she had envisioned it.

They say homing pigeons always come back to their mate, no matter where you leave them on the face of this earth. The Homing Pigeons is the story of love between these two unsuspecting characters as it is of lust, greed, separations, prejudices and crumbling spines.

About the Author:

A hotelier by education, an ex-banker and a senior executive in the outsourcing industry, Sid gave up a plush career in the outsourcing industry to follow his passions. Based out of Ranikhet, he is now a struggling entrepreneur and a happy writer. A self- proclaimed eccentric, he is an avid blogger who loves to read and cook. Cooking stories, however, is his passion. The Homing Pigeons is his debut novel. He can be reached at sidd.bahri@gmail.com

The Review

To begin with this is one book that has made me miss my metro station twice and the bus stop once. Yes, that is the kind of interest it builds in the reader. The book talks about love, lost and found and then lost again. It’s about two individuals and their journey of love, well not just love but life too. Love is just the more important aspect out here. The story begins with Aditya, a man in his thirties living jobless in the times of recession and Radhika, a rich widow who has absolutely nothing to do. While Aditya is too tired of surviving on his wife’s income, Radhika isn’t actually enjoying the freedom she has earned after the death of a husband who was eighteen years older to her. Even after years of separation there is a void in their lives, they haven’t been able to fall out of love. Radhika still loves Aditya and so does Aditya but will they be able to meet? Will the misunderstandings give way to a new relation? Will the emptiness of such a long duration get filled? Will the mess in their lives clear up? Take a ride in their past to know how their present helps form a future.

Creating suspense in a romantic fiction is something we need to learn from Sid Bahri. You won’t be bored reading it. The swiftness, the flow in the story is mind blowing. Each phase brings a new direction to the story. The best part of the book is that we get to know the side of both the parties which is generally not the case. The book is either narrated in the first person or the third but here, the good part is both the characters speak. We know what they feel. Being a male, expressing a woman’s feelings in such an amazing way is something the author has done very well. As a debutante, the work is definitely A+. Not even once would you feel that this is someone’s debut work.

Highly recommended. Go for it, this book shouldn’t be missed.

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Book Review: 'Chained- Can you escape fate?' by Mehek Bassi

Love: One of the strongest emotions
Money: One of the deadliest powers
Fame: One of the most poisonous drugs
When fame overpowers trust, when money rules the relationships, will the true love survive?
Will Arjun be able to drag himself out of the pool of guilt, for killing his wife, Shiya?
When the superstar Rehan, is dragged from riches to rags, will he be able to live the life of a common man, again?
Is patience, always worth it?
For how long can you wait to re-unite with your lover?
What if the wait is as long as three decades?
Will they be able to change their fate, or they’ll forever remain ‘Chained’?


About the author:

Mehek Bassi is 19 years old, Computer Engineering Student from Ludhiana (Punjab), and a typical Facebook addict! She experiences boredom very frequently and her sudden shift from B.Sc. to Engineering is an example of her bouncy life and a typical traveller Sagittarian trait that she nurses! One thing that is constant in her life is her keen interest in reading and writing.

Know more about her at www.mehek.in

The Review:

First of all, I would like to congratulate Mehek for writing such a wonderful tale at such a young age. She is one girl who has set a new example in the writing industry. 'Chained' is the story of a young girl Shiya who dreams of making it big as a singing star. As soon as she enters college she meets Arjun who later on becomes her love interest. Shiya's father, Shekhar Mathur is a high profile businessman who is always found buried in his work that he doesn't have time for his family. Same is the case with her mother, Monika Mathur who is more of busy with her parties than family. Her sister, Mansha is way too caught up in her branded clothes. Due to all this, Shiya feels too lonely and this is where Arjun comes into picture. he loves her and protects her, makes her feel special and gives her the strength to achieve her dreams. And finally, Shiya fulfills her dream. But is this the final destination? Why does Monika Mathur behave so rudely with Shiya? Why is Shekhar Mathur so immersed in work that he does not have time for his family? Who is Tarannum? Why hasn't she married even after reaching late forties? And what about Rehan, why is he being connected with Shiya repeatedly by the media? What about the jealousy and possessiveness that will overpower love and trust? Why are there so many ego clashes among couples? Can fame and money override logic and righteousness? Can you wait for your love for three decades? Read on the amazing tale of fame and power blended with love.
The story has a lot many spheres to it that keeps the reader glued till the end. The best part of the book is that it just doesn't concentrate on love and mushy romance, there's a lot of suspense and thrill which is generally not found in books these day. One can easily call this book a complete package. There are a lot of beautiful and thoughtful poems in the book that are going to sway your heart away. The story is crisp and pacy, not even one point would come where you'd feel like stopping. Romantic scenes are undoubtedly written very well so all you die hard romantics, just pick up the book and get started and even if you aren't a romance lover, you are not going to get disappointed because there's a lot more to the book than romance. Scene description and narration is amazingly great, language usage is again good, you wouldn't have to pick a dictionary but then you will not have to read the monotonous writing, proper good sophisticated english is what you are going to get. I am reading a book by NotionPress for the first time and I must say, their editing is strong however there are 1-2 typing errors and paper quality is good as well.
And as for Mehek, girl! you have done a fabulous job. Keep writing and wishing you all the very best for 'Chained' and I am pretty sure this book is going to do amazingly well.

