Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Erotic fiction, Fiction, short story

The Unexpected by Avril Sellin|Book review

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Two strangers in the night are joined by audacity and danger.

On a dark, deserted beach in Los Angeles, a wealthy man in an Armani suit and sleek Bugatti is approached by a wandering twenty-something woman in tattered leather. She boldly interrupts his brooding, refusing to leave as he urges her to move on. In an effort to get rid of her, he promises to take her where she needs to go.

However, a trip intended to be quick ends up turning the night into something out of a nightmare, and the two strangers become linked by an unexpected bond.

My review

The Unexpected is the tale of two strangers. They are drawn into each other’s company by some unexpected circumstances. Garret, a wealthy businessman who was brooding in a deserted beach is approached by Rhea, a homeless twenty-year-old girl, rather fearlessly. He tries to get rid of her but some unexpected turn of events pushes them to spend more time together than they thought. One thing leads to another and they are now all set to start a road trip. But both these characters have their reasons to justify these situations. They have their justifications. Both of them are escaping from some mysterious past. They are met in the way of escape. They are connected by a mysterious bond.

The author carefully builds up a dark mystery on both characters. Both of them are in pain. The pain that they are trying to escape rather than facing them. The story doesn’t give any hint about the character’s background. This makes the plot even more mysterious. The story has much potential to develop into a thriller or horror considering the various events that took place in the plot.
Overall it is a very engaging short read which leaves you with questions at the end.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fantacy, Fiction, Poems, poetry, Self-Help, Young-Adult

No Damsel by Marian Hanna MPH|Book review

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No Damsel is a eulogy to the beauties with curly hair and a song of praise to the naturally confident woman who wades through life, armed with her true sense of self as she paves the way for her successes.

Hanna carries carefully weaved words that captures the strength of women who confidently make their demands, and get served by life without fear or favor.

A woman’s strength is a virtue that is scarcely understood, and this strength is central to the ideas captured in No Damsel.
Sadly, the only response they have for their fear of strength is resorting to labels and hasty generalizations. They call strong and vibrant women – bitter feminists. These labels can never dampen down the strength of women, they only lend more credence to women’s voices and demands of equality and equity.

My review

All the writings from Hanna has one common quality, she advocates for unity in diversity. She writes for breaking barriers and preaches to stay true to oneself. Her writings, empower the readers none like others. The carefully chosen words convey the underlying idealogy beautifully. It was a great pleasure to witness this creativity of conveying ideas, only through very few words.
“No Damsel” basically encourages you to rise above your inferiority mindset. It is about empowering yourself to maximize your potential. The author sees all the women as one. She uses the power of sisterhood. Not to believe everything you hear, but to find out everything your own. That’s how we develop our personality and bring ourselves to a step closer to equality.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Poems, poetry, Self-Help, Young-Adult

Coiled by Marian Hanna MPH|Book review

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People often confuse self-confidence to mean pride and vice versa but, the truth is pride and self-confidence are poles apart. The difference between pride and self-confidence is made clear in Coiled.

While self-confidence helps you to understand your strengths and makes you aware of your truth, pride is a brash covering for inadequacies; it never lasts. Self-confident people don’t need to brag about their strengths before you will notice their strengths, as they are conspicuous and accommodating.

The difference is crystal clear for all to see, like the ravishing beauty of a girl with curly hair that twirls. Hearts melt when the sun emblazons its natural light on their coils of confident people, but they are never one to make noise about their beauty because they know that loud talk never validates their beauty.

My view

Coiled is the celebration of curly hair! I came across this topic for the very first time. I have read many writings about breaking gender biases and stereotypes. But this author has chosen a very different topic to address these issues, curly hairs. This beautifully written poems are about celebrating the differences and ethnicities by accepting them. Although the poems gave importance to curly hairs, it also carefully acknowledges all others. This is the underlying message that every reader should accept from this book.

I have read Curse of curls from the same author before. So I felt that this is the continuation of that book. Here the author gave emphasize on developing self-confidence and mutual love. This message is presented through the close-knit bond of sisterhood and friendship, addressing little girls. As always the illustrations also contribute to the beauty of the book.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fantacy, Fiction, Poems, poetry, Self-Help

Curse of Curls by Marian Hanna MPH|Book review

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Curse of Curls is a probing piece that mirrors the inherent biases in our diverse world and rightly deciphers them.

Using curly hair as a symbol, Hanna understands the prevalence of stereotypes, which constantly dislodge the truth and forms our judgment of what is right or wrong.

