FORGET ME NOT STRANGER BOOK REVIEW By Jayshree Sridhar

The Stranger Trilogy released its last book and when I got my hands on it, I assure you I didn't keep it down until I finished it.

Every person doesn't read the same book, I've heard. And I'm here to give my opinion only on the book I've read. Interpretations differ and opinions vary. I know I have a very insignificant amount of readers on my blog but  The Stranger trilogy along with its review will have a message. A message to everyone out  there who find this book reasonable. A message on why the moral of this story was wrong.

The book was written in a very thrilling and exciting way where one cannot wait for the next twist to unfold where things only get even more twisted.  The book had me hooked to the very end but the very end is what I had a problem with. Also coming to think of it, I have my issues with the very beginning as well.

Warning: Spoilers down here…

If the Stranger trilogy was a story about one woman who had a stranger following her, and her life turning and twisting in unimaginable ways since he became a part of her life…I would have been much more supportive of this story right now. Turns out it's not.

Stranger is not a single person intruding a life of someone he specifically targeted. Stranger or after the story you'd know, 'Strangers' are apparently a group of emotional surgeons who operate on emotions of people and help them find the better versions of themselves. Okay first of all, How do you pick these people? Randomly? That makes it ridiculously illegal son. Secondly WHY?? Why would anyone bother what kind of emotional betterment another person needs unless they both are related in some way.

These questions were not meant to be sarcastic, but even J.K Rowling took at least half of the first Harry Potter book to make it convincing that the world of witchcraft exists. She still is trying and succeeding pretty well btw. Not that anyone doesn't know.  Anyways, throwing in an underground committee called 'Emotional surgeons' (Most bizarre thing I heard this year) in the end of the last book in trilogy and that too with an explanation up to only  one page, is not doing any good in convincing the readers on the realism of the story.

The dialogues in the book did not hit the feel enough either. I could not feel the trauma of a person who realized they were the reason behind someone's death. A good thriller works when the characters care. I didn't feel enough care in anyone. Only shocking turn of events.

Who are these Strangers? Whom do they target? Why they target them? Why bother in the first place? What's the backstory? And most importantly, Are you guys getting paid for being stalkers? On no, let me correct that, Emotional surgeons?

The stranger trilogy, especially now that has come to an end has disappointed me majorly because it never touched the one issue staring right at the face. STALKING. EXTREMELY DISTURBING LEVELS OF STALKING. Not only did the books never gave a solution or any depth to this issue but also very successfully romanticized it, which is one of the major problem with storytelling in our country. Romanticizing abuse, romanticizing women's submissiveness, romanticizing stalking and every other bloody trauma that a woman is suffering.

With so much issues that had to be dwelled upon in the content, I really hoped the writer would empower his character, give a solution where she puts an end to the stalking.  Guess people still live in a Bollywood trance and aren't getting out of it for a very long time.

With much disappointment, I rate 'Forget Me Not, Stranger' with 2 stars for the thrilling trip until it reached the climax.

OUR IMPOSSIBLE LOVE BOOK REVIEW BY JAYSHREE SRIDHAR

OUR IMPOSSIBLE LOVE

Okay so the Synopsis claims this to be the story of a late bloomer, Aisha, figuring herself out and a guy with low self esteem, Danish. DO NOT GO BY THE SYNOPSIS. It sounds very typical and uninteresting unlike the story itself.

Our impossible Love in my recommendations moved from no-one in first couple of chapters to all the youngsters through the plot line to Must for parents by the time I neared the end of the story.

The story has been dark, but don't expect satire comedy here. You're in for something better. The portrayal of youngsters these days in this book is as raw and honest as it could be. Sometimes one would think, his portrayal of the kids in school is a little too extreme but from what I have come to see and been through, I can vouch most of it is true. Students do learn darkness and evil faster than their chapters and start feeling endlessly powerful which throws them in ugly situations. I'm really glad the writer picked on this issue and the book could be an eye opener for many out there. And that’s why I strictly recommend this book to parents.

