20 December 2017

Review #693: The Nine-Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Love, it never dies. It never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it. Love can make you immortal”

----Gayle Forman


Janice Pariat, an award winning Indian writer, has penned an evocative and mesmerizing "fictional" biography through love called, The Nine-Chambered Heart that narrates the life story of a woman through nine characters, who has previously loved her or whom she has loved, either briefly or longwindedly in her life. The readers will only get to know this woman through the varied perspectives of the nine characters. And the one thing is clear from reading this book, that love never stays permanently in reality, but it lives on inside one's heart for as long as time goes on, and that is aptly captured by the author in this book.


19 December 2017

Review #692: A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If I were asked to define Motherhood. I would have defined it as Love in its purest form. Unconditional Love.”

----Revathi Sankaran



Amulya Malladi, a bestselling Indian author, has penned a thoroughly refreshing and alluring contemporary fiction called, A House for Happy Mothers that surrounds around two women, one wants a baby desperately thus choosing the surrogate route to India away from her posh Silicon valley life with her darling husband and aristocrat friends, and the other is desperate to provide a good schooling and education to her highly intelligent son and also to keep the wolves away from the doorstep of her poor household by selling her womb. A journey that connects two mothers in different yet in emotionally similar ways that is vivid, raw and extremely heart-touching to read about.

15 December 2017

Review #691: Austenistan by Laaleen Sukhera



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”

----Jane Austen



The Jane Austen Society of Pakistan started by the journalist-cum-author, Laaleen Sukhera payed a homage to our very dear and favorite 18th century author, Jane Austen, by penning some Austen-themed stories about the rich, some feminist and damsel-in-distress type, dramatic, haughty aristocrat Muslim women, who are way past their "marriageable age" of a posh society based in Pakistan, through a book called Austenistan featuring a collection of seven short stories written by the members of the Jane Austen fan club and is edited by Laaleen Sukhera.


13 December 2017

Review #690: The Last Namsara (Iskari, #1) by Kristen Ciccarelli



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves”

----Abraham Lincoln


Kristen Ciccarelli, a Canadian author, has penned a delightful debut YA fantasy novel called, The Last Namsara that is the first book in a duology named, Iskari and this revolves around a king's daughter, who was born with the power to destroy and kill lives, who embarks on a quest to kill the first dragon of her land that took away her mother and left her scarred for life, in order to save herself from getting married to a cruel commandant as per her father's deal, and this is no easy task, when she is the one responsible for destroying and burning down her kingdom when she was a little girl by summoning the first dragon all by herself. And now it is time to pay for her sins.

11 December 2017

Review #689: An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong…it is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideas.”

----Emma Watson



Maggie Shen King, a Taiwanese bestselling author, has penned a highly thought-provoking dystopian novel, An Excess Male that revolves around a not-so young man longing for companionship with a woman while getting wrapped up in a government-influenced deadly drama and scandal and is set in not-so-distant future in China, where male to female sex ration has become tremendously high, gradually making women almost extinct from the face of the Earth. This is the Handmaid's Tale for the men set the year of 2050.

7 December 2017

Author Q&A Session #90: With Sharanya Manivannan


Hello & Welcome,


Just a few more days to go before we say goodbye to another year and welcome a new one with open arms.

Hope y'all are spending the last few days of the year without any regret or worry, living a little for yourself.

So without further wasting any more minute, let's welcome a very talented and an amazing Indian author on this brand new author interview session.

Ladies & Gents,

let's welcome Sharanya Manivannan, whose book The High Priestess Never Marries has won the hearts of so many readers, both globally and locally.

Review #688: The Tree Bears Witness (Birbal, #2) by Sharath Komarraju



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.”

----J.K. Rowling


Sharath Komarraju, an Indian author, has spun a riveting thriller set in one of the greatest Mughal Emperor Akbar's court in Agra in his new book, The Tree Bears Witness which is the second book in the series Birbal that revolves around Akbar's new Rajput queen's dear brother's highly suspicious death in the gardens of the court and to solve the mystery behind the death of a young and powerful Rajput prince, Akbar assigns his favorite and most intelligent courtier/minister, Birbal in order to give appropriate punishment to the culprit(s).




