Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors, Science Fiction, Thriller

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

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, Fiction, Indian Authors

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

 

 

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Tour, Fiction, Thriller

[Book Tour] The Sanctity of Sloth by Greta Boris

About the Book

Title: The Sanctity of Sloth

Author: Greta Boris

Genre: Suspense, Mystery

Series: The Seven Deadly Sins

There’s one thing more dangerous than testifying to a crime—staying silent.
Locked in the ruins of a California Mission, Abby Travers watches helplessly as a girl dies outside her window. As she struggles between her moral obligation to come forward as a witness, and her commitment to a Medieval religious practice that requires her to retreat from the world, the situation spins out of control.
Abby’s hesitation starts a series of catastrophes. She finds herself at the center of a deadly cover up where every minute counts and indecision could be fatal. She questions all her beliefs and everyone she knows becomes suspect. To save herself and those she loves, she must break free from her self-imposed prisons of stone and fear.
The Sanctity of Sloth is a taut, psychological thriller that answers the question: What happens when a good woman does nothing? Fans of Paula Hawkins and A.J. Finn will enjoy this third book in Greta Boris’s Seven Deadly Sins Series.

Purchase from Amazon

Excerpt 

The irony of her position struck her. She had willingly shut herself into a room with much the same dimensions as this one. It had only one small window, like this one. It had no door, however. But even without a door, sheʹd had freedom. The anchorites of old willingly consigned themselves to a cell which would eventually become their grave. They had a funeral service before they entered. Yet, they were freer than Abby was now, because it was their choice.

Would this room become her grave?

Autonomy. Sheʹd never realized before how beautiful that word was. When one was stripped of the ability to rule themselves, to determine their own fate, didnʹt they cease to exist in some way?

Sunlight streaked the gray floor with gold. By its slant, she guessed it was at least 1:30. She still had one hour of freedom, one hour to be Abby. She wanted to experience every moment she had left. When the sun reached her and warmed her skin, that would signal the end of her time in this new anchorhold. But she couldnʹt bear to watch the minutes move across the floor. She closed her eyes.

Author Bio

Greta Boris was raised in Greenwich Village, New York by an opera singing, piano playing, voice coach and a magazine publisher. Her original life plan was to be a famous Broadway actor, singer, and dancer, but when she moved to Laguna Beach, California, she changed her plans due to the commute. Today she writes to inspire, entertain, motivate, and so she can afford nice wine.

Links

Facebook Author Page

Twitter

Website

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

 

 

 

Amina Thajudeen Fiction, Indian Authors

Amma and I by Trishna Damodar

 

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Title: Amma and I
Author: Trishna Damodar
Pages: 204
Genre: Family Drama
Publisher: Leadstart Publishing

Blurb: You are unique in your own existence Kripa and Maya live in a small town in Kerala. Surrounded by greenery, streams, a vast rubber estate and a palatial home, they had it all. Maya enjoys listening to the radio and reading books and magazines as it offers her a chance to connect to the world outside. She wanted to do so much more in her life, but a sudden marriage proposal from a man based in France gets her anxious at the possibility of her dreams fading away like smoke.

Kripa has been the dutiful daughter, wife and mother. All she knew was her life and family in Kuttiadi. But she wants more for her daughter, Maya. So, when a proposal from someone in France came along, she jumped at the opportunity, hoping that this would give her
daughter a chance at a bigger and better life.

Maya, so lost in her own world, was unaware of certain shadows that lurked in her own backyard. What hides behind the constant smile on Kripa’s face? Read the journey of Kripa and Maya, set in the 1970’s, as they struggle to be heard in a society that is fixed in its norms.

 

My review

Amma and I is a heartfelt story of beautiful love and affection between a mother and daughter. I cannot begin this review without saying a few words about the beautiful and yet adorable cover of this book. It is one of the best covers I have ever seen. The adorable representation of mother and child with the touch of the iconic boat race of Kerala gives me goosebumps at the very first site. Also, the representation of the boat race gives a hint of the background of the story.

Like the title suggests, this is a story of a mother, Kripa and her daughter Maya set in the ’70s at a small town in Kerala. Maya is an ambitious girl in her 20’s and she wants to live her life in her own terms. Her parents start finding a suitable groom for her as they think she is at the marriageable age. The story goes very smooth until this stage with a perfect detailing of the dreamy life of Maya. The author introduces only one side of every main character until this stage. A clever introduction of twist at this point changes the lives of Maya and Kripa drastically from here onwards. This is where the story picks up pace and intensity.

The characters are gradually developed from the beginning to the end. The character of Maya was evolved from a small town girl with ambitious dreams to a stronger, confident, career-oriented woman at the end. Also, the character of Kripa was developed over time. The author never loosed the lovable nature of Kripa when she was developing this character throughout the story.

Basically, I always liked the story revolving around the strong female characters. Also being someone from Kerala, I felt the emotional attachment at the very first moment when I started the reading.

I will always think that the most emotionally bound relationship in every person’s life is with their own mothers. The care and selflessness of every mother are surely unreplaceable. We all got the first sight of true love from our own mothers. Because of this delicate nature, I think the portrayal emotions related to motherhood will be so difficult. Throughout the story, I felt the true emotion of the affectionate love between a mother and daughter. This is because of the immense command of the author on her storytelling skill.

The language used is simple, yet it is powerful to express all emotions of characters. This is a well-constructed plot from that point of view. This is a must read for everyone who loves a family drama.

Rating: 4/5