And to parents who actually take the recommendation and read it, I leave a note for you too so that you get an idea on why I recommend this to you:

"Do not mind the language or the graphic details you see through this book. They are there for a reason and to let you know the potential of your children and by potential I don't mean only negative, the potential to greatness, the potential to be happy but at the same time the potential to ruin themselves. This book gives you an insight into their mind and you can help them figure themselves out better after this."

Of course I have to acknowledge the love story in this book because the title has "love" in it, how can I not? The chemistry between Danish and Aisha is twisted and blooms a little late but worth the wait. They are cute, cliché, raw and would definitely make you smile. How could it not? That's the best touch of this writer in his books.

I liked how they ended the book with a good twist, wit, comedy and a sprinkle of romance. This is a good one time read and I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Great job.

FANGIRL - BOOK REVIEW BY JAYSHREE SRIDHAR

Life was going on with just another lame regular day when a friend of mine handed over these 500 pages of emotional roller coaster to me.  I just finished reading the book 'Fangirl', written by Rainbow Rowell and trust me my beloved children. This book is a bigger rainbow than the writer herself. And I mean that in a positive way. Shh, There may be spoilers down here!

The genre is teen drama (I hate generalizing this book to such a broad category but then it gives you the idea) and very beautifully mirrors the feelings of an introvert, when she has to face college and new people on her own without any support.

Rainbow Rowell is an excellent story teller especially when it comes to writing romantic scenes. She is definitely not cheesy, she is hard core realistic and she explains romance the way the way I have never imagined it could be and the way I always wanted it to be. I would say she is a goddess at explaining body language and trust me, that is one of the main reasons you'll be lost in the world of Fangirl.

Character definition is brilliant. I AM HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH LEVI and I cannot love him anymore.  Another best character was Reagan, she was just too perfect and too real. She is that bitch-ass best friend you'd want to keep for life. And of course, CATH! There were countless instances I could relate to Cath. Being an introvert fangirl myself, there were so many times I screamed at the book saying, 'Yo Soul Sister! Where have you been?'

The portrayal of the relationship between the twins, their differences, their ideas about social life being so different, everything is beautifully brought into words. I adored the father character, there was sufficient depth given to single parenthood and teenage daughters’ drama. On the whole, the bonding between Wren, Cath and their father is very real and moving.

The chemistry between Levi and Cath (let me inhale some oxygen here, I'm dying) is something I have never seen in any movie or book. It is completely raw and honest and it sets relationship goals and that’s why I hate Rainbow Rowell a little now. For a woman who claims she doesn't know blushing, I blushed the blood out of my cheeks in this book.  (Now that explanation was kinda gross. I blushed a lot. They were just awesome. Period.)

I have only one complaint in the book. The ending of the story was abrupt and it didn’t have a proper climax where the reader could actually bid goodbye to the story, it kind of lingers around you for a very long time and suddenly you are craving for more and can't take it anymore. And that probably is the plan of the writer. Well, you fucked me up pretty well, thanks Rowell.

A part of the book contains excerpts of the books that Cath fan girls over and excerpts of the fan fiction that she writes herself of her favorite characters (understatement) which if you are not very keen on fantasy and magical world won't read.

On the whole Fangirl is a package that you want to read again and again. Because you just can't get enough of this book in one time.

Good news, Fangirl leaves a lot of hope for a sequel of the book which may or may not happen. What the future holds for Levi and Cath, what happened to Lauren, a little more detail on Wren and Jandro, man! These details would could create a book of its own and I'd read the shit out of that book too. The writer though does not confirm on that. 

So on the whole the point is...Fangirling over Fangirl right now and gonna shower it with stars. There you go!

She (Ekla chalo re) book review by Jayshree Sridhar.

First of all I would like to appreciate the writers and the publishing house who are doing great with the promotion of this book and thank them for asking me to review this book. A few days ago I received a mail from Amrita foundation asking me to review this book, it truly was an honor since this is the first time I was requested for a review.

Now coming to the book, She (Ekla chalo re) is a beautiful short story that describes from gender stereotypes to fitting in a society pressure in the most basic and beautiful way.

