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, Motivational Quotes, non-fiction, Self-Help

Wanted by Ellis Lucas|Review

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Title: Wanted

Author: Ellis Lucas

Pages: 228

Faith is a gift, some people are born with it, some will achieve it someday. But it is our fate that either we find it or not. The path of self-healing starts with belief. The best knowledge I gained from this book is how faith can heal any mind, whether it is torn or not. “Wanted” is a book of enlightenment. It is the torchbearer of hope and love. Ellis has penned down an amazing testimony of his life. His transformation is something that cannot be described through words. He led the most disastrous life and at the ultimate point of despair, he found the hope, the healing, the life.

He begins the book by giving a glimpse of his own life. His life itself is most inspiring. Throughout the 15 chapters in the book, he is reinstating only one most important point, why you are the most wanted by Jesus, how you can find the path of self-realization and happiness. The author has used a very different kind of writing style. He structured the journey of self-realization through these 15 chapters, from finding Jesus to healing your mind. These perfectly organized ideas are enough for a human to embark a change on their mind. A change which can lead you to enlightenment.

The one thing I felt when reading is the pure joy. Ellis is the happiest man who dedicated his life to helping people in need. So his inner joy flows through his words. Where there is innocence there will be happiness. I can literally felt it throughout the book. I found a bible inside this book. The author used numerous bible verses to explain human nature and behaviors. Every chapter ends with invaluable insights.

This is one of the greatest reads I have ever read. It has the power of inspiration and enlightenment. I totally recommend this one.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors, non-fiction, Uncategorized

Daughters of The Brothel: Stories from Delhi’s Red-light District

Title: Daughters of The Brothel: Stories from Delhi’s Red-light District

Author: Deepak Yadav

Publisher: Bigfoot Publications Pvt. Ltd

Pages: 224

Few words

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“My nath utrai (Taking off the nose ring) was performed when I was twelve or thirteen. The initial days were tough but now it gives me pleasure. I have inherited the art of making love from my grandmother.”
-Roopal, a sex worker from the Bedia community in brothel number 56.

Nath Utrai ceremony is nothing but the auction of the girl by the highest bidder near Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

“Everyone believes that all hijras are castrated, but this is not true. We call it nirvana. Castration is usually optional. It cannot be forced upon a hijra.”
-Sharmila, a eunuch from the streets of Varanasi

The narrator spends a considerable amount of time in G.B. Road, the famous red-light district in New Delhi during his stint with an NGO. He records the narratives of the sex workers of brothel number 56, insights of their daily lives, local lingos, quarrels, and the ins and outs of their business with an honest stoicism that does not dilute the terrible pathos of their lives.

Through this voyage within the walls of pleasurable cells, the writer learns that the G.B. road is an inexorable web…but only because the women trapped in it believe it to be so.

Review

From the title itself, it is evident that this is not a book for everyone. This is not a story of romance and love. These are the real-life stories of a lesser-known section, often termed as taboos of the polished society we live in.


The author gives insights into the daily lives of sex workers, prostitutes, and transgenders of the G. B road, the infamous red-light district of Delhi. These are not just stories. The author has written this as a mix of conversation and his own thoughts. The writing style is captivating.


Every account is unique. We can either read this book for leisure or for gaining knowledge. Knowledge about the hard life of girls, how they are treated at home and how they end up here and there bitter experiences. You can’t close this book without a heavy heart.

Rating:4/5

Buy here: Amazon

Amina Thajudeen Motivational Quotes, Quotes

Quotes from New Moon (Twilight #2) Part 2

The second book of Twilight series is New Moon. In this part, the story becomes the most intense and passionate. It tells the story of heartbreak and loss of love. The quotes are most beautiful in this second part of the series. The handpicked quotes are here:

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“What happens when you lose your heart’s desire?”

“Forbidden to remember, terrified to forget; it was a hard line to walk.”

“Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second-hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me.” 

“You’re not asleep, and you’re not dead. I’m here, and I love you. I have always loved you, and I will always love you. I was thinking of you, seeing your face in my mind, every second that I was away. When I told you that I didn’t want you, it was the very blackest kind of blasphemy.”

“The waves of pain that had only lapped at me before now reared high up and washed over my head, pulling me under. I did not resurface.”

“Do you think I’ll ever get better at this? That my heart might someday stop trying to jump out of my chest whenever you touch me?”

“Love is irrational, I reminded myself. The more you loved someone, the less sense anything made.” 

“They call her my singer—because her blood sings for me.” 

“I wondered how long it could last. Maybe someday, years from now.If the pain would decrease to the point where I could bear it.I would be able to look back on those few short months that would always be the best of my life.”

“Your hold on me is permanent and unbreakable. Never doubt that”

“Like everything in life, I just had to decide what to do with what I was given.”

“When you can’t be with the one you love, will you stay with the one who loves you?” 

“The smile broke across his face the way the sunrise set the clouds on fire…” 

“Like we were connected, the echo of his pain twisted inside me. his pain, my pain.” 

“I’d rather die than be with anyone but you.”