5 December 2017

Review #687: Hell! No Saints in Paradise by A.K. Asif



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“It’s all Within. The Whole Cosmos.”

----A.K. Asif


A.K. Asif, a Pakistani author, has penned a heart gripping and thoroughly absorbing debut urban fantasy novel set in the futuristic world, Hell! No Saints in Paradise that revolves around a Muslim atheist who embarks upon a spiritual mission to discover the Islamic fundamentals of life and the real meaning of Hell and Paradise through his new found friends and a leader and a preacher of Islam, but the mission is not an easy one, from getting nearly slaughtered to exploring erotica to discovering oneself, this young man's journey is thoroughly refreshing and enlightening.



4 December 2017

Cover Reveal: Love in Lutyens' Delhi by Amitabh Pandey




Hey y'all,

Hope everything is going great and awesome for you guys. As for me, life has never been much better.


Get ready for a touchy-feely romantic journey of two realistic protagonists in a coming-off age contemporary love story.


So let's do a quick cover reveal for this super awesome book (I bet its gonna be super awesome just by reading its synopsis!) that is going to release on 22nd December 2017.


1 December 2017

Review #686: East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.”

----Noam Chomsky



Khurrum Rahman, a Pakistan-born, British author, has penned a pot-boiling thriller, East of Hounslow that revolves around a low-key 30-something Muslim drug dealer, who still lives with his mum in the British town, Hounslow, who is not very religious, yet for the sake of religion, he attends the Friday prayers at a local mosque, but little did he knew that he has been on the radar of MI5 for a very long time, so when he loses the deadly supplier's money, this drug dealer gets caught up as a pawn in the war between religious extremists who wants the world to teach a lesson in the name of Allah and the MI5's one-man team who wants to stop the jihadists at any cost.

29 November 2017

Review #685: The Weight of Him by Ethel Rohan



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”

----Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi




Ethel Rohan, an Irish author, has penned an extremely heart touching story called The Weight of Him that revolves around an obese father's loss over his elder son who has committed suicide, and his journey to deal with grief and heal over the loss of his loved one lead him on a path to weight loss but sadly that pushes him away from his dear family and his wife. Set in an idyllic back ground of Ireland, this deeply moving story is going to inspire the readers dealing with loss and grief thoroughly.

27 November 2017

Review #684: Little Secrets by Anna Snoekstra



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.”

----Roald Dahl



Anna Snoekstra, an Australian author, has penned a riveting psychological thriller called, Little Secrets that is centered around a small Aussie town, where a female wannabe journalist lives amidst her unhappy family and the haunting memories of burning down of the courthouse with a kid inside it, but when porcelain dolls looking like an exact replica of little daughters of the houses start to turn up into those houses' doorsteps, that wanna-be journalist is sure that she has found her new story that will make her a sure-shot journalist, not before she stumbles upon a strange man living in the town's motel whose arrival brought upon that dolls incident.

23 November 2017

Review #683: Demi-Gods by Eliza K. Robertson



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“People say teenagers think they're immortal, and I agree with that. But I think there's a difference between thinking you're immortal and knowing you can survive. Thinking you're immortal leads to arrogance, thinking you deserve the best. Surviving means having the worst thrown at you and being able to continue on despite that. It means striving for what you want most, even when it seems our of your reach, even when everything is working against you.”

----Francesca Zappia


Eliza Robertson, a Canadian award winning author, has penned a subtly compelling historical fiction called, Demi-Gods that revolves around two teenage sisters who find themselves caught in the charms of two blue-eyed, slim and terribly handsome teenage brothers who are the sons of their mother's new beau. Together the four patrons discover sexuality, first love, summertime adventures, life and themselves through mistakes and sun-kissed beach side drama. The exploration of teenage-hood is well captured through this sunny story set in the 1950s British Columbia and California.

21 November 2017

Review #682: Empress Orchid (Empress Orchid, #1) by Anchee Min



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“A man who does not like power will suffer from its cruelty.”

----Shan Sa



Anchee Min, a Chinese author, has penned an enlightening tale about the last empress of China in her book called, Empress Orchid that revolves around a young concubine of the last emperor of the forbidden city where the young lady is caught in the race against an heir to the king in order to rise above her mistress status, but once she becomes the empress, she gets tangled up in the war of jealously, rage, ugly politics, scandals against the kingdom which she wants to desperately save it from the English invaders but the problem is the kingdom doesn't want to be saved, thereby becoming the sole reason for the downfall of the forbidden city.