This comes under my 'recommended read'.

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Book Review: The Promise by Nikita Singh

The Promise is an intriguing tale of Shambhavi and Arjun. Shambhavi is a carefree chirpy girl who is into interior designing. She takes life as it comes and is highly dedicated towards her present passion, interior decoration. She is a creative person at heart and that is what makes her paint as well. She paints for the love of it, not for money. Arjun is a guy who is completely immersed in his business. All he thinks about day and night is making money, feelings, relations do not matter to him and why would they? He lost his family and got his heart broken. He doesn’t believe in the term ‘love’ and is quite a hard man to deal with.

Shambhavi and Arjun meet in connection with a project and he just can’t help falling for her. Her passion towards life makes him realize the emptiness in his life. He gets drawn to him and finally get involved in a relation until Shambhavi announces one day about her pregnancy. Arjun feels that Shambhavi is doing so in order to get his money because this is what his last love, Prehal did with him. He feels he has been cheated on again and asks Shambhavi to leave forever. Shambhavi determined to not ask for his help anymore, walks out of his life, she struggles to earn money all by herself and not only that she decides to keep the baby and not get aborted. She doesn’t even ask for a penny from Arjun even after being financially at loss. She has a dying father to care and a new life to develop but she does everything. What would Shambhavi do to earn a living? How would she face the rest of the world all by herself? Will Arjun ever realize his mistake? Will they ever meet again?

Well, that is for you to find out. Read the book to drown yourself in this amazing love fable. I seem to have fallen in love with Nikita Singh’s writing yet again. A lot of people may criticize her on and oft but I seriously love the way she writes romantic fiction. If you are a die-hard romantic and a girl as well, do pick the book, you are surely going to love it. Your heart will cry when you will find Shambhavi struggling all the way all alone and have tears while you read Part IV of the book. The trauma of a pregnant unmarried girl abandoned by her boy friend has been well portrayed. I just love every part of the book, nothing unnecessary, just the apt usage of words at the apt situation. The beginning of each chapter gives you a new lesson about life divulging a few realities related to emotions if in case you are unaware about them. This is something that makes me love the book even more. Go ahead and read the book. I am sure you won’t be disappointed. 

Get your copies from HS18

Book Review: 'I Live For You' by Dhanashri Kadam

Title: I Live For You

Author: Dhanashri Kadam

Publisher: White Feather Publications

Price: 120 INR

A story of dreams, love and destiny, I live for you is a tender tale of Shria and Aaditya which will leave a mesmerizing impact on its readers. With breakups and divorces so rampant, I Live for you will surely make the readers think about their relationships again. It could work as a prescription for the broken hearts assures the author. I Live for you is a must read for all the people who believe in love and also who are living their lives for someone. A reader will not merely read it, he will live this book.
The name or the face of the person you love will automatically pop up in front of your eyes promises the author. Missing this book will not be a big issue obviously; however, you will miss the chance of falling in love again. Lets rekindle all those soft memories of the newly in love moments Lets fall in love with I Live For You which is not just a love story, its the love of a story!!

The story revolves around Aaditya and Shria, two people who are already in a relationship and know each other through a common reference, Neha who happens to be Aaditya’s sister and Shria’s closest friend. While Shria is committed to Varun, Aaditya is going around with Payal, Shria’s college mate. But somewhere down the line Shria and Aaditya get too close. Varun’s behaviour with Shria begins to go off track, he tries to look down upon her and all those times she is supported by Aaditya. And one fine Aaditya confesses his love for Shria, he tells her that he liked her since the first day he saw her at his place. Shria has a dream that night about Aaditya and being together. Both of them are perplexed at the situation but there comes a time when they are unable to fight with the circumstances and finally decide to tell the truth to their partners. They face a lot of criticisms but their love for each other faces everything. From Shria and Aaditya, they become ‘Aadishri’. But is life destined to be happy forever. There are some more struggles to come in their way. And to know that, do pick up this 150 page beautiful tale.

