Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Indian Authors, Poems

To Petrichor: The divine essence of dust by Riddhi Pranay Wagle

 

51ZKSeJNnRL._SX313_BO1,204,203,200_.jpgTitle: To Petrichor: The divine essence of dust

Author: Riddhi Pranay Wagle

Publishers: Blue Rose Publishers

Language: English
“O! Thou symbol of serenity,
That keeps hiding a universe
Of mindful ideas,
Always discussed in the state
Of inebriation of blue rains,
Of dark soil and wet-less water;
That seems more intoxicated
Than all the ideas of Love……”
-To Petrichor (Riddhi Pranay Wagle)
I like poetry above all other forms of literature. It is because a collection of poems is not an expression of one’s creativity, it is the expression of one’s own soul. The poems will touch your heart if and only if it is pure. You cannot write a poem with your brain, it must come from your heart. This is the thought I had when I finished this book. For me, it is so difficult to review a poetry book. Because it is very hard to judge one’s thoughts and memories which forms a poem.

“To Petrichor: The divine essence of dust” by Riddhi Pranay Wagle is a collection of 62 poems. The book is divided into 3 major parts such as “Rotation of the love circle”, “Leaflets of life” and “Odes, to the fables of serendipity”. In the “Rotation of the love circle”, the author includes her thoughts on the most written emotion in the world, love. She tried to explore all the experiences one can possibly have in love. The journey of love from the moment it blossoms to the end when it dies. In “Leaflets of life”, she explored all the minor and major details of human life. This section is covered with the thoughts on dreams, failure, heartbreak, memories and more. The last part includes some of the strongest poems in this collection. We have heard a thousand times that ” a pen is mightier than a sword”, but how often a writer uses that pen to raise his/her voice against injustice. In this small collection, the author has given space to raise her voice along with other works. This kind of dedication has to be appreciated. The poem “To the Daughter of India” speaks volumes.

This is not a book made out of a piece of writings written here and there. This is a serious work. As she said in the preface, she has been framing her poems since grade six. She was dreaming to be an author since then. The dedication of the author is clearly visible when you turn the pages over.

The book is well edited and well framed. A reader can experience a roller-coaster ride when they read this book. Each part of the collection gives you that feeling. As I said earlier, this is because the collection of poetry is the inner voice of the author. This book is raising the bar for debut works.

This short read is recommended for everyone who loves poetry.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Thriller

Yes, I Met Maruti by Daxesh Trivedi

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Book Title: Yes, I Met Maruti

Author: Daxesh Trivedi

Publisher: Blue Rose Publishers

Language: English

Blurb: Its a story of Jay Jani from Vadodara, who firmly believes in the power of imagination. During his graduation at the ms University of Vadodara, he falls in love with beautiful Preeti Chauhan. Things become interesting & surprising when Maruti, the God arrived in his dream, Jay asked Maruti that he wants to become a very famous & successful person, Maruti said yes but I will take something in return from you & Maruti disappeared. Jay started his MBA study in Rajkot, where he met gorgeous Deepika. Suddenly zoom tv announced a storytelling competition, where the winner will get an opportunity to work as an assistant director with the living legend Shyam Benegal sir. Jay participates in it. To find what actually happened with Jay Jani, read the entire book.

My Review

“Yes, I Met Maruti” is a story written inside a story. The first thing I noticed is the unique name of the book. Second is the cover and blurb. These things are perfectly designed to create curiosity about the story. The blurb itself makes every reader to immediately starts reading to find out what happened for Jay at the end.

As a reader, I always interested to find out new styles used in the storytelling. In this sense, the narration used in this story is quite good and innovated.
The story is essentially based on a wish most of us have, to meet God once and demand something important in our life. This may be the shortcut to happiness. But nothing comes easy and everything has its own prize. What will be that prize? This paves source for wildest imagination and became the backbone of the whole story.

I found this story as quite unique and I’m giving 4 stars for that “power of imagination” alone. Though the book contains numerous typographical mistakes, it narrates a good story amidst them. This clearly shows the potential of the author.

Overall this is a good read with a strong message at the end.

Rating: 4/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Thriller

Divyastra by Nimish Tanna

 

43531831.jpgBook title: Divyastra

Author: Nimish Tanna

Publisher: Become Shakespeare

Blurb: Thousands of years ago, Indian Yogis possessed the knowledge to obtain the weapons of the gods. However, this knowledge could only be transferred from a Guru to his disciple by word of mouth. In today’s world, one mystic, who calls himself Guruji, still possesses this knowledge and is using it to empower an innocent person’s life. Only, this empowerment could be a deception and the innocent person is a thirteen year old boy with a stutter…

In this intertwining tale, an ambitious yet unsuccessful Shankar, in search of his identity, is manipulated to embark on a never-told-before fantasy tale; only to rediscover the father he never knew and unmask the mystical Guruji.