16 November 2017

Review #681: The Astonishing Thing by Sandi Ward



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.”

----Ernest Hemingway



Sandi Ward, an American author, has penned a heart warming debut contemporary fiction called The Astonishing Thing that is centered around a regular family of four and with one pet cat and a pet dog, and this pet cat narrates the story of this family from her perspective and how suddenly the marriage of the husband and wife shakes the ground of each one, including the cat itself, and how the cat makes an effort to repair this family. A truly enlightening and refreshing tale told from the point of view of a pet female cat whose emotions run deeper than the roots.

14 November 2017

Review #680: Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons, #1) by Leigh Bardugo



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then, I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learned that inside every one of them, there will always be both. The choice each must make for themselves - something no hero will ever defeat. I've touched the darkness that lives in between the light. Seen the worst of this world, and the best. Seen the terrible things men do to each other in the name of hatred, and the lengths they'll go to for love. Now I know. Only love can save this world. So I stay. I fight, and I give... for the world I know can be. This is my mission, now. Forever.

----Diana Prince, From the movie Wonder Woman by Patty Jenkins




10 November 2017

Review #679: The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“I have now come to know that what one believes often becomes permanent, and what become permanent can be indestructible.”

----Chigozie Obioma



Chigozie Obioma, an ward winning Nigerian writer, has penned a captivating and a spellbinding tale called, The Fishermen that revolves around four brothers living in a small town in Nigeria, who in the absence of their strict father, decide one day to go for fishing in the river that is supposed-to-be-cursed, later to sell their catch for good money, but when their mother comes to know about it, they could not avoid their father's harsh beatings and later the older brothers gets cursed by a local madman that he would be killed by one of his fishermen brothers, leading to a chain of disastrous events in the lives of the four brothers.

9 November 2017

Review #678: Copycat by Alex Lake



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“He who searches for evil, must first look at his own reflection.”

----Confucius


Alex Lake, a British novelist, has penned a subtly gripping psychological thriller called, Copycat that is centered around a well established doctor, wife and mother of three kids whose life takes a wild turn when one of her college friends moves back to her hometown who informs her about the fake profile that someone has been using under that doctor's name. Not only that, things get more weird, when the Facebook posts on that fake account gets a little too close to the home, leaving her husband dubious of his wife's mental health condition, owing to the fact that postcards, emails, handwritten notes, Amazon account all are being impersonated by someone who knows the doctor a little too well or maybe the doctor is doing it all by herself, who knows? Read the book to find out!

8 November 2017

Review #647: A Hundred Little Flames by Preeti Shenoy



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“To the loyal and to the blood-lovers, in the good families and in the fiery dynasties, life is family and family is life. It is the same people who give advice and their vices to live well who turn out to be the ones who give resource and reason to live long.”

----Criss Jami


Preeti Shenoy, an Indian bestselling, pens a heart warming family drama in her new book called, A Hundred Little Flames that centers around the bond of friendship between a young man, who has recently lost his job in the city, and his aging yet humble grandfather, living in his ancestral home in a small village in Kerala. When the paths of the two collide through trust, love, and through a beautiful story, of two friends whose fates never let them to tie the knot in a holy matrimony, the young man and the grandfather learn a lot about life from one another and also learn to live for themselves.

6 November 2017

Review #646: Victoria & Abdul by Shrabani Basu



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.”

----Alfred Tennyson



Shrabani Basu, an Indian author has penned an honest memoir about a forgotten man who mattered the most in the life of Queen Victoria in her book called, Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant. Abdul Karim was just a young man when he first met the British monarch, Queen Victoria and since that day, till the day, the queen died, their friendship stayed invaluable and that reached beyond the walls of Osborne House to Buckingham Palace to India thereby creating an uproar amongst the royals and the British Empire. Very predictably, after the death of the Queen, her family erased every single proof of the Queen and her munshi's friendship, yet somehow and mostly through hard work, dedication and by miracle, author, Shrabani Basu, has successfully resurrected the forgotten Indian Muslim man who became an integral part of Queen Victoria's life through this memoir.

