#bookreview

Book- The Cave: Secrets Within
Author- Prieksha Jain
Pages- 102

‘Some dreams never let you sleep. And some dreams you dread sleeping back to. And there are some dreams which turn your life into a different and a better direction.’

This story revolves around two women- Shraddha and Prachi. They’re connected with the bond of friendship and love. Apart from this, a weird thing binds them together, they both get the exact same dream, which is more of a vision, vision of the future, which drives Shraddha crazy.
Why do they get these dreams ?
Who is going to help them ?
Are they going to solve the mystery they’ee getting vision of ?
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The blurb of this book was very intriguing.
But the narration failed the interest. The story could have been presented in a better way since the plot had the potential of a good book. The pace was uneven and the narration was a great turn off. It started off good, with the scene where Shraddha’s parents passed away in an accident and she had the vision of this incident earlier and couldn’t do anything to stop it. When the story proceeds, it all becomes clumsy. The characters were okay. So, it was overall an okayish read.
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Rating-🌟🌟🌟/5

Thank you The Book Genie for the review copy.

#bookreview

Book- Mahavishnu Trilogy- Part-1:The Code Of Manavas
Author- Arpit Bakshi
Publishers- Rupa Publications
Pages- 295

The Code of Manavas, is set some two million years past ad 2050, when earth as we know it ceased to exist and so did mankind. A new race, the Manavas, now exists on Bhoomi, the erstwhile Earth, which is divided into two cities—Madhavpur and Ayudhpur. In the quiet and peaceful city of Madhavpur, a reclusive Krishna is busy with an immense task. He has to prepare a new abode for the Manavas before an impending apocalypse destroys them. He knows something that nobody else does—the Manavas are running out of time faster than they can imagine and there are no inhabitable planets to escape to. To make matters worse, there is someone in Madhavpur who wants to destroy Krishna and subjugate each Manava. The Manavas, it seems, are doomed. Yet Krishna knows there is a slim chance of survival for the Manavas, although there is a huge price to be paid for it.
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This book is a great blend of mythology and sci-fi. The concept behind this book is superb ! The lucid narration made the sequence of events simple and thought provoking. The reference from mythology and the idea about future was well described. The character development was good too. The Author has beautifully penned down his imagination. The language is crisp and the plot is gripping. Go for it !

Rating- 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Thank you The Book Genie for the review copy.

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Book- The Case Of Black Magic Murders In Mumbai

Author- Shilpa Jain

Pages- 206

QOTD- Do you believe in Black Magic ?

Well, I do. I have heard instances of such things from one of my close friends who said her sister used to get possessed by some spirit and when they further investigated into the matter, they had a neighbor who had done some sort of black magic resulting in her sister’s condition. Later, when I was talking to her few days back, she told me that the same thing happened to her. It was really horrifying. And God bless the souls who have to go through all this.

Coming to the story, The Case Of Black Magic Murders In Mumbai, the Author has done a commendable job. The plot was wow ! And the execution, superb!
I really liked the way the story has been woven, sequence after sequence, beautifully leading through the story. Throughout the book, the thrill didn’t leave me and I read it in couple of hours. The concept and the logic behind the events happening, the murders, the belief behind such murders, was very well established.

The book is filled with spine-chilling moments and the narration keeps pulling you into the story.
The characters were really good and I could connect to them. The way the two stories, the tantric’s and the burqa killer’s, merged into each other, was fantastic ! I loved how strong and smart the characters were. As much as I want to write about all the events that happened throughout the story, I don’t want to ruin the mystery behind the #blackmagicmurdersinmumbai .
Overall, this was a great read.

Rating- 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Book- Thank God I’m Fired: A Corporate Enigma

Author- Sandeep Pawar

Pages- 43

In today’s world, where to get anything done you need money and for money you need a job, how are you going to react if you are fired without any prior notice and without any fault of yours ? Devastated, right ?

But that’s not the case with our protagonist. He was very dissatisfied with his job. No fun, no improvement and just a monotonous life. With no idea about what’s his passion and what he would love to do, he was scared to leave this job. He tried to resign again and again, but couldn’t muster up any courage. Well, we can’t blame him. No money once he leaves his job, no future plans. Anybody would be scared.

But as lady luck smiled at him, the day he finally made up his mind to resign, he was fired. Just a minute before he sent the resignation letter. His happiness knew no bounds. And added to this, he got a compensation in the form of two months salary. Score !

