27 March 2016

Review #379: Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls.”

----Anaïs Nin



Idra Novey, an American author, pens her debut entertaining literary fiction, Ways to Disappear which is part mystery and part family drama where the main story is centered upon a famous Brazilian author who goes missing under strange circumstances, and due to her disappearance, her American translator travels to Rio to find her author and in that process she gets to meet the family and gets to know the author who was hiding a lot about herself.


24 March 2016

Review #378: The Living by Anjali Joseph



My rating: 3 of 5 stars



“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

----Dr. Seuss



Anjali Joseph, an award-winning Indian author, pens her new novel, The Living, that unfolds the story of two characters' daily lives, their past mistakes, their shortcomings and their daily mundane routine, set in two different continents of the world. The story is unique yet it could have been much more better with lots of character and plot development.






22 March 2016

Review #377: The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Nothing awakens the conscience like a lot of money.”

----P. Sainath



Dan Fesperman, an award-wining American author, pens his new historical crime fiction, The Letter Writer that narrates the story of a newly appointed detective in NYPD who gets tangled up in a murder investigation and that is when he meets a mysterious, strange and highly knowledgeable man. Set in the post World War II New York, the author composes an intriguing as well as thrilling tale of lies, money scam, murder, scandal and corruption laced with an unusual friendship.




21 March 2016

Review #376: Green Island: A novel by Shawna Yang Ryan



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“The people have realized that Martial Law is not law. A regime not established by law is devoid of the attribute to dispense law. A regime which puts in a bunker the highest law in the land does not have the moral authority to say that nobody is above the law.”

----Zulfikar Ali Bhutto



Shawna Yang Ryan, an award winning American author, pens her new book, Green Island: A novel , that unfolds the story of a Taiwanese family living in Taipei when the Martial Law was incorporated and changed the future of this family. Told from the perspective from the unnamed narrator who happens to be the youngest daughter in this family, she traverses two decades under this law as well as facing the aftermath of this law by playing so many roles in her life. This is not only her story, it is the story of the people who faced the darkness of this Martial Law.

20 March 2016

Review #375: If I Stay (If I Stay, #1) by Gayle Forman



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“And that's just it, isn't it? That's how we manage to survive the loss. Because love, it never dies, it never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it.”

----Gayle Forman


Gayle Forman, an award-winning best-selling author, has penned an incredible tale of young love as well as family love in her book, If I Stay, which is the first book in the If I Stay series. This series opens with Mia's heart-breaking story of loss and her passion for music with a ground-breaking decision on whether to fight for love when you have lost the most precious possession of your life- family. Now a major motion picture with the same name, directed by R. J. Cutler, starring, Chloë Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley and many more.


Review #374: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What if an author does not give an ending to her mind-twisting and really excellent story? Does the book become bad and meaningless? C'mon y'all, we are smart and clever enough to think the possible ending as the author is trying to leave it her readers' best-possible imagination, the climax maybe bad or good, it all depends on how a reader precept it, and that's where the beauty and skillfulness of an author's work lies and that's when we, the readers, can gladly say that it is a fantastic piece of work by the author! I think if I had more than 5 stars I would give that to such an author.

Welcome to Gillian Flynn's world of horror/psychological thrilling short story called, The Grownup.

“She defines and eliminates problems. She’s practical in an evil way.”

----Gillian Flynn


Review #373: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Well, finally, once you become an orphan, you're an orphan till the day you die. I keep having the same dream. I'm seven years old and an orphan again. All alone, with no adults around to take care of me. It's evening, and the light is fading, and night is pressing in. It's always the same. In the dream I always go back to being seven years old.”

----Haruki Murakami



Christina Baker Kline, an English best-selling author, has penned a tear-jerking as well as thoroughly enlightening tale about an unusual friendship between a 91-year-old woman and a 17-year-old high school teenage girl, in her award-winning book, Orphan Train . This book narrates not only the unusual friendship bonded over a shared experience of orphan-hood but also unfolds the unexplored parts in the American history.


19 March 2016

Review #372: The Crooked Heart of Mercy by Billie Livingston



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”

----John Green




Billie Livingston, a Canadian author, pens an emotional and stirring family drama in her new book, The Crooked Heart of Mercy that unfolds the story of a couple coping with a sad tragedy and how it tears them apart and how their families try to contribute towards their hearts' reunion, whereas on the other hand, this couple separately tries to help their family from their troubles in their own way. The story is all about forgiveness, grief, and love.