2 November 2017

Review #645: Red Maize by Danesh Rana



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Terrorism has nothing to do with religion, Islam or otherwise. Terrorism is born of fundamentalism not of religion.”

----Abhijit Naskar



Danesh Rana, an Indian Police Service officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, has penned a vividly compelling tale about Jammu and not Kashmir, the metaphor of this heavenly paradise and its ever growing militants, which we rarely hear of from the hills of Jammu, in his debut book called, Red Maize. This book narrates the tale of three Muslim brothers and their headstrong and brave mother set across the idyllic mountainous landscape of Jammu, where the middle brother joins his hands with the militants to free his land from the Indian Armed Forces, caught between the crossfires of the jihads and the Indian Armed Forces are the innocent people of the land.

29 October 2017

Books N Beyond: Unboxing the October Wonder Box


Only a true book lover can fell the joy behind the book subcription boxes. As for me, book subscription boxes deliver ultimate happiness and ample of surprises in the form books and bookish goodies. By now, I've tried almost every other major book subscription boxes avaliable currently in India. So I can, pretty much, rate which one is the best right now in the country and which you must definitely stick to, no matter what.

Also today I'm going to unbox such a book subscription box, that is popular for including best selling, award-winning and highly recommended books, besides the goodies that are of best quality. So save up, and keep reading.






25 October 2017

Review #644: Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”

----Dalai Lama XIV


Jennifer E. Smith, am American author, has penned an entertaining and light hearted young adult contemporary story called, Windfall that centers around an orphan teenage girl randomly buying a lottery ticket, but later giving it to the guy, on whom she has a huge crush on, as a gift, who also surprisingly wins the ticket, followed by the winning money drama between the two. But what they together discover is that, money's power is beyond friendships and love, and that it certainly can change things.



12 October 2017

Review #643: Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”

----Suzanne Collins



Kaira Rouda, a USA TODAY bestselling, multiple award-winning author, has penned a gripping psychological thriller called, Best Day Ever that is centered around a perfect married couple, where the caring husband plans a perfect weekend getaway for his darling wife at their lake house somewhere away from their two young boys and the bustling noise of their urban life style. Although the husband has planned everything meticulously to surprise his stupid wife, but gradually, the true colors of the husband's intention behind this trip comes out, but can the wife sniff that out or will it be too late before she figure things out. A crazy, psychotic marital tale of a perfect couple.

10 October 2017

Review #642: My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“She is still a prisoner of her childhood; attempting to create a new life, she re-encounters the trauma.”

----Judith Lewis Herman



Gabriel Tallent, a Mexican author, has penned an extremely heart wrenching and horrifying, debut young adult contemporary fiction called, My Absolute Darling that centers around a young teenage girl, living with her crack head father, who teaches her about guns and shooting targets in the morning after her school and rapes her almost every other night, although the young protagonist, is clever and brave enough to get out of this terrifying life of hers, yet her emotions don't let her to, but her life drastically changes, when her grandfather dies suspiciously, her father pulls her out of school, where her teachers are worried about her lifestyle, and her father brings home another young girl.

6 October 2017

Review #641: You Don't Know Me but I Know You by Rebecca Barrow



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Anyone who ever wondered how much they could love a child who did not spring from their own loins, know this: it is the same. The feeling of love is so profound, it's incredible and surprising.”

----Nia Vardalos


Rebecca Barrow, an English author, has penned a heart warming and extremely compelling debut teen fiction called, You Don't Know Me but I Know You that is centered around a young high school teenager, who has a loving adoptive family, great friends and a charming and kind musician boyfriend and both are looking forward to their future excitedly, but then this young teenage girl's life changes when she has to make difficult decision that her birth mother made for her a decade ago. This story is all about families, love, friendships, choices, motherhood and ultimately about honesty above everything.

4 October 2017

Festive Wear Look Book #1: Be Casual in a Saree


Canon 1200D 18-55mm Zoom lens

Durga Puja, for us Bengalis, it is not just a festival, it is an emotion that can't be shrugged off or ignored. For 10 days, Devi Durga along with her four children, embark from their heaven abode to the lands of the mortal to shower her immense blessings upon all of us and to curb darkness and evil from the face of the Earth. This puja is all about worshiping female power, her indomitable strength and her love and ultimately it is more about the fight of goodness over evil.