Amidst this confounding concoction of ancient myths, deluding personas and dispersed emotions, will Shankar ever be able to separate fact from fiction and find his true identity?

My review

5 star read

The combination and the story is unique and I’m experiencing this blend for the first time. The tale is based on the mythical period in the beginning. The story talks about the 10-11 different weapons or divyastras used in Hindu mythology. But when the story moves forward, the mythological genre slowly turns into sci-fi. The author has included the sci-fi touch very brilliantly in this tale. Because he justifies the characters of rishis who are not simply mythological but they actually experimented scientifically everything before believed. The story is a combination of emotions and knowledge. But the ending is a cliff-hanger. The author left some things unanswered. Maybe it will be good in that way.

The characters are developed in a manner to drive the story. I really liked Dr. Vyas character in the tale. His ways of explaining things with valid scientific points but infused with mythological references are a very interesting feature to note.

The best thing about this book is, it has an amazing plot but it is written in a simple way without any harder plot twists.  The blending of mythology was very good in the narration because in the halfway its signs totally vanish.  This is a perfect entertainment read because the touch of humor is unlikely in sci-fi or mythological genre books, but the author has incorporated it in the story excellently. The cover is catchy and unique. It is enough to generate curiosity about the story with a single look.

 

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Thriller

ENDURER A Rape Story by Kapil Raj

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“The deepest cuts are given by the people who are nearest to you. Why? Because they can.”

Book title: Endure A rape story

Author: Kapil Raj

Publisher: Write India Publishers

Language: English

Blurb: Life was a fun fed roller coaster: New found love, drugs, cat-fights, patch ups, crushes, night hangouts, and unplanned trips. Like any girl, not in the wildest dream, Palak could imagine that after attending a Rave Party, she will wake up to the horror of finding herself raped.

In traumatic conditions and struggle between sanity and hallucinations, she is compelled by the circumstances to leave her world. Already fighting a war within, her stances takes a toll witnessing horrifying tales of women and girls. Little did she knew that this catastrophe was not enough for one lifetime, and a storm – was just cooling its heels.

Will she be able to carve her path while facing the rapists, her tyrant father, appearances of her passed away mother? Should Palak let her life to be decided by people, society, and taboos? Would justice return her life or revenge lend her peace?

A heart-rending story of a girl, whose beliefs and honor has been battered, stands up to make choices, rediscovering the meaning of life.

My review

A really insightful and gripping tale. A story that has to be told over and over. The biggest power a pen is it holds the capability to bring untold or so-called untouchable stories to the common readers. The author has taken an applaudable initiative to write a very realistic story that we all are heard through mainstream media but refused to discuss openly.

The story follows Palak, a girl who loves to enjoy life. Her life is normal and she goes with all teenage fancies. But her life suddenly takes a twist when she wakes up to the horror of finding herself raped.  Easy to say but a hard or hardest to experience. At this point, we will think that the rest of the story will be around her survival and justice. But really the story speaks more volume than that. This story gives an insight into the life of rape victims and how their life and life of people around them changed after a single incident.

The characters in this story are written quite beautifully. Story with a strong female lead is the type of books I enjoy most. A change of perspective is essential in an ever-changing society. The female characters in this story also convey a positive message and the author has written this story on victims perspective. This will give an overall view of how the society around a single human being changed after an overnight incident. The success of every story lies at one point, whether it will leave you in an emotionally disturbed state or not. This story will make every reader, change their perspective to such incidents.

As an entertainment point of view, I really enjoyed this book. A good story with charismatic writing skill is enough to enjoy this book.

Rating:4.5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Thriller

Done With Her… by Chirasree Bose

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Book title: Done with her…

Publisher: Evincepub Publishing (2019)

Language: English

Blurb: A gripping tale of love, lust, obsession and murder. It’s a kick in the guts. Love that’s raw, lust that’s insane and obsession that’s frantically irresistible. Twists will keep you on the edge while the truth will stab at your subconscious.

Avesh Mathur, a techie stumbles upon the enchanting and sultry Spreeha at work. Every man in his office wants to have her. But he is struck with horror. She happens to resemble a girl from his past. The past that he’d do anything to keep under wraps.