I bought this book especially because of the unique title it possesses and the complicated plot it deals with. In today’s times, everyone is into relationships that there is no time to realize true love and when it happens, people get in a dilemma. They do not understand what should be done, whether they should cheat their partners or start anew with the person they live. This book seems to have dealt with the positive aspects of such a situation. Many a times we sacrifice our love for someone else but we tend to forget that unless we won’t be in love, we won’t be able to spread love. The book is a quick read with just 150 pages to go but every page has its own essence. Nowhere does it feel that the story is dragging even though I personally feel the intricacies of the situation of being in love with someone else apart from your own partner could have been dealt more detail. But then it isn’t harming the book in anyway. I found 2-3 errors related to homophones as in ‘career’ was spelt as ‘carrier’ and ‘vain’ was spelt as ‘vein’. Overall the story has a smooth flow and finds a place among the good light romantic reads. Grab your copies from Flipkart

Book Review: 'An Excursion of Insight' by Harsh Agarwal

Guest Post by 'Jyotirmoy Mazumdar'

Title: An Excursion of Insight

ISBN: 978-93-82536-04-8

Binding: Paperback

Year: 2013

Pages: xi, 190

Price: INR 190.00

Book Summary:

Sonam was young of course, but this book does not tell the story of just another young lad!

Sonam did fall in love with Sarika, but this is not just another candid love endeavor!

It all happened in an Engineering College Campus, but still it's not just the tale of another Campus.

Sonam, who had his own dreams and vision, came from the Land of Bhutan to India to pursue Engineering.

A Buddhist ( both by birth and faith), a little philosophical too, but the reader is not given a philosophical treatise on Buddhism..

A story that takes you from the valleys and tea-gardens of Assam, to the hullabaloo of student life and eventually to an Excursion, an Excursion of Insight...

Review:

The Excursion of Insight, Sonam, that's what the author calls it, by the name of the lead protagonist, Sonam Dorji, is a good tale about a young lad who travels miles, countries in his case, to pursue engineering. It is inevitable that a guy won't fall in love during Engineering, as the author describes it. The book gets a little philosophical at times but it doesn't hamper the flow, not to mention the different characters and the character buildups the author has put up. But even after you read the blurb, the book, you cannot make out the perfect genre of the book because it isn't a perfect campus romance, nor a candid love story. It has a genre of its own and defines the definitions of uniqueness to a good extent. Though the book has more conversations but it doesn't loose the track. The book can be recommended for the people looking for a love tale with some extra toppings over it. My personal view rates the character of Salil over Sonam, well that's my view, readers will find Sonam to be an interesting prospect. Overall, a good read, and there will hopefully be many more books from Harsh.

Book Review: 'Mom and I Love a Terrorist' by Leema Dhar

What the book says:

"Oh! Come on mom. Till date, I don't know where my father is! God knows where I should find him. After so many years, you gave me a letter, he has left to me. Where is he now? Why were you trying to hide the truth for so long? You slept with a black stranger when he came in the house as if it's his own. He just came out of nowhere. Amaan has left me, and you want me to watch some poppycock here on T.V? You never answered me who the stranger was and why he stayed here for long."Kelly's cry echoes in the sea. 

Kelly, girl with a thousand dreams, was happy with her mom in a distant Island, Andaman, till she turned nineteen. A dark night… sudden entry of a black stranger in her life. Unanticipated, he shares her mom's bedroom. Passing through sleepless nights and intense depression, she finds a secret diary that reveals a clandestine past, creating a tsunami in Kelly's rhythmic life.Ricko, a Casanova, falls for her.

Unanticipated, he shares her mom's bedroom. Passing through sleepless nights and intense depression, she finds a secret diary that reveals a clandestine past, creating a tsunami in Kelly's rhythmic life. Ricko, a Casanova, falls for her.

She finds Amaan, the boat maker on the sea, the superman she needed.Will she be able to unfold her mom's haunted past and her cryptic love? Do Kelly and her mom love the same man, the black stranger, a terrorist?

