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

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair

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Title: Ladies Coupé

Author: Anita Nair

Paperback: 228 pages

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (22 June 2015)

Language: English

Synopsis

The story of a woman’s search for strength and independence.

Meet Akhilandeshwari, Akhila for short: forty-five and single, an income-tax clerk, and a woman who has never been allowed to live her own life – always the daughter, the sister, the aunt, the provider.

Until the day she gets herself a one-way ticket to the seaside town of Kanyakumari, gloriously alone for the first time in her life and determined to break free of all that her conservative Tamil brahmin life has bound her to.

In the intimate atmosphere of the ladies coupé which she shares with five other women, Akhila gets to know her fellow travellers:

Janaki, pampered wife and confused mother;

Margaret Shanti, a chemistry teacher married to the poetry of elements and an insensitive tyrant too self-absorbed to recognize her needs;

Prabha Devi, the perfect daughter and wife, transformed for life by a glimpse of a swimming pool;

Fourteen-year-old Sheela, with her ability to perceive what others cannot;

And Marikolanthu, whose innocence was destroyed by one night of lust.

As she listens to the women’s stories, Akhila is drawn into the most private moments of their lives, seeking in them a solution to the question that has been with her all her life: Can a woman stay single and be happy, or does a woman need a man to feel complete?

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Captain Elephant: The Mystery of the Bomb by Aseem Mahajan

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Book title: Captain Elephant: The Mystery of the Bomb
Author: Aseem Mahajan
Publisher: Petals

Blurb

Mayas Tondlulu is born with a medical condition due to which his parents are extra careful with him. Mayas is precious and they did everything possible to make sure that his health would not suffer because of their carelessness. After living an overly protected life Mayas discovers that he has a special ability and his alter ego “Captain Elephant” is born, but he soon invites trouble for himself and is wanted by the police of Pinzoora city at the tender age of 10! At the same time the dreaded terrorist Popananda escapes from prison and threatens Pinzoora with a nuclear bomb. He warns people against leaving the town. The only clue he gives is a riddle that haunts everyone. Panic grips Pinzoora. Masks fall and hidden skeletons come out. During this adversity when everyone fails, it is upto Captain Elephant to face the ruthless Popananda and unravel the murky mystery that will change the history of mankind and Pinzoora forever. What is the meaning of the riddle? What is the dark mystery looming over Pinzoora?

My Review

The story revolves around the protagonist, Mayas, who was born in the small Indian island Pinzoora, with a physical disorder. Mayas were born with his heart placed at his rear. The story covers the incidents that Mayas has been facing in a certain time. Due to this special condition, Mayas has been restricted by his parents from his childhood. They are always determined to protect him from his condition. But all these restrictions are often mocked by his classmates from time to time. They are also quite jealous of his certain privileges. This makes Mayas to became independent in his life and to live his life according to his terms.

Suddenly he finds out that, his disorder is not a curse like he thinks in most of his life but a boon. Next thing, we saw is how a superhero is born and became useful to the entire city. Mayas, the Captain elephant with supernatural powers, proves his power when there’s a massive terrorist attack in his city Pinzoora.

I believe every children’s book ever written is also for all adults. Because there is always a child within our mind. I often pick up children’s book as a change of genre. In fact I’m quite fond of them. This book also never disappoints me. Because it is all that I expected from the cover, title, and blurb.

The plot is really unique, and the author made a really commendable approach in creating this. Because creating a superhero from nowhere needed a great extent of creativity. Also creating an absolute fiction background demands much more skill than writing in other genres.

The first part of the story revolves around describing the medical condition of Mayas and the difficulties he faces in school and everywhere. After the superhero is born, the story picks up pace and energy and describe the terrorist attack by the dreaded terrorist named Popananda, and how Captain Elephant has saved the city from the bomb attack.

There were a limited number of characters and the author builds every character beautifully. The narration is really good. The author also gives a touch of humor from time to time. This also makes the narration really interesting.

The climax was a little disappointed in nature because it was abrupt and lacks explanation at some points.

Altogether, this is a good superhero novel which is built excellently.

Rating: 4/5

 

Something I Never Told You by Shravya Bhinder

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Book title: Something I Never Told You

Author: Shravya Bhinder

Paperback: 256 pages

Publisher: Penguin Publishers

Blurb

“ She was gone, again; and I failed again and could not tell her how much I loved her.” 
Ronnie’s fate gives him a second chance with Adira. His one-sided love story moves at a faster pace this time but instead of becoming his lover; she chooses to become his friend instead. 
He needs a mentor and Rajbir steps in just in time. 
Something I never told you is a transforming tale of love, determination, belief and finding one’s strengths. 