Spreeha lives next door to Avesh. She watches him furtively day and night even though she has a lover. He intrigues her, however, she’s not done with her lover. She wants them both because they remind her of someone.

What tragedy awaits Avesh? Is the girl he’s madly falling for as beautiful on the inside as on the outside? Will he finally have to face the frightening truth that he’s been stashing for two years?

My Review

This is a perfectly concise story which is told through just more than 50 pages. What I like most is the author was not dragging the reader by spending too much time on unnecessary details. Building an environment to tell a story is essential for sometimes, but here this story can stand alone with its own strength.

From the blurb, it is evident that this is a thriller. But this thriller is based on a socially relevant story. A story which has to be told over and over until it reaches everyone’s ear. The execution of the story can be rated as good because the character of protagonists is well built. Main characters are built in a way that they all have a dark past and they don’t know how to deal with it. They are unable to make peace with their past and this directly affects their decision-making skills in the present and future. This touch of realistic characters is always successful in making connections to the storyline. In this story too, these emotions have a large role to play. Hence I can say, the storytelling capability of the author is exceptionally well. Though at a certain point towards the end, the story doesn’t meet my expectations.

A special mention has to be given for the cover. I can simply pass the time by staring at it over and over. The cover is so haunting, perfect for a thriller.  The dark theme of the cover truly expresses the core of the story.

Rating;4/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors, Motivational Quotes, Poems

A Cynic’s Shadow by Yash Singhania

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Blurb: Have you ever seen
A smiling man cry?

Of course you have.
You are crying on the inside too..

A Cynic’s Shadow, is a collection of poems that explore the ailments of a melancholic man, whose enticing screams are beautiful when inked.

My Review

Amidst the sea of fog

I  saw the sun resurrect.
So weak and wan
Then so full of light and power.
Vaporizing the darkness,
Illuminating the sea of fog.
Raising our hopes
And opening our eyes.
Illuminating some dreams and
burning some.
Ending some cold nights
And birthing some bright days.

                             -Yash Singhania (A Cynic’s Shadow)

A Cynic’s Shadow by Yash Singhania is a compilation of 64 poems accompanied by beautiful illustrations that are projecting the meaning of each word in it. As said in the book, this writer’ words tend to seep in the readers subconscious, painting fantasies. Fantasies one can’t get enough of.

These poems are penned down when the author was on a voyage of the solitude of self-realization, partly lost and partly in immense pain. Finding light in a road which seems to be dark and being alone throughout the journey is more than enough to light up the creativity of one’s own self. As said by the author in the preface, he convinced his orthodox family into believing that he was destined for better things than CA. So altogether these poems represent his journey of chasing dreams and to remind everyone that, the hope still exists. When you skim through these lines you can feel the pain of a trapped man who was searching for a way out in his own mind.

The illustrations accompanied by each poem are a marvelous piece of art. Once gaze into its meaning, you can’t look away for minutes. These poems are surrounded by emotions rather than the deep meaning. When I progressed reading these pages, I felt like reading a diary rather than a piece of literature.

The title and cover were deep and represent one’s own journey to the inner self. If you are a poetry lover you can taste this one too.

Rating: 4/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors

An Unmatched Couple’s Misfit Relationship by Biswajit Mishra

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Title: An Unmatched Couple’s Misfit Relationship

Author: Biswajit Mishra

Pages: 260 pages

Blurb: All the time she hoped and dreamed of a better tomorrow in her life in a span of six years. Her experiences both good and bad; the man, the mind and the moral… where, repeatedly she failed, woke up and then moved on.
Paayesha, solely grows with the time, experiences multiple affairs, extensively pulling out her inner persona to face the reality, and finally, she leads by conquering her insight while finding the literal tranquility, and reflects a moral… “Accept what it comes and dare to face, not always that comes what we expect.”
Even she went deep through the life to realize, “the time, the reality and the present are the factual ingredients for the life, rest everything virtual, an unseen mirage…!”

She realized four men in a span of five years. While in the search of the fifth man on her sixth year, what she expects, and finally accepts..? Is that a fortuitous Paayesha finally impounded felicitous?

It would be a favorite stuff in a single gulp, for anyone, whoever had experienced a break-up at least once in a lifetime.

My review

“Once loved, once married, once in extramarital; Paayesha didn’t drown. Still, she hopes to excel, even if in the deep ocean, she learned to live with the third side of the coin.”

