Book 16 : SHE – Ekla Cholo Re

Title : SHE – Ekla Cholo Re

Author :  Santosh Avvannavar, Shayan Haq

My Rating : 4.5 / 5 stars

Set in the backdrop of 1990 Calcutta, She is a story about finding one’s own identity in spite of all odds. The story spins around the life of Kusum, a brave heart whose identity is often untitled and blurred; it does not belong anywhere, definitely not under the ‘he’ or ‘she’ bracket. Will she be successful in her mission in standing against the society and embrace her identity?

The book basically revolves around the status & treatment of transgenders in the society. Like the many other books of the author, this book too takes its root from a social issue – the acceptability of transgenders in the society. I should say this is one of the best works of the author as he has been very successful in bringing out the essence of the story in a very short read.

Kusum’s life story is beautifully said; her birth as a male and the pressure to be a male in the society shows us the yearning of a transgender to break free from their natural form. Her decision to follow her heart and embrace her identity even after many heart breaks and let downs, makes us have great respect for the transgenders. In short, the book makes us think and changes our perceptive towards those who have sought out their identity without fear.

I give the book 4.5/5 for its ability to stand out and invoke a change. The rating should say it all and I would recommend this book for everyone.

Note: I received this book as a complimentary copy from the Author in exchange for a honest review. The opinions expressed in the review are my own, and remain unbiased and uninfluenced.

Happy Reading! 🙂

 

 

 

Book 12 : Beyond Forever…In Love

 

Title : Beyond Forever…In Love

Author : Kiran Joshi

My Rating : 3.5 / 5 stars

My Review :

The book follows the story of Kamna, a dreamy eyed girl practicing her medical career as a physiotherapist, who suddenly realizes that her choice of career as well as boys have been totally wrong! She tries to turn around things for herself, as she moves to Mumbai to do MBA and keeps away from emotions till the time Varun, her old patient comes in her life again. She falls for Varun but one night things change and Varun is a changed man. Will their love be stretched beyond forever or will it come to an end.

Beyond forever..in love includes everything a typical Indian drama has; friendship, love, family ties, clashes and yes! a happy ending. The main protagonist Kamna is quite brilliantly portrayed and you feel instantly connected with her life and her various flawed decisions. The author effortlessly brings out the internal struggles of Kamna, over her various life decisions leaving us thinking about our own. The story captures our interest as it progresses and keeps us glued to it until the end.

I loved how the author built-up not only Kamna’s character but also her friends and Pratik’s character. The author made a fine effort in carving out Pratik’s immature character that it makes us connect with Kamna’s feeling of being walked into a trap and her desire for a better relationship.
The author penned down Rucha, Siddhi and Soumitra’s character very well too and did them justice in the book as they were one of the crucial elements in the progression of the story. I enjoyed their stories too and kept looking out for them throughout the book.

When we enter the love story between Kamna and Varun, at times I felt the author exaggerated Kamna’s feeling towards Varun making us feel that we actually are reading a fiction. The feelings part could have been a little better. The author could have also done a better job with Varun’s character. We get the feel of Varun and how good he is, but we are just not able to connect with him. Since the story is basically Kamna’s POV, I felt her character overpowered Varun’s importance in the book.

For a debut novel, the author has done a great job. I loved how the author brought in the Indian family sentiments too. I am awed how she so nicely portrayed the typical Indian mother’s character and their nagging about the marriage issues.

I would definitely suggest this book for anyone looking for an enjoyable light-hearted young-adult romantic drama kind of book. I am rating this book a 3.5 stars.

Note: I won this book in goodreads giveaway and so I would like to thank goodreads and the author Kiran Joshi for the book.

Happy Reading..

BOOK 4 : The Summer of Chasing Mermaids

Title : The Summer of Chasing Mermaids

Author : Sarah Ockler

My Rating : 3 / 5 stars

My Review :

First of all I should say why I picked up this book to read, its because I was totally awestruck by the book’s cover and I also wanted to see how the author portrayed a girl who can’t speak. I really had lots of expectation from this book but I am really sorry to say that it dint live up to my expectations.

This story is about Elyse d’Abreau who was destined to be a singer along with her twin sister but because of some tragic accident she loses her voice and now she can’t speak. In order to try to forget her situation she accepts a family friend’s invitation to stay with them and moves to Atargatis Cove. The story then moves on with Elyse’s life, her feelings, her struggle to cope with the situation, her falling in love and finally building her confidence to live her life.

The problem with this book was that I couldn’t connect with the protagonist. I completely understand that Elyse underwent  some really  tragic accident which took her voice away but in the entire book until the end she keeps feeling so sorry for herself that I am like “Why is she like this?”. She is so closed up that it gets irritating at some point. It seems perfectly normal that the author wanted to show the depth of her hurt feelings and her lost destiny. But seriously nothing happens in her head other than feeling sorry for herself, and it becomes quite boring when such things go on for more than half of the book without you even knowing what exactly happened in the accident.

Apart from Elyse I think all the other characters were really very good, especially Christian Kane our hero. The synopsis says he is a playboy but I dint even get a glimpse of such a feel in the book. He seemed to be such a nice guy. His character is very nicely portrayed because even with all the family issues going on he is quite lively. I just loved Christian and he was totally adorable. The best part in the book was definitely Elyse’s and Christian’s romance/love. The author totally won it over there. But I felt that the author could have shown what Elyse and Christian conversed while spending time with each other because such small conversations add up to the romance feel.

The author could have said more about Kirby and Noah’s relation too because they were quite lovely. The book gets interesting only after the first half, because till that there is hardly anything happening. The author could have also given clarity about the mermaid visions as they confuse you when they spring up suddenly. I also thought that the author should have added the details about the video that Elyse made for her sister. Somewhere it felt like we are missing the inside details which could have spiced up the relation between the sisters.

Overall, the book is a good summer read but not one which you can carry it in your heart for long. So I am rating it a 3 out of 5. Go ahead and try it out.

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