The story depicts real life crisis. And not everyone is as lucky as our protagonist. As simple as it might seem, job and career being an important part of life which plays great role in triggering satisfaction and ultimately happiness, is burdensome for a lot of people. People who work because it’s necessary and they won’t be able to survive without a job. Dealing with stress and unhappiness to fill the stomach of their family and have a roof over their heads.

The language was simple and it was a good read. The humour parts were good. The narration could have been better since it was kind of boring at few places and was hard to keep going. The characters were good. And the ending was definitely satisfying.

Rating- 🌟🌟🌟/5

#bookreview

Book- Elt-Duk And The Company Of Gold Hunters
Author- Yash Sharma
Publisher- Invincible Publishers
Pages- 140

Tigun, Misarel, and O’blame decide to embark upon the biggest hunt of their age in Elt-duk (a mystical mountain) with Tigun’s son Asto. They start out bigger and stronger than ever before, but a chance encounter with a mysterious man on their journey reveals to them that something horrible is underway at Elt-duk. An unknown terror is spread all over the Earth, and all of humanity is unaware of it. Evil is growing, angels are falling, men are confused and scattered, decisions are tough to make and makes men cry, but the angels say, Let men try. With the agreement for the hunt survive? They only wished to hunt for gold, but this turn of events has brought them face to face with the biggest enemy himself, evil incarnate. How will they cope? Will help come in time? Elt-Duk wants its ruler and the evil is ready for It.
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This book reminded me of a little lower version of The Hobbit Series with certain resemblance with all the mystical creatures, the mountain being the past glory waiting for it’s Emperor. (I’m not comparing the movie with this book, but there was some resemblance.)
So, the plot here is obviously fascinating, with gripping narration. The language was easy but I highly recommend proof reading.
The characters lacked depth, it was even difficult to connect with the main characters. The book was interesting even with this flaw, so I can imagine how great the book would have turned out if the characters would have been properly developed.
The sequence of events were thrilling with all the journey and adventure and the secrets being revealed.
The book ends in a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to read the next part.

Writing a fantasy, building a whole other world and executing it properly so that readers get what’s in the Author’s mind is a great task. And congratulations Yash Sharma for accomplishing such a great task.

Rating- 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Book- The Modern Day Hindu

Author- Nikhil Chandwani

Publisher- Raindrops Publishers

Pages- 200

Blurb: “Here are your instructions. You must overlook everything you know. Modern Day Hindu need you to blur the edges of white and dark sphere of life. It is my journey, practicing a very rare Hindu way of living, and blending the same with Quantum Physics , The Cosmos, a whole lot of Hollywood movie mentions, Rock Music and Passionate Resistance. This book provides resolutions to the Twenty-First Century dilemmas through certain laws, I decoded, while implementing the classical Indian knowledge. The book reveals the wandering consciousness of Hinduism. Awareness that might complete your missing puzzle. It just might.

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This book contains informations based on the Author’s experience. With people getting influenced from Western culture this book tries to keep Hindu culture alive with solutions to modern day problems. There has been a lot of movie and music reference, which might be confusing. The illustrations were good. Narration was good, could have been better. Proof reading is needed.

Albeit the plot was good, not everyone can enjoy this book. I personally didn’t enjoy it.

Rating-🌟🌟/5

I received this book as the part of a review program.

Book- Runaway Vagabond

Author- Sriza Ghosh

Publisher- Bluerose Publishers

Pages- 175

The Dutta family of Kolkata was like any other normal family, content with their life, living happily together, enjoying the life through ups and downs. This family of five like any other person in Kolkata waited for Durga Puja. Every year they would enjoy all the Puja days but never went to the Grand Durga Immersion at the Ganges. But that year, Mr. & Mrs. Dutta gave in to their daughters’ request and went to the immersion. But what happens next would change the Dutta household forever, something’s about to happen that nobody can ever be ready for !
From a 16 year old girl who spent her days happily with her family to a girl who executed a cold-blooded murder and ended up at a brothel, Snigdha Dutta’s life took all drastic turns.