During this very time of the year, the Bengali women channel an exceptional beauty through them, that is mainly because of their attire and big-eyed-kohl looks. Even I too, who rarely wear any traditional attire, was decked up in an authentic traditional Bengali look, complete with a saree and kajal.

Since I've never been much of a fan of sarees, so I found myself being rescued by none other than Triveni Ethnics with their wide, unique and elegant collection of sarees and other traditional Indian wear for both men and women.

Canon 1200D 50mm Canon Prime Lens



On the sixth day of Durga Puja, i.e. Sosthi, we call it in Bengali, I wrapped myself in a dual tone red-and-blue contrast jacquard and georgette saree, that stuck to me for so many hours like a kind and understanding friend and not for once made me felt alien in it.

**PS: My last feeling is relatable to those women who are afraid to or rarely/never wear any saree in their life for any occasion, be it a wedding or a festival**
 
Canon 1200 D Canon 50mm Prime Lens
 
 
Canon 1200D Canon 50mm Prime Lens
 
 
Canon 1200D Canon 50mm Prime Lens
 
 
Canon 1200D Canon 85mm Prime Lens
 
 
Canon 1200D Canon 50mm Prime Lens
 
 
Canon 1200D Canon 85mm Prime Lens
 
Ears & Wrist: Junk Jewelry

On my lips: Maybelline New York Color Show Matte Lipstick

On my eyes: Eye liner

Blouse Style: Boat-necked, and back hook

Shoes: Wedge heels from SSS

Location: My office @ Sector V, Kolkata, India


If you like this saree, then I'm afraid you can't get your hands on it, since it has gone out of stock from the website. Not to worry, there are other fantastic and eye-catchy dual tone colored and myriad sarees that are worth a buy and are incredibly beautiful.


Wrap yourself up in a Triveni Ethnics saree this festive season, and make all the heads turn.
Happy shopping guys!



Take Care xx

21 September 2017

Review #640: An Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The gods made our bodies as well as our souls, is it not so? They give us voices, so we might worship them with song. They give us hands, so we might build them temples. And they give us desire, so we might mate and worship them in that way.”

----George R.R. Martin



Wray Delaney, pen name for Sally Gardner, an award-winning British children's author, has penned an intriguing and a very sizzling historical fiction called, An Almond for a Parrot that revolves around a young woman in London locked up in a prison as she is accused of killing her husband, whom she got married to at the age of 12 by her father to pay off his neck-deep debts, and from the prison cell, the woman narrates the story of her life, of how she discovered her sexuality at a tender age, of how she became a prostitute, of her godly gifts of seeing dead people's ghosts from parrots in a cage, of falling in love, of her other talents of pleasing men, and mostly of her erotic exploration through ages.

15 September 2017

Review #639: Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.”

----Tennessee Williams


Heather Maclean, the New York Times bestselling author, has penned a compelling YA fantasy book called, Toward a Secret Sky that centers around a teenage girl, who just lost her mother in an accident, turning her into an orphan girl, as a result she travels to the Scottish Highlands to her paternal grandparents' house, where she meets a strange yet very attractive young man, who unravels the mystery behind her deceased parents' true and real profession of helping the good and fighting darkness in the world, all the while opening a new dimension of universe for the young girl to make her believe.



30 August 2017

Review #638: The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad, Ingrid Christophersen (Translator)



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“She couldn't survey the wreck of the world with an air of casual unconcern.”

----Margaret Mitchell


Åsne Seierstad, an Award winning journalist-turned-Norwegian-author, has penned a delectable and slightly captivating account of her stay with an Afghan family, who owned a bookshop in a terror-stricken and on-the-verge-of-a-civil-war type Kabul in the year 2002, in the book called, The Bookseller of Kabul. This is the personal story of almost every human being, mainly women of the household, from the bookseller family, with two wives and tons of children and an equally great number of siblings, the bookseller is a subtly liberal man of his times, that only demanded women of each and every household to stay indoors and keep giving birth until their last dying breath.

25 August 2017

Review #637: Charlatans by Robin Cook



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“We can't possibly have a summer love. So many people have tried that the name's become proverbial. Summer is only the unfulfilled promise of spring, a charlatan in place of the warm balmy nights I dream of in April. It's a sad season of life without growth...It has no day.”