-Biswajit Mishra (An Unmatched Couple’s Misfit Relationship)

An Unmatched Couple’s Misfit Relationship: Experience a love, never experiment a Break-up by Biswajit Mishra is an interesting tale of Paayesha when she sails through a course of life’s ups and down. Two things surprised me when I started reading this book. First one is it has a female lead because how often you came across a female lead in romance fiction particularly in Indian literature? Surprisingly the author has quite beautifully portrayed the female lead’s emotions, thoughts, and her decisions.

The second thing is this is not a predictable romantic story as I thought of, because at the end you never get that beautiful fairytale ending as we’ve seen in a lot of Bollywood movies. As a female lead, the growth of Paayesha’s character over the pages is so satisfying. The story of Paayesha’s love and breakups started right from college. Paayesha’s first love Abhishek abandoned her because he didn’t have the courage to confront his mother about his relationship. Once Payeesha came out from her depression, she slowly started moving ahead with her job and career and eventually get married to a guy whom her parents arranged for. She eventually realized he is impotent and moved out. In her office, she found solace from her friend Rishav who was like a breeze in a desert to her. But Rishav too wasn’t really good for her. But Rishav has a secret that he was hiding from her for a long time. He actually asks her one thing back for all the support and comfort he has given for her. What will be it? How she will manage this situation? The main crux of the story revolves around this thread.

I absolutely loved the way of writing of the author. The beauty of writing is the one main thing which made me hold to this book until the end. The diary entries of Rishav’s are absolutely straight from the heart. The emotions are conveyed through the words. This quality solely makes this book a good read. This is a fast-paced story which doesn’t give too much time on unimportant characters. I really liked this fast-paced method of storytelling, because it really helped the story from being monotonous and dragged at certain points.

The portrayal of depression and true heart-breaks are my favorite parts from the narrative perspective. Because it is an unlikely subject in romance fiction and it truly decided the author’s ability to convey emotions. The author has portrayed the female lead from a fragile young girl to a career focused- strong women. Truly her journey to womanhood is very heart-touching. The story also pays attention to the orthodox society which we all are lives in. The strong messages like this are inevitable to change the perspectives of society in things like marriage, life, and divorce.

Altogether it is a refreshing story which offers a handful of new thoughts before you close the last page.

Rating: 4/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Indian Authors, Self-Help

NUMI; The Guarded Loop by Nupur Sandhu

 

44281237Book title: NUMI; The Guarded Loop

Author: Nupur Sandhu

Publishers:  Blue Rose Publishers

Blurb: “NUMI The Guarded Loop” takes us through the mystic, beautiful and intriguing journey of Nuha, a sensitive young girl. She has already hit the quintessential milestones of life, yet continues to look for the oasis, searching within her soulful realms for vistas unknown. Life is seldom all about the crust. It is an inexplicable amalgamation of memories, insights and the miniature droplets of self-realization we conjure on the way. The transcendence she experiences through her journey flips her back to the revered but concealed moments from lives gone by; she morphs from a jovial youngster to an enlightened soul, having inculcated the art of being in sync with the supreme Creator. Her trysts with the mystical lead her to making soul-stirring revelations. Discover how the protagonist’s life takes a 360 degree turn when she meets someone with whom she had spent 7200 life times? Experience how the experiences of her previous lifetimes imprint and control her present? Will Nuha be able to complete the puzzle of her deep-felt connection with the stranger?

My review

I have come across only a handful of books which leaves me with a longlasting impression after reading. Numi is one of them. This book is unique in its own unique way. I have seen many reviews on this book and always impressed by its gorgeous cover whenever I saw. When I finally get my hands on this book, the first thing which mesmerized me is its blurb. This book belongs to the genre which is rarely touched and one can really feel its pristine nature once you begin to absorb the story.

The plot revolves around Nuha, who is an uncommon protagonist. The weirdness which one can feel in the initial stages of her introduction will gradually fade away once the story progressed. Nuha is a middle-aged married woman but she always feels a void deeply inside her. One day she meets a guy who eventually introduced her to a mentor of spiritual healing. In an attempt to explore herself through spirituality, she finds herself deeply attached to her mentor, Minha. She is very eager to find out her strange, deep and soulful connection with Minha. She constantly connects herself with her past through the meditation. She later finds out that she had spent 7200 lives with Minha. The adventurous and mystic spiritual journey of Nuha starts here. The element of suspense is aligned perfectly in the plot without losing the true essence of the storyline.

