Review: Strangers With Known Faces

Author: Gautam Dutta.

Genre: Mystery, Thriller.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

Rajat, Meenakshi, Sadaaf, Amol, and Shanaya are five University students with nothing in common- who should never have met in the first place. They meet after winning a lucky draw- the prize of which was to take part in a puzzle game. Though the game was engrossing, they were unable to solve the puzzle in the stipulated time. However, this lead to the beginning of a deep friendship between them. Their friendship blossomed. But ego and misunderstanding led to an acrimonious break up. They meet again- two decades later- when Shanaya is murdered, and the other four are suspects. The four soon realize that in spite of being estranged for so many years, there were unknown ties that bound them- ties of treachery, deceit, and subterfuge. Ties that have led them to come together in circumstances that no one could have foreseen. And the game that they had left incomplete two decades back has to be played yet again – on a much bigger canvas. Now they have to trust each other, clear their names, and get to the bottom of the mystery, which threatens not only their lives and relationships, but also the fabric of democratic India. As their travels and travails continue, they discover hitherto unknown facets of the people around them, as well as their own selves. Can they succeed in resolving the puzzle this time? Or is history doomed to repeat itself? As hidden aspects of the human personality are revealed, they realize that no one is what he or she appears to be. For the world comprises of ‘Strangers With Known Faces’.

Cover Review:

The cover is simple and unattractive. I would definitely suggest the author to invest in a professionally made cover, because the story has potential, unlike the cover.

Book Review:

The novel had an intriguing beginning with two bomb blasts that happened because of malfunctioning drones owned by the Indian army. The first chapter begins with the death of one of the main characters. 

The story was interesting and intriguing, it kept me interested, until I reached the flashback chapters. Rajat's flashback was long, and included unnecessary-to-the-plot details. I wish it'd been shorter. It dragged way too much, stealing the book's pace. 

The story slowed down considerably from that point. Though there was enough suspense to keep me going, I wish there'd been a bit less description and a bit more action. 

My favourite character is most probably CBI Officer Shweta. She held up the case after discovering that her partner was a mole pretty well.

The few things that I didn't like were the story's dragging pace, the grammatical errors and the typos. I'd recommend the author to get the book proofread by a professional, because the story is really good, it just needs some polishing. 

All in all, it was an intense, suspenseful read, and with some improvements, it could definitely be a hit!

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Review: Years Later On Facebook

Author: Jupinderjit Singh

Genre: Short Story, Humor. 

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

This book is a collection of short-stories and Middles. It begins with the tale of a man who meets a childhood flame on Facebook. The story 'Safety-Pin 'talks about a career woman, who seeks to peep outside marriage. The range of stories takes you from voyeuristic men in a gym, and another in a train, to those taking on 'love jihad', you will find something that teases a thought. From the love story of two canines at the Indo-pak border to nature's effort to erase the borders through 'Peepal no 18'; to gun-firing in Poonch; to the serene silence of Ladakh, the book will offer food for thought to travellers as well. In fact, with glimpses of Istanbul, London, Kashmir and Rajasthan, these stories are sure to make an interesting accompaniment to your travels!

Cover Review:

The cover is a picture of a colour painting. Not really something I'd like to see as a book cover. 

Book Review:

Lets start off with the positives. The stories were funny, had a meaning and some of them were even quite impactful. 

The ones about the author himself were a lot more interesting than the others. They were funnier too.

The stories were all good and had a lot of potential. They could be better though. 

There were a lot of grammatical errors, from punctuation to sentence construction to the application of tenses. If the grammar had been better, I think I'd have given it a four stars rating. 

Some of the stories that I liked the most are 'Peepal Tree No. 918', 'The Pleasure of Giving', 'Of Ghosts and Printer's Devil's, etc.

All in all, Years Later On Facebook is a fun, light read if you can ignore the somewhat apparent grammatical errors and not-so-fun if you are irked by every single one of them. 

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Review: 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Author: Maureen Johnson.

Genre: YA.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.

In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat.

The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist.

Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/ bloke–about–town called Keith go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous–though utterly romantic–results. But will she ever see him again?

Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it's all because of the 13 little blue envelopes.

Cover Review:

The cover is simple, screams YA and kinda cute too. 

Book Review:

This is the second book I read as an audiobook. I've tried a few, but I usually ended up getting the e-book or paperback copy in order to read it because I'm way too impatient to go at the narrator's pace, and I can't increase the speed as I'm not a native English speaker and I end up getting confused because of the various accents! 😜

But now, I can proudly say that I finished reading this book solely through the Audiobook. 

And I loved it. I loved the crazy aunt Peg, and I loved Virginia (Ginny) and Keith too. I loved the narration as well because it was easy to understand and I was actually able to fast forward it. 