My Review

‘Something I Never Told You’ is the love story of Raunak and Adira. The plot is very simple and quite predictable. But despite this predictability, the narrative skill of the author is playing a huge role throughout the book.  This is a story of a one-sided love of protagonist Raunak, who is unable to express his feelings to Adira. They are separated at some point but destiny gives him a second chance to pursue his love. This plot is thickened using some other characters, some with villainous nature and a love guru.

“Sometimes I wonder if you and I are the same person. We are a little broken, quite messed up and in love with the idea of love.”

The language is simple and the story is well written. A simple story, but written to connect the present and past of Raunak. This style is impressed me a lot. The author has developed all characters really well by giving adequate depth to them. Each of them has a quite unique personality. This helps to provide an extension of freshness to the plot.

The story is not quite fresh, as it feels like a Bollywood movie after some time. But in my experience, it is natural. Every romance story is predictable and always have a touch of Bollywood. Because that’s how romance films are weaved in and around our daily life. Every romance lover will like this book because everyone has some secret crush at some or another point in their life and most of us are failed to express our feelings. This reality is mixed with the story very well.

“True love never dies. It sleeps Silently in aching hearts and wakes up on lonely nights”

I like the cover very much because it gives a perfect background for a love story. The title is also something which describes the story in one line.

Altogether, this is a very quick and easy read and anyone who need a quick way-out of daily life, this is the best option.

Rating: 3.5/5

Have You Stopped LOVING? by Cauveri

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Title: Have you stopped loving?

Author: Cauveri

Paperback: 209 pages

Publisher: Blue Rose Publishers

Language: English

Blurb

One of the greatest titles in the world is to be called a ‘parent’ and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to have parents whom we call ‘MOM ’and DAD’. It gives me immense bliss to present you an entirely personal, emotional, heart melting and successful journey of Sharda. As the name suggests she is neither a master’s degree holder nor a Ph.D. holder but again as the name suggests she has reached out as a Doctorate holder for her tremendous achievements throughout her life. She gives an urgent message of her eternal strength to raise her voice against the provocation women face. But the way she was betrayed, deceived, cheated emotionally by her own kids is actually the pulse of this book. Lady of letters, Cauveri gauges the substandard and unacceptable state of affairs and circumstances which leads our society towards anguish and dejection of the holy and immortal souls called parents in her debut novel. She tried to hold tight the missing link between parents and their progeny.

My review

Have you stopped loving? is an emotional journey of the protagonist  Sharda from an ambitious small-town girl to a strong-willed woman who diminishes her obstacles with her hard work. The story gives the limelight to a not-so-discussed issue among the parents and their children. Here Sharda is a self-made woman who is highly respected in the society because of her commendable hard work. Despite her professional success, her children questions her ways, owing to the luring of some others.

I always think that the relationship and emotional connection between every mother and their children are immortal and beyond the description. Being a mother is the most challenging job because this status never lost even after you die. This unexplainable connection between every mother and her child is built upon trust and unconditional love. Woman are lucky because they can experience this state from their mother and also can set an example to their children by becoming a mother herself. With all these responsibilities, being a working woman is not easy.

Here in this story, we can see a woman who is the mother of three children and after their birth, she actually started chasing her dreams. Just like everyone, she also has a dream to be an educated and successful woman and obviously, she is disappointed when they are denied. But when she got a small chance she woke up and worked for it. She has done everything possible to balance her job and motherhood and even became successful in both.

But even though upbringing has certain effects on one’s mentality, it never is enough to predict a person completely. Time to time, people became puppets, in the hands of some other cunning people because of their delusions of love towards them. This is the true evil and this makes everyone forget their past and forcing them to live in the present and future. But the total dismissal of one’s past will eventually lead them to ultimate failure.

This story is a light-hearted family drama. It is not a story revolves around a single challenge but around numerous small problems facing by a family. This gives a touch of reality to this plot. The plot is snitched through numerous daily-life problems faced by Sharda and her family over the years.

The number of characters is low which is perfect for a small family drama. The author focused on these limited characters and their development.

I liked the way the author incorporated her view on woman-empowerment and education from the first page to the last. Often the work-place became the hide-out of Sharda from her personal problems. The way, the author encourages girl child to take their education seriously is worth mentioning.

The author has also given space to discuss dowry, low-income and practically all other problems faced by a woman. This is a good initiative.

I always love black and white covers and this cover also never disappoints me. From the title, it is evident that it is a woman-drama.

I liked the character of Abha and how she turns thing around at the climax. Her self-made personality is a good example. She made mistakes and she paid them. But with her confidence, she rectifies her life.

The language is simple and easily complete the reading within two sitting.

Overall, this is a good weekend read with a powerful message.

Rating: 4/5

 

 

 

The Code Of Manavas: Beyond The Realm by Arpit Bakshi

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“The earth and the human race as we knew it have ceased to exist.
Bhoomidium, discovered by Krishna, healed the unstable core of Bhoomi during the last apocalypse. It has transformed Man to Manavas and Kali-Yug into Swarnim-Yug.
The year is 2050.2.0000001 and the Manavas are divided into two states, Madhavpur and Ayudhpur.
Krishna sees another apocalypse around the corner and he has a way out – an alternate universe, which can be reached by travelling through Omechta realm.
Can he save his race this time?”