The story has many surprising twists and in a way, I can say that these twists are leading the story forward. The title is uncommon and it is enough to generate curiosity. The moment when the title makes sense, precious. This is not a story which one can easily skim through. You have to really involve in the process of reading. You have to be someone who walks beside the characters to capture the story. This book indeed gives me a new experience in reading.

Rating: 5/5

 

 

 

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors, Indian Mythology

The Peshwa: War of the Deceivers by Ram Sivasankaran

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The Peshwa: War of the Deceivers
Ram Sivasankaran
Westland Publications
2018. Pages – 474.

Blurb: Seven years have passed since Peshwa Bajirao Bhat annihilated the Nizam’s armies at Fort Mandu. The two forces have been engaged in attacks and skirmishes ever since. Acting on the advice of his right-hand man, the mysterious Anaamik Dabhade, the Peshwa now sets about laying a trap to truly ensnare the Mughals, and break their might.

The Empire, of course, has methods of its own. And Nizam Ul Mulk is itching for an opportunity to exact revenge of the formidable Bajirao. With assassins, saboteurs and criminals infiltrating the Maratha lands, the Mughal Empire scores as many victories in the night as the Peshwa does during the day.

Meanwhile, in the far reaches of the country, set ablaze by the never-ending conflict between these major powers, a Sikh warlord, a Rajput king and a Bundela princess find themselves increasingly tangled up in the endgame that will determine the very course of history. It is a battle of wits and skill, and the greatest deceiver of them all will prevail.

My Review

The Peshwa: War of the Deceivers by Ram Sivasankaran is the second part of the Peshwa series. This is the story of lust for power and cunning inside politics to achieve them. The plot mainly focuses on the character and leadership quality of Peshwa. Also, there is some hint of his famous love story with Mastani in this book, but the story is clearly written to talk about Peshwa, who was he really.

I always loved historical fiction because they are always the perfect blend of creativity and history. This book also never disappoints me. The book is comparatively thick because the author has narrated the story in-depth through these pages. These kinds of large books need a compelling narrative and unputdownable story to successfully lead the reader through these pages. In my opinion, this kind of beautiful narrative alone can drive the story. The blurb itself is written to generate the curiosity and we can expect an action-packed thriller. The war scenes were described so perfectly that a reader can imagine whole drama as if they were watching a movie.

The internal conflicts bother the nation’s integrity rather than any invasions. Any story on the background of lust for power is filled with revenge. This story also has a fierce flow of revenge throughout the pages.

Another highlight of the story is character built-up. Strong characters can only drive the story forward. Here, the characters are created to perfectly blend with the storyline. Each and every character is unique and attention-grabbing. Again the beauty of powerful writing skill.

The illustrations in between the pages completed the creation of the fictional historical world where the story is based.

The story has a perfect climax. A climax which fills the heart of every reader. That’s why I call it a masterpiece.

In a nutshell, it was an enthralling experience to read The Peshwa.

Rating:4/5

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Thriller

Day of Reckoning by Jack Higgins

 

51D5WNG1NYL._SX293_BO1,204,203,200_.jpgSynopsis: A death in Brooklyn sends reverberations around the world in Jack Higgins’s thrilling new adventure.

Higgins’s novels of honor, bravery, and irresistible intrigue delight millions of readers every year, but few of his books pack the sheer narrative power of Day of Reckoning.

Journalist Katherine Johnson made the mistake of getting too close to the secrets of international crime boss Jack Fox — but Fox made the mistake of killing her. Katherine’s ex-husband is Blake Johnson, head of the clandestine White House department known as The Basement, and with the President’s permission, the former FBI agent is about to take revenge. Wherever the money trail leads — New York, England, Ireland, the Middle East — Johnson and his Irish colleague, Sean Dillon, plan to hit Fox where it hurts the most, by cutting his illegal businesses to shreds, until Fox stands defenseless before his enemies.

But Fox did not become powerful by letting his enemies get that close. If Johnson and Dillon want to take him on, they will have to face his own brand of revenge. And it is a revenge every bit as deadly as their own.

Day of Reckoning is brilliant suspense — the master working truly at the height of his powers.

Mini Review

Jack Higgins is a master craftsman of crime thrillers. But often his many plot-lines are found to be repeating. This book is also a creative crime thriller with a suspense twist. The climax has a very good twist and the action-packed narrative makes this book a good entertainment. The backbone of this story is strong characters. Since this is a character-driven book, he made the plot so. Overall it is a good weekend read.

Rating; 4/5