Curse of Curls asks vital questions such as – Why are we naturally averse to something we do not know? Why do we deny ourselves the chance to learn, grow, and embrace new perspectives? Why can’t we embrace other outlooks to life? Why must one be looked down with disdain for the other to be rated highly?

My view

Curse of Curls addresses one of the most important issues of modern society, stereotypes. Judgment and body shaming is one of the most prevalent virus in our society. Instead of accepting the diversity, we have made a class difference with them. This narrow mentality is the root cause of every problem in the world. The author is trying to preach about the essentiality of a broader mindset that accepts everyone by acknowledging their difference. The best example that the author has been chosen to express this issue is the biases towards curly hairs. The author presents both sides of the story addressing the little girls who are prone to these stereotypes from an early age.

This beautifully written writing piece talks about empowerment through embracing our differences. Through addressing children’s the author is trying to eradicate these stereotypes from its roots. Apart from the writing, I also liked the illustrations included in the book.

Rating 5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Young-Adult

Takari’s Missing Bearcub (Takari & Little Sparrow Children’s Book Series 2) by Randa handler|Review

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Takari, a Japanese American eight year old girl and her best friend, Little Sparrow, a Native American boy learn how to protect wildlife and the environment, and how to lessen their footprints while protecting, Mama Bear and her two cubs, whose habitat is being threatened by logging.

My review

The adventures of Takari and her best friend Little Sparrow continues in this book. This time they are trying to save a bear habitat. Takari and Little Sparrow spotted a Mamma bear and two bear cubs not too far from their home. But their habitat is getting gradually destroyed by logging. The bear and cubs are forced to change their habitat twice. In the chaos, one of the bear cub was separated from the family. Takari and Little Sparrow are trying to find this missing bear cub and put efforts to rejoin it to its family. Takari also put forward an initiative to protect bear habitat by reaching out to her friend circle and making them call to Mayor’s office.

This story teaches children many timely messages. First and foremost, the importance of environmental protection. It also acknowledges the loss of livelihood when certain environmental protection rules are enacted. The story teaches the importance of maintaining equilibrium for exploiting natural resources and to recycle them as much as possible. It also encourages kids to raise their voice collectively for bringing change. This is an important lesson for shaping their personality in later years.

Rating:5/5

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Young-Adult

Flag Day Camping (Takari and Little Sparrow Book 1) Kindle Edition by Randa handler|Review

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Takari, a Japanese American eight year old girl and her best friend, Little Sparrow, a Native American boy go camping, embrace each other’s differences while learning about Flag Day, flag folding and why we need to follow rules even though we’re free.

My review

Flag Day camping by Randa Handler is a beautifully illustrated book that emphasizes education and friendship. Takari and Little Sparrow are best friends from day 1 of their school. They are going camping on Flag Day. The story beautifully conveys the importance of freedom and why we have to respect the hard-earned freedom. The story also talks about the inclusion of various ethnicities and why we have to stand together amidst diversity. However, the main message from the story is, although we respect our freedom, it is also important to obey certain rules to sustain and enjoy that freedom. Accountability is essential for maintaining everyone’s freedom. This little book has expressed these invaluable insights through this adorable story.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Poems, poetry

The Big Game: Volume 1: Spirituality and Love by Bethany James|Book review

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Title: The Big Game: Spirituality and Love

Author: Bethany James

Pages:119

Genre: Poetry

The Big Game: Spirituality and Love is a short collection of poems by Bethany James. This artistic expression ranges from free verse to rhymed poetries. The author also takes advantage of her creative freedom to experiment with words. This volume is dedicated to poems written on spirituality and love. If I look superficially, I can argue that this is a blend of various emotions. But if we look closely, we can find love and spiritual sense in everything little thing around us. That inner meaning is conveyed through these poems. She appreciates all emotions and every materialistic desire through the words. She is trying to find meaning in everything in and around us.

I have never read a narrative style of poetry involving romance and dessert recipes. For me, those dedicated sections of poems were a new experience. She has mixed dessert recipes with love and bridged through words. Along with that, a section of poems that ends with “I’AM” was also a unique experience. Her rhymed poetry section also has an original and refreshing style.