The places Virginia visits are described so beautifully that I felt I was there. It was a beautiful experience. 

I also loved the letters and the pictures on them and Aunt Peg's other paintings. They were all so beautiful, I could clearly see each one of them, the description was so well done!

The writing style was super, the characters though many, were all awesome and I absolutely loved it! Now I'll head on to the book two!

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Review: Reminiscences of A Seeker

Author: Kapil K. Bhaskar

Genre: Biography, True Story, Spiritual.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

A series of events catapults Kapil into the fascinating world of Dark Arts and suck him into the quagmire of drama, suspense, greed and betrayal. And just when the trials and tribulations seem to engulf Kapil completely, there emerged from the deepest darkness, a Brilliant Light of his True Master.

Reminiscences of A Seeker tells the true story of an ordinary man plunged into extraordinary circumstances of the Dark World.

Kapil takes you on his unforgettable true journey of the supernatural world of mystics and higher beings, unbelievable miracles and the parallel world of darkness and light, in his spiritual pursuit of seeking the ONE – who would show him the Ultimate Divine.

Cover Review: 

The cover is simple, with a moon shining against a black background. It could've been better, but still is good enough.

Book Review:

Reminiscences of A Seeker is a book about a person who is looking for his spiritual master. I'd read in the synopsis that this book was a paranormal thriller, but hadn't realised that it was actually spiritual.

I'm not much of a spiritual person, so this book proved to be a slightly tedious read for me. Though the writing style as well as the story itself were pretty great, it just wasn't for me.

Therefore, though I did not enjoy this book all that much, I'd still recommend it to the readers of the spiritual genre because I'm sure they definitely will!

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Review & Giveaway: Times And Places

Author: Keith Anthony.

Genre: General Fiction.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

Ten years after his daughter Justine’s death, an anxious Fergus embarks on a cruise with his wife. On board, he meets a myriad of characters and is entranced by some, irritated by others and disgusted by one. These turbulent feelings, combined with a sequence of bizarre events, only lead to his increased anxiety.

In a series of flashbacks, Justine enjoys an ultimately short romance, a woman concludes she killed her and an investigating police officer is drawn into her idyllic world. Fergus, haunted by poignant memories, withdraws in search of answers. 

Back on the cruise, Fergus reaches breaking point, fearing he has done something terrible. By the time the ship returns, his world has changed forever.

Times and Places spans Atlantic islands, the Chiltern countryside, Cornish coasts and rural Slovenia, all of which provide spectacular backdrops to a humorous and moving tale of quiet spirituality.

Cover Review:

The cover is made up of two contrasting colours with orange foxes on a black background. It's simple, artistic and beautiful. 

Book Review:

Times And Places is a book that brings out the extraordinary in ordinary situations. It shows us that even the tiniest happenings can alter our whole future. 

Justine's death is shocking because of how it happened. The simple decision of taking a bus led her to her demise. Her story told me that even the most trivial things matter. 

"Don't worry," he replied with a smile, "I'll live." 

It didn't turn out to be a good prediction.

I loved how so many characters and their various stories were woven together in this beautiful novel.

The cruise taken by Fergus and his wife is full of so many beautiful descriptions of equally beautiful places. 

Times and Places features a myriad of characters, stories and emotions and will leave you with a jumble of feelings!

Giveaway:

Win 3 x Signed copies of Times and Places (Open International)

Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Review & Giveaway: The Invisible Hand

Author: James Hartley.

Genre: Young Adult, New Adult.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

The Invisible Hand is about a boy, Sam, who has just started life at a boarding school and finds himself able to travel back in time to medieval Scotland. There he meets a girl, Leana, who can travel to the future, and the two of them become wrapped up in events in /Macbeth/, the Shakespeare play, and in the daily life of the school. The book is the first part of a series called Shakespeares Moon. Each book is set in the same boarding school but focuses on a different Shakespeare play."

Cover Review:

The cover is beautiful. I'd have bought this book just for its pretty cover! 

Book Review:

The Invisible Hand was a short and fun read. The characters were well created and likable. The storyline was pretty confusing yet not too confusing either. 

I felt that the ending wasn't really an ending, but then again, that's how some books end, right? Only to begin again!

I'll be looking forward to the next book's release, and hopefully I'll get to read and review that too!

All in all, The Invisible Hand was intriguing, confusing in a good way, full of adventure and a fun read!

Giveaway:

Win 5 x Signed copies of The Invisible Hand with special Invisible Hand tactile pens (Open Internationally)

Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Long Live Dead Reckless

Title: Long Live Dead Reckless. 
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance.

Blurb:

Talor Gardin may be a princess, but her life is no fairy tale.