----F. Scott Fitzgerald


Dr. Robin Cook, the international best-selling author, is back with a bang and this time with an intriguing and pot-boiling medical thriller called, Charlatans that no-doubt, revolves around the cutting edge technology and advancements in the field of medicine and medical practices, but mainly centers around the educational backgrounds of the doctors, where the two protagonists, one, a chief medical resident and the other, a star anesthesiologist of the Boston Memorial Hospital who get tangled up in the OR deaths of three patients, and the investigation behind the death puts doubt in the minds of the chief medical resident about the star anesthesiologist's training and the fancy educational background, even though they get emotionally and sexually involved with one another beyond the premises of the hospital.

22 August 2017

Review #636: The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the Gun down.”

----Malcolm X



Karin Slaughter, the No. 1 bestselling author, has penned a hair-raisingly chilly and terrifying family thriller, The Good Daughter that centers around two crimes in a small American town, occurring in a time gap of 28 years, one the murder of a popular defense attorney's wife, that left the two daughters mentally and physically paralyzed for life, and the other, is a mass shooting at a local school, to which the younger daughter becomes a sole witness. And after the second crime, the daughters are pretty sure, that the memories of past crime that ripped their family apart won't stay buried under and that there is more mystery and buried lies behind both the crimes, and are they willing to explore all those mysteries, now that they have walked on the career footsteps of their father?

10 August 2017

Review #635: Final Girls by Riley Sager



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Even in times of trauma, we try to maintain a sense of normality until we no longer can. That, my friends, is called surviving. Not healing. We never become whole again ... we are survivors. If you are here today... you are a survivor. But those of us who have made it thru hell and are still standing? We bare a different name: warriors.”

----Lori Goodwin



Riley Sager, a pen name for an American author, pens her debut horror-cum-thriller book, Final Girls that revolves around three female mass murders survivors, whom the media coined them as the Final Girls, yet the last final girl, never wanted to live her life as a final girl, instead she pretended to live a normal life in Manhattan with her handsome boyfriend, while she blogged about cakes, but soon her pretentious perfect life crumbles to ground, when the first final girl is found dead at her home, followed by the surfacing up of the second MIA survivor at her doorstep, making her wonder, even after so many years later, are they still safe?

7 August 2017

Review #634: Bite of the Black Dogs by Sanjay Bahadur



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”

----Mark Twain


Sanjay Bahadur, an India author, pens a terrific, nail biting and gripping real-life special operations of Indian Special Forces book based on a true story, and it is called, Bite of the Black Dogs that is set across the idyllic yet challenging landscape of Kashmir, India, where an Indian special force group is assigned to eradicate and extract the terrorists and the alleged killers of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus settled in Kashmir) belonging from the infamous militant group of Hizbul Mujahideen ("Party of Muslim Holy Warriors") who are funded and supported by various countries and various states of India. This real life account of the militants as well as the special task force men, who would do anything for their countrymen.

3 August 2017

Review #633: The Rome Affair by Karen Swan



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.”

----Giotto di Bondone



Karen Swan, an English author, has penned a compelling, stirring and riveting contemporary romance novel, The Rome Affair that revolves around a former British barrister who after escaping a not-so-sweet-past into the Rome and works as a tour guide besides writing a blog, but one day she chances upon a stolen handbag in a dust bin that belongs to an Italian socialite and aristocrat old lady living in a grand mansion, with her own past demons and when these two women's paths are crossed, history is bound to get unraveled amidst of lies and secrets, and taking the tour guide to places, where she could never imagine to be, until she comes across the mystery of the old lady's not so grand life.

1 August 2017

Review #632: The Crunch Factor by Andaleeb Wajid



My rating: 2 of 5 stars


“You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not.”

----Jodi Picoult


Andaleeb Wajid, an Indian author, has penned a mildly heart warming, Bollywood-ish and spicy contemporary romance called, The Crunch Factor packed with a finger-licking delicious love triangle between a female food photographer, whose parents ask her to marry a filthy, rich restaurant owner, but unfortunately her heart is torn apart between the choices and the duties towards her middle class family and the choices of her heart's desire that wants to be wooed by that very restaurant's hunky and handsome head chef. Will it all be roses for the food photographer? Or will it cost her a lot of challenges to walk on the right path which she actually deserves?