Overall, this is a must-read for every poetry lovers.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Erotic fiction, Fantacy, Fiction, supernatural

KROVS: Into Darkness by M. Lee Woe| Book review

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Title: Krovs: Into Darkness

Author: M. Lee Woe

Pages: 309

There are not so many books out there which felt to me as unputdownable while reading. Krovs: Into darkness is one of its kind. Everything about this story fascinates me when I read through. The story is set in a world that is divided into two, dark, and light sectors. The light sector has strict rules and laws made to oppress its inhabitants. Whereas the dark sector which is also known as the free sector has no rules to follow which eventually drips into a city of crime. Tristan is a beautiful charismatic businessman who is drifting into depression at the beginning of the story. He is used by a group of superhuman women known as Krovs for pleasures. In fact, he is secretly recruited and trained for solely this purpose. He didn’t have any friends from his own kind.

But one day he met Serene, a young naive girl from the light sector unexpectedly. He is quickly drawn into her mysteriously. But both are coming from two largely contradictory circumstances and the thing that attracts them to each other is their curiosity. This curiosity turns into deep mutual love in no time. But what will happen if Tristen’s ex-girlfriend Kamilla, who treats him as personal possession finds out his newly found interest in humans, that may threaten to expose their secrets?

The story is quite mind-blowing. The plot is constructed perfectly. Every small detail about this paranormal world is perfectly explained. This makes the readers get engaged in the storyline until the end. All the main characters are developed really good. Their emotions and mannerisms are accurately included. This helps the readers to judge their decisions on various circumstances. I really liked the character of Serene in the story. She has a multilayered personality. Her decisions and character changes throughout the story. It was a great experience to feel this character’s transformation from a shy innocent nature to a bold and strong personality.

I really liked the way the author has ended this first book of the trilogy. Because it was a real cliffhanger. The revelations in the epilogue are the best twist in the plot.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Erotic fiction, Fiction

Misty Young Love by Casa Nova|Book review

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Title: Misty Young Love

Author: Casa Nova

Pages: 94

Blurb

It was a brief period of training and she looked forward to isolation and boredom. But then this robust teen came into her life and it became a holiday in paradise. Suddenly she became a trainer playing a role freeing the butterfly from its cocoon.
The birds, the most beautiful creatures of nature, are so colourful and add to the beauty of the world. To see them in all their splendour they need to spread their wings and fly. But what if society clips their wings? Are you also a lovely colourful bird with clipped wings?

My review

Misty Young Love is the story of Jane and Tom who were once lost in their respective paths. Somehow their paths are intervened just like they are meant for each other. Though both are living inside the taboos of society, they found their mutual love unexpectedly. In the beginning, Jane only considered this relationship as a getaway from her boredom but it grew stronger and stronger each day. Both of them were exploring the unexpected pleasures that they can squeeze from one another. They set out a journey of experimenting with their wildest thoughts and desires for a brief course of time. Soon Jane has to assume the role of a mentor to course this young man in the right direction. Her honest efforts molded a clueless teen to a fine young man. But the sincere deeds will always payback, even after a long time. Jane finds the meaning of their connection after many years of parting their ways, which is a befitting climax for a romantic story.

This short romantic fiction is aptly penned, incorporating the pure emotions behind every human being. Though it lacked conversations in the beginning, the author has managed to craft a good drama at the end. This steamy hot romance will hook the readers till the end for sure.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fantacy, Fiction, short story

Lucky the Turtle by Tylin Pratt|Book review

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Title: Lucky the Turtle

Author: Tylin Pratt

Pages: 30

Genre: Children’s fiction

Blurb

Lucky is a kind and happy turtle who lives in a small pond, on a big farm. He has many friends and many aspirations, but doubts he’ll be able to achieve them because he’s a small turtle, living in a big world. Lucky finds the courage to follow his dreams and on that journey, he discovers his inner greatness.

My review

We all have many dreams and goals. But often we are discouraged by the people around us. We lose focus due to this unwanted influence. People who can rise beyond these hurdles can only achieve their dreams. “Lucky the Turtle” illustrates this meaningful concept very well. This is a beautiful story of overcoming challenges and believing in oneself. These beliefs can work magic on your way. The beautiful illustrations certainly add brightness to the story.

Stories like this help our children to not only dream big but also to believe that every dream is achievable, no matter how big it is. But we can only achieve it through the right guidance, meticulous practice, and laser-sharp focus. No matter, how small you are, how slow you are, if you are perseverant enough, nothing can stop you from reaching your goals.

The story also conveys another message about good and bad friendships. How people around you can pull you down and how good friends can turn your mindest quickly. It is important to circle yourself with meaningful and supportive relationships to achieve every goal.

Through this small story, the author has imparted timeless wisdom to budding minds. A must-read for children and adults alike.

Rating:5/5