The book (more like a booklet) comprises of around 50 pages and explains biggest of issues in our country in shortest of words. The writing is beautiful and though the subject is controversial the narration is not filled with angst and sorrow. It is a very light read but gives a very strong message. I personally loved the ending. Santhosh Avvannavar (the writer) is brilliant in storytelling and I hope to read more works by him in the future. I again appreciate the publishing house for releasing this book and hope to see this story flourish and reach a larger audience.

If any Tumblrian can see this post, I'd ask each and every one of them to read this book because all the lgbt community supporters and gender equality supporters in tumblr would be so happy to find out a success story in the issue.

If I had to explain my reaction to

this book in one gif, it would be this.

WOW!

I'd like to give this book a five star rating, hands down. Great going guys. Keep up the work!

THE QUEST FOR NOTHING! BY ANURAG ANAND

GUEST REVIEW BY VISHWAS ANAND

When you're really up to something and enjoy it thoroughly, you carry on doing it, irrespective of the time you've spent on it, or the exertion or exhaustion you experience by doing it. It might not be exhaustion after all since you're enjoying it. I had already finished one novel that day (All Yours, Stranger by Novoneel Chakraborty, which is an excellent piece of work) when I stumbled upon this book and took it up as a challenge(or maybe it was more of an exercise) to complete it that day itself, and guess what, I succeeded.

            The Quest for Nothing! is a short novel by Anurag Anand giving an insight into the cut throats of the ambitious corporate world. The book follows a non-linear narrative style, a technique used in super successful movies like Memento and 12 Monkeys, and also in some novels, and moves in three timelines.

           The first is the time when Akash, a student of IBA business school is about to complete his MBA and is looking for a job in an economic depression hit world. The second is immediately after his marriage with the love of his life, Deepali, and the third is a few years after his marriage, when he is bored and frustrated by the institution called marriage and also his job, and takes up a new job in a different city.

Akash's struggles as a husband, as an employee in this rat race competitive world, and as a human who faces his life's biggest corporate scandal and how he escapes it is showcased in the story. It is an easy and light read, with a simple story. The author himself is from a corporate background, a Marketing Professional with an MNC Bank, which reflects in his work as he gives deep insight into the functionality of the corporate corridors. It has been praised by many famous personalities.

"The book is very special."-Pritish Nandy

"I was surprised at why I hadn't finished it earlier."-Gul Panag

The criticism-

The ups-

1. A light read with a simple story. You don't have to stress your brain cells a lot.

2. Gives a deep understanding of the corporate universe, and the toll it can have on you.

3. The climax is decent.

4. I especially like the non-linear storytelling technique of the author. It is a different and difficult style to write in and the author has managed successfully.

5. The number of characters is less, which avoids unnecessary complications.

The downs-

1. The plot is too simple, which sometimes turns boring. The climax is one saving grace.

2. A little bit of unnecessary detailing, removing which could have further reduced the length of the book.

The score:

Vishwas Anand is a philosophy and nature enthusiast, who believes reading to be a need and shares his experience about all the books he read in his main blog BOOKRITIQUE
You can read his words here:
www.vishwasanand.com

Or you can contact him through these mediums!

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/vishwas.anand.583

Google+- https://plus.google.com/+VishwasAnand3105

Twitter- https://twitter.com/vishwas_va

THE SECRET WISH LIST Book Review

THE SECRET WISH LIST now includes death due to boredom and time travel to the time when facebook didn't exist. Guess what? It did happen when I read this book.

Preeti Shenoy managed to pick one of the most ignored topic in Indian society, the suppression an indian housewife goes through, which although is quite appreciated, is also a story that is already known to everyone.

The draggy narration of how the protagonist's husband uses as housemaid and sex toy as if is not painful enough, it is repeated in every tenth page making sure the readers still continue to hate him.

We get it miss, you are a timid housewife raising a child and your husband is a jackass and?

So the story goes like one day Diksha, the protagonist when goes to meet her cousin Vibha, recently widowed, comes up with a secret wish list of her own due to all the pushing from Vibha. Diksha's wish list includes a lot of things like learning salsa, snorkeling, getting drunk and sex with another guy and stuff like that. Now that an annoying cousin that Vibha is, although is willing to help her tick off everything, keeps reminding her that except for the last wish, she can have everything, ALL THE TIME.