31 July 2017

Review #631: Here Falls The Shadow by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you're allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind.”

----Shannon L. Alder



Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, an Indian author, has penned a terrific and nail biting thriller, Here Falls The Shadow that surrounds around the death threat of a notable author and the killings of his family estate's dogs, as a result of which, the infamous and ingenious PI, Janardan Maity jumps to the rescue with an old acquaintance of his, into this sleepy little town covered by forests, to uncover the author's family curses, old traditions, nemesis, and many untold family secrets.


28 July 2017

Review #630: Wishbones by Virginia Macgregor



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”

----Laurell K. Hamilton


Virginia Macgregor, an English author, has penned an extremely encouraging and soul stirring young adult contemporary fiction called, Wishbones that explores the life of a teenage girl, who wants to fix her mom and dad's relationship, by helping her obese and depressed mom to feel and get better, but fate have other plans for her, when after a night out, her mother falls sick, and her family is pushed to the edge off the limits. And not to mention, there are lots of things that she doesn't know yet, knowing which will forever change her life. An uplifting YA story about sexuality, eating disorder, depression, relationships and encouragement that is a must read.

26 July 2017

Review #629: True Liars by Isha Inamdar



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“We have to allow ourselves to be loved by the people who really love us, the people who really matter. Too much of the time, we are blinded by our own pursuits of people to love us, people that don't even matter, while all that time we waste and the people who do love us have to stand on the sidewalk and watch us beg in the streets! It's time to put an end to this. It's time for us to let ourselves be loved.”

----C. JoyBell C



Isha Inamdar, an Indian writer, has penned her debut contemporary romance story called, True Liars that revolves around the life of a young and aspiring female deejay artist caught between the worlds of her best gay friend and that friend's brother interspersed with wedding vows, typical big-fat Indian wedding, lies, friendships, love and passion in a serene landscape of a small heritage town in Jodhpur. This novel is perfect for the fans of Colleen Hoover, Sylvia Day, Jojo Moyes.

24 July 2017

Review #628: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”

----Voltaire



Mur Lafferty, an American author, has penned an intriguing science fiction thriller called, Six Wakes that centers around a spaceship carrying six crew members, where each one wakes up as a clone with no memory or record of what happened or who killed them, but only with the memory of dying. And as their bloody bodies floated around the space ship under zero gravity and with the ship's controlling AI being offline, the six crew members are pretty sure that someone amongst them must have killed them, but why? Set in the 25th century, this story is going to thrill the readers in a subtle manner.

18 July 2017

Review #627: Secrets of Nanreath Hall by Alix Rickloff



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

----Søren Kierkegaard



Alix Rickloff, a critically acclaimed author of historical and paranormal romance, has penned a heart touching historical fiction called, Secrets of Nanreath Hall that revolves around two women, in two different timelines, searching for their own identities, one is looking for her biological mother's family and her forgotten background, while the other leaves everything behind for love. Both the stories, narrated in alternative chapters, are not only endearing but are also intriguing enough to keep the readers on their edges.


13 July 2017

Review #626: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“A woman's perfume tells more about her than her handwriting. ”

----Christian Dior


Patrick Süskind, a late German writer and screenwriter's internationally, critically acclaimed and an award-winning novel Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders translated into English with the title, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer The German novel set in the backdrop of 18th century France that rocked the whole world with its intensity, level of fantasy and surrealism, historical realism, sensuality and scents surrounding around a young man, with a god-gifted talented to identify the subtle and underlying scents of worldly things as well as of human beings.

12 July 2017

Review #625: One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”

----Friedrich Nietzsche



Emma Curtis, a British writer, pens her debut psychological thriller called, One Little Mistake that revolves around a woman, who is a mother of three beautiful children, wife to a husband who loves her a lot and with a job she loves, but her perfect life has cracks and those cracks make her slip, as she commits one tiny little mistake, which she later confides to her beat friend, who in turn, asks her to keep lying in order to save her kids from child protection services and little did this woman knew that a terrible calamity was waiting at her front door, the moment she confided in her best friend. A story about two best friends and a little girl, who just lost her mother and is forced to go to foster care.