About the author:

Leema Dhar (born 1993, Allahabad), 2nd year student of Humanities in Allahabad University; completed her ISC from St. Mary's Convent. She left her AIEEE for her creative passion. Her debut fiction, 'Till We Meet Again' is a National Bestseller. Her first anthology of Hindi poems was 'Kuch Lafz Naqab Mein' (2007), second in English 'For the Hundred Tomorrows' (2010). She was nominated consecutive second time for Hindustan Times Women Achiever Awards (2011 & 2012).

This is her second fiction that's thrilling yet has a pinch of romance in it. She's currently working as a freelancer in numerous creative projects.Besides enjoying creativity, her interest lies in psychology, an avid reader of romance and thriller. She loves singing, painting and travelling and along with becoming a writer, she wants to be one of the finest travelogues. Her greatest inspiration has been the Andaman Islands, giving her an inexplicable life, the darker hue of love.

My Opinion

Kelly is a nineteen year something who is peacefully living with her single mom in the island of Andaman. Like every girl, she is enjoying her college life as a student of Eng(Hons) first year. But all of a sudden a black stranger appears in her life. She finds it peculiar to see someone coming in their house whose identity is not disclosed properly. She is highly disturbed by his presence. Moreover, her mother is not too keen on letting out his identification apart from he being just a family friend. She finds her mother sneak into the guest room one night. She is angry on her mother for spending a night with an unknown person, she is heart broken to know that her mother is having an illicit affair with a man in the dark. She had always taken her mother as her inspiration. She even finds her mother ignoring her. All this brings her to the levels of frustration and she begins feel isolated in her own home.
In the meanwhile, her college mate Ricko seems to be getting attracted to her. Kelly experiences her first hug through Ricko. But there is someone who is her superman, someone who is very thoughtful and caring. He is someone towards whom Kelly finds herself getting attracted to. She doesn't know if it is love or not but there's something special in Amaan that draws her closer to him. His words work as the soothing sea for her.
But there is something that is haunting her? The black stranger, his relationship with her Mom and her dark past and the truth about her own Dad, the person about whom Kelly knows nothing. Will she be able to unveil the truth? Will a fatherless girl get her Dad back? Would Kelly be able to figure out her own feelings? Is Ricko the man of her dreams or is it the boat maker, her very own superman Amaan?

Coming to review, I would like to give a thumbs up to Leema for writing such a great read. She has very easily blended the thrill and romance. As a young author, Leema knows how to handle her characters quite effectively. Not even one scene looks irrelevant, just the right thing at the right place. The description of the sea in the books almost takes you to the Andaman. After reading this book, I have a strong urge to visit these islands. I have never been there before but the description when blended with Kelly's feelings compels you to travel to Port Blair. The emotions of a girl who has never known about her father and a girl who watches her mother sharing bed with a stranger have been handled very efficiently. The subtle and delicate emotions requires a strong thought process and Leema seems to have mastered this satisfactorily. I personally admired the character of Amaan even though Kelly happens to be the protagonist. His philosophy of life, from a new beginning to a beautiful ending, he had his own aura that set him apart. No wonder Kelly fell for him. I liked the way he says in his letter to Kelly that he doesn't know what love is but being with her brings back the happy times of life.
It's like being with you means, being myself.
The letter from Amaan can be considered as one of the most beautiful parts of the book. There are a lot of diary entries which keep the suspense on.
Apart the book has a very intriguing title with a very soothing yet attractive book cover. Kudos to the cover designer.
Now coming to the flaws of the book, the editing is pretty good except for one or two errors which are going to be eliminated in the second edition as per the author. But there's one thing I need to point out is that on Page 39, the diary states
LILI MATHEW
M.A(Previous) Calcutta University

But on Page 46, the diary owner writes her course as M.Sc(previous)

So we need a correction here.

Okay now, I am done with stating the cons of this book. And frankly speaking, we can easily overlook these drawbacks as the book has an amazing plot with good writing skills.

After reading this book, I am planning to read Leema's debut work 'Till We Meet Again' which is a national bestseller. And I am damn excited about her next novel 'The Girl Who Kissed The Snake' which will be hitting the stores by May next year.

Grab your copies from here

Read the my gupshup with the author here

Book Review: 'The Girl I Last Loved' by Smita Kaushik

Hello readers..How have you all been doing? 

Let's catch up with the book review of 'The Girl I last Loved' by Smita Kaushik.