Bad ass that Diksha is, manages to tick off all the things in her wish list with just a gallon of drama from her husband added in between. Yes, even the sex part. And quite the happy ending there was, she manages to get away with her affair guy Ankit, give a long speech to her family about how they ruined her life and salutes her husband with middle finger and takes off with her kid.

Now questions from all the women across the world with jerk husbands, We didn't have high school affair and nobody is taking us anymore, any suggestion for us and our marriage?No? OKAY.

FUNNIEST PART OF THE STORY: Now there is a mention of social networking site where people register about their education and jobs and meet people from the same places if you lost contact with them, now if you think this is Facebook, gotcha buddy, you are wrong!! This site has the lamest name and quite creepy in some sense 'Blast From The Past'. The writer managed to keep even the name draggy enough to bore you to sleep. I really wonder if anybody wants any kind of blast from the past anymore.

Person: HEYYYYYY!!!! Remember we did our 3^rd grade together, I've been searching for you all over. How are you??? Where have you been???

Me: *blocked* You cannot send message to this person anymore.

So the narration is repetitive, dialogues are lame and downright bland, the depth in the storytelling that should make the readers dwell inside the story made us dwell into sleeping.

I would like to give two stars to this book, one for the topic raised and one for the representation of a mother in law, completely opposite to the stereotypical ones.   

AFTER ALL THIS TIME Book Review

So, with that title if you are thinking you'd find a love story very near and dear to that of Severus Snape and Lily, say hello to disappointment. Although you can find a one paragraph reference to it. YAY!

After writing interesting page turner books like, The Promise, If its not forever...it's not love and Someone like you, Nikita Singh brings you a successful drag story of a confused soul suffering from HIV who doesn't decide till the very end of the book what to do about the disease or the rest of the time she has to live. Somehow the title absolutely fits in with the plot, After all this time...would you just decide what you have to do???

Thankfully the answers to all our, “what-happens-in-the-end” questions are answered in the end but trust me you don't need to go through the whole book for that!

Interesting fact, this book is also a love story! But no, don't you get back to the idea of Snape and Lily again! I told you its not them.

Remember that time the guy you friend-zoned creeped you out with his love for you so much so that you ran away to a different country? Well meet Shourya, the hero of the story who cannot get over any of the women he has ever been with and move on with his life. He literally creeps them out very much until all of them give up and come back to him. Now that he has all of them in his pocket he gets to choose and creepy that he is, chooses the first girl, Lavanya the protagonist, even though that woman is an annoyingly crying mess.

The problem with the book is that it is irritably draggy, nose-cringing cliche and bland for the most part of the story, though it is expected to be soul-crushingly emotional. 

After all this time could have made a beautiful short story of 2 pages unfortunately extended to two hundred pages.

I would give this book one star clearly just to show the level of disappointment. 

 

WORLD'S BEST BOYFRIEND Book Review

So after reading around 10 books by Durjoy Datta which give brilliant messages in themselves, 'World's Best Boyfriend' book turns out to be a huge disappointment. 

IN SHORT: The Boyfriend is anything but Best, I assure you that.

The story although has a lot of things, fails to be a page turner. The plot seems cliche, and at a point of time, turns out to be an unreasonable nonsense. Like the previous stories by Durjoy Datta, one can definitely not take inspiration or hope from this book as it fails to give any moral to the story. The writer in attempt to return with the dark humor he used to write in his initial books, goes overboard and spoils it.

More than any other thing, the writer for the first time failed miserably in dialogue delivery which did not bring the right emotions expected from the readers, or can we say the emotions at all. The love story is said to be revengeful in the synopsis but it looks more like immature tiff between high schoolers.

Other than that, the writer also could not do any proper justification to the characters as they seem unrealistic, mechanical and a little too cliche' to be real. The love story although seems to have a happy ending, in the larger picture, the pair don't seem to be fitting for each other. Also there are a lot of subplots in the story that goes unanswered.

I could not give any major spoilers to you in here because like other books of Durjoy Datta, this one doesn't have any major plot twists, like I said, a huge disappointment.

I would rate this book with 2 stars mainly for the witty one liners by Aranya and the characterisation of Sanchit.



Let me know what you think in the comments below.