8 November 2016

Review #549: The Lost Ones by Ben Cheetham



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Fifty percent of something is better than than one hundred percent of nothing.”

----Chuck Barris



Ben Cheetham, an award winning English author, pens a dark and an intriguing family thriller, The Lost Ones which centers around the mystery of a little missing girl right under the nose and eyes of her own mother near the forest which is and was popularly known for the cult who performed their rituals there located in a small town with some ugly secrets behind the unsolved murder case of a married couple, that has a strong similarity with the features of the little girl's disappearance.



3 November 2016

Review #548: Daughters of Jorasanko by Aruna Chakravarti



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come."

----Rabindranath Tagore



Aruna Chakravarti, an award winning Indian writer, pens an enlightening story about the Tagore household's women in her new book, Daughters of Jorasanko which is the sequel to her bestselling novel, Jorasanko. This book, Daughters of Jorasanko is an intimate tale about the Tagore household portraying the women who are all bound together by the threads of marriage at a very tender age, where some are engulfed by the widowhood at a very early age whereas some are simply carrying the seeds from one generation to another and through these women's lives the readers will come to know a different side of our noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

2 November 2016

Review #547: The Private Life of Mrs Sharma by Ratika Kapur



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“I have too many fantasies to be a housewife.... I guess I am a fantasy.”

----Marilyn Monroe



Ratika Kapur, an India writer, pens a heart felt and very intimate tale of a middle aged married woman's life and thoughts in her upcoming book, The Private Life of Mrs Sharma in which the author weaves a compelling story about a mid-aged North Indian married woman with a teenage son and a husband working offshore in Dubai, who when meets a handsome stranger on her way to work, begins a forbidden companionship with him all the while aspiring for a fulfilling life not only for herself but also for her son and for her husband. Her longings and desires make her vulnerable as well as resolute for her husband's homecoming but when tragedy strikes, everything seems to be falling apart.

1 November 2016

Review #546: All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The greater a child’s terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense of self.”

----Nathaniel Branden



Bryn Greenwood, an American author, pens a heart wrenching and sad tale about abuse and love in her new book, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things that is centered around a forbidden love story between an adult man and a very young female girl, both being the victims of social, mental, emotional and physical abuse from their own families, so when they meet, there is an instant connection between them that forbids the readers of the book to feel disgusted towards such a unnatural relationship. Although it is so much more than just a love story.

31 October 2016

Review #545: The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.”

----James Herriot



Takashi Hiraide, a Japanese writer, has penned a soul touching and thoroughly captivating tale about a cat and a couple's relationship in his book, The Guest Cat that is centered around a mid aged couple who are freelance writers and work from their rented cottage and lead a very quite and uneventful life, but one day their life brings purpose as an uninvited as well as the neighbor's cat lands up to their kitchen and starts visiting their household religiously everyday and gradually brings joy and happiness to their quiet life. Although happiness is long lived in this couple's life, as a tragic event shakes them to their very core.

27 October 2016

Review #544: The English Teacher by Yiftach Reicher Atir



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“He was a secret agent, and still alive thanks to his exact attention to the detail of his profession.”

----Ian Fleming



Yiftach Reicher Atir, the former head of the Israel army’s special ops directorate, pens a mind boggling spy thriller, The English Teacher inspired from his own life as a commando handling many operatives serving for their motherland with a new identity in an enemy country. The author was woven a gripping tale about a retired female undercover Mossad agent, who goes missing after her father's death and her experienced male handler is called down to the head quarters to divulge details about her untold past and her assignments so that they can find a clue to where she is heading to. But that requires a lot of hidden emotions and a lot of untold stories to unravel in front of so many others.

26 October 2016

Review #543: The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“But if the world measures a refugee according to the worst story, we will always excuse human suffering, saying it is not yet as bad as someone else's.”

----Victoria Armour-Hileman



Zana Fraillon, an Australian author, has penned a heart breaking and thoroughly compelling tale about refugees in her latest book, The Bone Sparrow that is centered around a young refugee boy living his days with his mother and his elder sister in an Australian detention camp where he spends his days helping his orphan friend to smuggle and with an outsider to help her read the stories about her family history, all the while longing to meet his father across the ocean and to save his soul from such a wretched place.

24 October 2016

Review #542: November 9 by Colleen Hoover



My rating: 1 of 5 stars


“You’ll never be able to find yourself if you’re lost in someone else.”

----Colleen Hoover



Colleen Hoover, the #1 New York Times bestselling author, has penned a cheesy and corny new adult love story, November 9 which has a very similar story line just like David Nicholls' One Day where the two young protagonists are thoroughly fractured from the inside yet are on a way to pursue their dreams, but they meet each other right on the crossroads and decide to keep up their instant attraction for one another alive until the next year on the very same day, although there's more drama to it, that one can ever imagine.