This review was published at Type2Express few days back here

Publisher: General Press

Pages: 210

Price: 125 INR

Book Summary:

Love is all about flowers, gifts, movie nights, first kiss and then many more. Or is it? Then what about one sided love…

Being friends in spite of knowing your true feelings…
The incapability to read eyes…
Don’t frustration, pain and loneliness lie on the other side of love?
Meet Akash, an over achiever, who aims to conquer it all but is unable to love.
Kasam, a girl beyond his reach.
Though destiny keeps bringing them together, their world seldom collides.
When he was a nave geek, she was the Style Diva.

And now when he is a corporate junkie, where faces are masked. She is a professional motivator, who sees even beyond the faces.

Two people.
Single love story revisited three times.
Four proposals.
A ten year journey of finding and losing love.
Countless moments of serendipity.
Yet not a single moment of confession.
He lived all his life fighting love…
Will he ever fight for love?

About The Author

Smita Kaushik became author by chance and is now pursuing it by choice. Her first novel Lets Get Committed not only created waves among the young generation but also pitched some notes with others as well. Though her forte lies in romance with hint of comedy, she sometimes tries to lay hands on philosophy. An ex-DPSite, she did her graduation from KIIT University and is currently based in Hyderabad. Always a creativity inclined person, she has excelled in different art forms like contemporary, madhubani & warli and has won many national level art competitions. For fun she likes to watch rom-com and read novels.

Connect with the author on facebook here

The Review:

If you are looking for that perfect romantic novel with happy ending then this is the novel to go for. The story revolves around Akash and Kasam. Kasam is the girl everyone yearns for. Akash is one of those guys who are mad after her, he finds her out of her league. It is not just a story, it’s a journey of love that takes ten years to complete. Kasam gets to know about Akash’s fondness for her through the help of their friends in school. They roam about as friends and Akash always feels that Kasam would never accept him as her beau. During their friendship they get to know each other very closely. It is nice to see the author mentioning certain dark and light thoughts and habits both of them possessed and how Akash noticed everything. The description happens to be very catchy with a very soothing and good language usage. Each scene comes alive with every word, Kasam’s habit of chewing the thermocol cup while drinking coffee, her colourful bangles and her take towards life, changes that come in her with life with time and everything that is hidden behind the colourful, attractive and the most wanted girl of the campus.

Their paths cross again after years when they meet at Mumbai and Akash is smitten by her beauty yet again. Smita has described every scene very beautifully. The colourful description of Kasam when Akash finds her amidst the crowd of Mumbai Station takes you to another world. I loved it how Smita describes every minute detail with ease.

In a few more glimpses, I saw her lemon coloured kurti and purple embroidered jhola. I was nearing her. My speed continued to increase. I saw her hand, her sparkling multi coloured bangles, a red coloured thumb ring, a sea-green ring rig on her little finger, when she tried to stop a man who was about to crash into her.

This was just an instance of the perfect character definition the author builds up in the whole story. Kasam is shown donning the hat of a motivational speaker and runs an institute ‘Prayas’ as Akash says ‘she was doing what she was best at.’ Her speeches are super awesome and mind blowing. You almost feel the impact of those powerful words Kasam tries to present to the audience. It ain’t easy to be a motivational speaker and portraying one’s character like this requires a thumbs up to the author. Now the only question is will they meet again? Would Akash be able to express his feelings for her? Kasam had left him for someone else then, would she leave him again? It’s just round 2 guys, there’s another meeting left for the lovers to finally have a happy ending.

And if you ask me for any flaws then I didn’t find much though the story could have been a little swifter. But I am not at all complaining. The sweetness of love should stay for long, don’t you think so? Overall it’s a great romantic read. I didn’t find much of flaws in the story. This book is truly meant for die hard romantics. This 210 page book wouldn’t disappoint you.

Grab your copies here

Like the FB page of the book here

And my readers get another treat, you can have a glance at the first chapter of the book here

Ah! Yes if you want to know what I am reading now, I am reading Mom and I Love a Terrorist by Leema Dhar. You can expect a review very soon :)

Good night and sweet dreams...

Book Review: 'The Fallen Love' by Rashmi Singh

This was my first book by the author Rashmi Singh. Few days I had mentioned about having interviewed her on the platform of Isahitya. I had also received a copy for review and I must say the book left a deep impact on me. Since I had to put up a formal review on the website I didn't get a chance to mention but this my own space where I can blabber at my own pace. The moment I opened the envelope nothing could surpass the beautiful handwriting of the author. Yes, I remember teachers telling us about the importance of crystal clear pearly handwriting and I finally understood its meaning that day. I was totally mesmerized by her writing and I just forgot that we are here to read the book review. So check it out here

And I plan to post a Book Giveway soon...Anyone excited?