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This is such a heart-breaking story, beautifully narrated with lucid writing style. The way a perfect family is destroyed shows how unfathomable life is. How any minute your life can change.
And that nobody can love you the way your parents. I repeat, nobody. The way they don’t think before sacrificing for you, they love you selflessly, no matter where or how they are, their kids are always in their mind. And before it’s late, stop taking them for granted. Understand their value and cherish each moment.
And nobody can be a better friend than a sibling. To put it simply, nothing can ever replace the selfless love and care shown by one’s family.
The characters feel so real, the events feel so live. The story is an absolute read.
I wish it was a bit longer, with more pages , so that certain events could have been expressed with more details.
The turn of events was well executed but there wasn’t much mystery and certain parts were quite predictable.
I didn’t like the way the Duttas were shown as racists. And I really liked how bits and pieces of Snigdha’s past connected to her present.
Albeit the title of the story kind of relates to it, but doesn’t fully justify it. A story like this should have been given a better title.

Book- Beyond a Mysterious Journey (Spirits of Time Book- 1)
Author- Madhuparna Suman
Pages- 158
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Beyond a Mysterious Journey is a story about a couple Nandini and Neelkand who trapped in the monotonicity of their regular life, decided to take a trip to Georgia to rekindle their relationship.
While enjoying their vacation, a trip to an abandoned castle changed their life forever. The couple gets caught in a series of supernatural events and to save Nadini, Neelkand has to follow what the guide says !

✍️ The Author was creative with the plot but the execution was not good.

✍️ The narration was immature and requires improvement.

✍️ There were lots and lots of spelling and grammatical errors. Proofreading is highly recommend.

✍️ The characters weren’t well developed and didn’t connect. . .

✍️ The pace of narration was okay.

✍️ There were very few good parts and the depiction of real life issues were good.

✍️ There were lots of information about Georgia and those were very well used in the story.

Rating- 🌟🌟/5

Thank you The Book Genie for the review copy.

Book- Song of Life
Author- Anuradha Singh
Pages- 36 .
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Song of Life is a short poetic retelling of the longest and epic poetry, Mahabharata. It’s a wonder that the author has managed to abridge the longest poetry in just 36 pages.

🍂The poem starts from King Bharat and basically outlines the occasions that led to the great war.

🍂Since the poem is really short, lots of part were missing, for instance,marriage of Subhadra and Arjuna, how Abhimanyu learnt about the Chakravyuh, how Ghatotkach was the first Pandav child to die, and a lot more.

🍂Those who know about Mahabharata will be able to understand the poem very well and refresh their memory about Mahabharata, the beautiful, unusual, tragic happenings but those who have no or little idea about the epic will get confused.

🍂 The writing style is really simple and flawless. The outlining of the events leading to the war was good keeping in mind that it is a short retelling. But keeping in mind how epic the poetry is, this poem lacks a lot.

🍂 The Author, in the beginning, has herself mentioned about the different kinds of emotions and facets represented by Mahabharata, and missing on a lot of important points (well, everything’s important in Mahabharata) doesn’t quite justify the title as ‘Song of Life’.

🍂 Since I know about Mahabharata and have read and heard stories from my Grandfather, it was overall a good and short read for me.

🍂 Rating- 3/5

Thank you @arl_literary_services for the review copy.

Book- Once Upon A Reunion
Author- Nithya Sashi
Pages- 150

Nirmala, a 42 year old working and married woman was happy in her life with her husband Sreenivas, but still couldn’t get over her ex-lover from college, Suresh, who broke up with her 20 years back.
Her obsession about Suresh knew no bounds when she discovered that her classmates were planning a reunion and she’ll get a chance to meet him.
But what havoc is this reunion going to cause ?
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✍️ The writing style and narration was amazing. It was flawless and gripping. But sadly that is the only good thing about the book.

✍️ What exactly was the plot ? 80% of the book revolved around Nirmala, her past and present, her pyschotic husband, her obsession about her ex-lover and her crazy best friend. In the next 20% it’s about the reunion, Suresh’s death and it’s interrogation. So, what exactly was the plot ?

✍️ The characters were all 42 years old but were behaving like a bunch of immature teenagers. The character development could have been better.

✍️ There were some parts which were utterly illogical. For instance, how on Earth do you copy a person’s sim card and WhatsApp and use it while the original owner is still using it. And then there was the interrogation by police and the motive behind the murder was so unreasonable.

✍️ The ending was kind of clumsy and the pace was rushed from the scene of reunion. The rest of the book was well paced.

This could have been a really good book since the Author’s narration is really good, but everything else ruined it.

Rating- 🌟🌟/5

Thank you @arl_literary_services for the review copy.