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors, Memoirs, Self-Help

Zero Not Out by Vamshi Krishna

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Blurb

Varun Krishna, hailing from a middle-class family, works hard to realize his dream of getting into one of the top IITs. During his four years of college, he would go on to make friends and mentors for life. He would also meet his first love Nitya Iyer during his first year in college.Due to some unfortunate turn of events, he had to part ways with her as soon as he finishes college because of which he would go on a self-destruction mode. How life takes him forward from such a miserable state to building a startup aimed at curbing suicides forms the rest of the story. Riding high on emotions while emphasizing the role of family during crisis time, the novel illustrates the theme of how a father is looked up to as a real hero by his son.

About the Author

Vamshi Krishna spends most of his time writing – code or stories. He says he is a software engineer by chance and a writer by choice. Apart from writing, he reads a lot about cricket, love, women, and stories of failures. He is also a fitness enthusiast and a huge fan of MS Dhoni.He says his 4 year journey at IIT-BHU is the best time of his life. He strongly believes that every student, for at least a couple of years in his early 20s should experience hostel life.’Nobody dies a virgin, life fucks everyone’ is the motto he believes in.’Zero Not Out’ is his debut fiction novel and prior to this, he authored a coding related book. This novel is inspired by his real-life incidents (and accidents).

My review

A nice story which is written in the backdrop of College life. The author presents Varun, the protagonist who struggles through career choices, love, heartbreak and recovery. This story ends with a positive note. Actually, the positivity and fight back start when Varun goes through the heartbreak. How he fought back and realizing the true purpose of his life is the core of this story. When we accept ourselves, every other thing will fall into its deserved place.

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors, Memoirs

A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories by Nidra Naik

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Title: A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories

Author: Nidra Naik

Pages:218

Publisher: Become Shakespeare

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

From America, New Delhi, Balasore, Cuttack and even at the barren land of Nabarangpur; unearth sagas of demands, indecisiveness, struggle, intensity, love and longing! A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories reveals the human side of survival called Hope; hope on which every living being thrives, hope, which at times is also lost.
Stories travelling the test of time, characters infusing a blood of fire, this book brings to the readers, how deep and passionate life’s purpose can be, how in an insipid land of imagination, can connect with the most fertile of hearts.
Love adorns life!

My review

This is a collection of six short stories written by Nidra Naik. The stories are:

(1) A Lot Like Love

(2) Second Chance

(3) The Bestseller

(4) The Visit

(5) The Black Idol

(6) What Was Not Said

I always liked short stories more than novels. Because it is a true test of authors storytelling capabilities. The short stories become perfect only if you crafted them well. From beginning to end the story should have every element of a novel but in limited words. Overall in this book, the author has done a very commendable job.

The first story itself is a roller coaster ride of emotions and at the end, you will be heart-broken. The impact of that heartbreak is enough to make me a feeling that I don’t want to read the rest of them. But somehow I ended up finishing it in two days. This effect is purely dedicated to the author’s capability of crafting and storytelling. In less than 45 pages, she gives a story that you will remember a lifetime.

Every story is different and the characters in all stories do not have any similarities. It’s like you have to jump from one plot to another even after a highly emotional journey offered in each story. I really liked how the author incorporated her Odia cultural heritage in the stories. They are like adding spices in a dish to make them more enjoyable.

Among stories, I personally liked ‘Bestseller’ most. Purnendu who is a small town girl but she dreams to be a best seller author one day. Her struggling in many difficult circumstances was heart-breaking. In the end, only a few tears are left.

I often amazed by the freshness of the plot each story have. The characters are portrayed as very livelily along with a good plot.

I often like the black and white cover in books. Because it is the expression of the black and white side of human lives. But for this, it will be better if they choose some other cover design.

I liked this structure of the book very much because you can read this book in small leisure intervals. This is a must-read for every short-story lovers.

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors, Thriller

The Red Line by Tanmay Dubey

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Book title: The Red Line

Author: Tanmay Dubey

Language: English

The Red Line by Tanmay Dubey is a thriller story inspired by true events. The story starts with the sudden demise of  Rakesh Kumar at Red line metro station in Delhi. At first, everything seems to be normal about death. But an honest police officer Hanumant became suspicious about the death of his superior officer and starts investigating. The story becomes more curious and twisted when Hanumant finds out that all the fellow passengers in the train are either murdered or attacked. Who is behind all these dreadful crimes. The rest of the story is the journey of Hanumant to unveil the mystery behind all these murders.

From the cover to the last page it is a thriller genre book. The suspicious title and splash of red color in the cover is too good. If you closely look at the cover, you can see all the plot-making factors in the cover. The cover design is apt for this book.

For a 300+ pages book, there should be a gripping tale to make the reader stick. And here it is. The story has every element consciously embedded to create curiosity. You can’t help to think constantly that “what happens next?” every time you turn a page over.

The plot twists were unpredictable. I think that twists were the core of this story. The author has cleverly placed them at appropriate sections. Another highlight of the book is its take on the life of an honest police officer. The author attempted to show to the readers that what are the sacrifices a police officer has to do for keeping his moral and ethical values. The braveness of the protagonist is commendable. He gives first priority to his ethics let alone his family. His sacrifice has to be mentioned.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Highly recommended for the readers. This story will not disappoint you.

Rating: 4/5

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

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, 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