My review

The Code of Manavas: Beyond The Realm is the first book of the Maha Vishnu trilogy written by Arpit Bakshi. The plot of this book is crafted in the combination of two unlikely genres, Indian Mythology, and Science fiction. Often the stories written on these genres are perfect entertainers because it is very difficult to build a story compared to other genres. The difficulty is because it demands much more research and knowledge along with creativity. Also without good storytelling skills, the plot may slip away or become weak. This story is the best example of the fusion of these genres. The author has done a commendable job to create a story with a strong backbone.

I loved the plot very much purely because of its uniqueness. How often you can see the mythological characters blended in the science world?

The creativity of the author has to be mentioned. For the first 40 pages, the author took his time to explain the new world, he crafted. Then only the true struggle was started. This is very much an unlikely skill because often the story becomes weak because it will lack the details of the background at the beginning. This is carefully avoided by explaining the new world at first. Through this, the author can take the reader their present to the future which he created rather smoothly.

The cover is excellently designed giving the glimpse of the story. The characters are uniquely named after many prominent mythological characters such as Krishna, Raghav, Gopal, Meera, Mohan, Vasu, Shyam etc. This is a very unique thought that I found interesting. From the title, it is evident that this is a Maha Vishnu trilogy, so the author named the characters according to that.

Being the first book of a trilogy, this book has an important role. It has to set a stage for crafting the remaining two stories. The Code of Manavas leaves the reader in a cliffhanger giving a perfect opportunity to the remaining two books.

I like the science fiction genre because they always offer something new to learn along with a beautiful story. This story also never disappointed me on this.

Overall, this is a nice read and takes away the reader from our present to the future for some time.

Rating: 4.5/5

I received a copy of this book through the BOOK GENIE REVIEW PROGRAM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bestseller by Ahmed Faiyaz

Title: Bestseller
Author: Ahmed Faiyaz
Publishers: Rupa Publications
Print Length: 196 pages

Blurb: Akshay Saxena, an out of work editor of a defunct literary magazine in the UK, is told to move to India for a year to help shore up the value of Kalim, an ailing Indian publisher.
Akshay finds himself in a job where he has to do the impossible. Angus Lee, the new owner of Thomson Lee Books, wants at least five bestsellers in the coming year, failing which the business would be wound up.
He has to find a way of making a success out of books he would never publish or would never even read. To complicate things further, he has to contend with motley crew of has-beens and misfits working for the publishing house as well as wannabe writers, dealing with their follies and derisive tactics, and battle his own affections for Zorah Kalim, the impulsive daughter of his former boss.
Will he succeed in bringing out that one ‘bestseller’ from his publishing house? And what about his own life and love in office? Find out in this riveting read.

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My Review

The story revolves around Akshay Saxena, who is recently returned to India after he has been fired from his job in the UK. He joins ailing Kalim publications as an editor in a mission to revive its fortunes. As an editor, he is thrown to an almost an impossible challenge of producing 5 best sellers in a year. Gradually this challenge changes Akshay from an honest editor to a manipulative and cunning editor who is determined to achieve his goals. How and what transforms him back to being a honest one is the backbone of the plot.

This book really gives an insight into the drama behind publishing books. How they are manipulating books to make them well-intended bestsellers, deserving or not.
This is a very interesting book solely because of its plot. The author has picked up a subject which is almost untouched for years. Using his remarkable ability to craft good stories, he turned this plot into an engaging one. This “bestseller” has the ability to become a bestseller. It is quite an irony that a book which is dealing with writing and publishing become a “bestseller”. The thing which got me fascinated is, how brilliantly he crafted a story out of this unique background.

Though this is short-read, I’m satisfied because the novel is crisp and not in one point it became flat and unenthusiastic. The intent of the author to make this a fast-paced story is indeed to make the book more engaging. The narration is good because it gives the reader a complete visualization of the scenes. If the background is carved this good, a story based on it will come handy. The story also has some hints on real-life publicity stunts that we’re all familiar with like celebrity-who-writes-the-autobiography and a banker who is now broke and writes inspirational books etc.

I believe the  primary aim of a book is to provide entertainment as far as laymen concerned. In that sense, this is one of the best book released in 2018. The author has given a sarcastic touch all over the story to make it much more interesting. I found this is a growing trend in India, telling a story in the capsule of humor. I like this capsule because it breaks monotonous narration in many books.

The cover is truly amazing, Rupa publications have done a good job in designing it.

Overall, it is a very good engaging story to all the readers who are curious to know what is going on behind in the publishing industry.

Rating: 4.5/5

Purchase here: Amazon