A year ago, her mother died and her father burned down their house. Now with a father in and out of a mental ward, she’s working a minimum wage job to finish her last semester of college. To make matters worse, she gets itchy every time a guy makes a move on her. The itch could be anything, really: a desire to escape her haunted hometown, a financial windfall, the name of some vampire…or all the above. Whatever the reason, she thinks the answers are written in the freckle constellations of her cute new coworker, Sage Talis.

Sage is the quiet, polite type with plenty of secrets – like fangs and a price on his head – and Talor can’t figure out what makes him so irresistible until she hears him sing. But when cryptic letters appear on her wrist, Talor is thrust into a world where fantastic creatures lurk just below the skin, strangers keep calling her a princess, and everything she’s been through is nothing compared to what’s coming.

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Excerpt:

        Lonely Road

I gathered the layers of my dress and started walking. I passed the long row of cars lining the grand entrance and headed out onto the road. When I got far enough from the bright lights of the mansion, I realized I was on a dark road alone. As expected, I began to freak myself out. Had I just become that stupid girl in a horror movie? Why did I leave the safety of the gala? 

I should have just gone back inside and waited for sanity to show up. Spencer was gone, but his car was still sitting in the driveway. He was probably laughing his butt off somewhere with Jesse. I started to wonder how bad a kisser I really was if he acted like it nearly killed him. Should I dare embarrass myself with Sage? And was I really a bad dancer, too? I ran my fingers along my lips as I pondered the whole thing. 
I had plenty to think about on my lonely walk. It was a good thing, too, because the longer I traveled down the winding country road, the more I feared that Bex would forget to come get me or drive down the wrong street. She’d never been to Beaty Plantation before. I’d forgotten that not all my friends were friends with each other. The edges of my stilettos started to rub the sides of my feet raw, so I stopped to take them off.

As I bent down, I caught a whiff of something dead and had to cover my nose. I hoped I wouldn’t trip over a dead raccoon in the middle of the road. It wasn’t a good time for a twig to snap nearby. I tried to pretend it was a deer. I wasn’t about to start looking around for more eye shine. After all, it was the outskirts of the city, otherwise known as the country. There were plenty of fields and forests; protected places full of wild things because millionaires like to have miniature countries to lord over. 

In an effort to lighten my mood, I escaped into childlike imagination. Maybe the deer and the road kill raccoon were old friends. Maybe he was coming to pay his respects. For safety’s sake, I hoped animals were that sentimental. I knew it was something else, but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t muster the courage. 

I quickened my pace, knowing that if something strange was lurking around, it was going to have to work up a sweat to catch me. I was jogging a solid six-minute mile in my ball gown by the time Bex’s headlights were on me. I could hear her ridiculous cackle and blaring beats before I got in. She didn’t even try to suppress it.

“Takin’ a pleasure jog in your evening gown, Miss O’Hara? Aren’t you supposed to be sipping mint juleps or something?”

I slammed the car door and waved her on without answering. I was out of breath and sweating a little more than I wanted to in a silk dress and cinching corset. As I laid my head against the window, I caught the glimpse of something in the rearview. It was standing in the middle of the road where I had just been picked up. It looked like…

“Stop,” I screeched.

She slammed on the brakes. 

“Ohmahgod, what?”

As we sat idling there in the road, I turned around; I’d seen something in the rearview. Something insane. Something my dad would have seen. It was gone now. What I saw, I didn’t dare say. It wasn’t real, but I was sure it was what had been following me. 

I slammed down the door lock. I saw something that shouldn’t be there. Something that didn’t exactly exist.


“No. Just go. Go now. Go fast, please.”

Safariari Spell is a native of Albany, Georgia. She has a BA in Journalism from Valdosta State University. She currently lives in North Georgia with her husband, hilarious daughter, and a backyard jungle harboring all the dinosaurs everyone thinks are extinct. Her dreams include chasing autumn around the globe, owning a wallaby, and riding a camel for at least nine seconds.

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Review: That's How It's Meant To Be

Author: Shilpi Chaklanobis.

Genre: Romance, General Fiction.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

Love transcends distance, time and age. It’s beyond the customs of the world around us that spin us into a frenzy. People meet, they fall in love, that’s where your usual love story might end. But not this one. For this is not a love story, this is a story about love. When Nilanjana meets Vikram in the strangest circumstances, they fall in love with each other against all odds. The quintessential Bengali girl finds herself smitten by your not so spoilt Punjabi guy. But sometimes, life throws lemons at you and you ask yourself, is love enough to keep two people together? Come on the journey of a lifetime that makes you wonder, introspect, dive in your deepest thoughts, only to come out wiser. Experience, anger, joy, surprise and love. Experience, LIFE.

Cover Review:

The cover is okay, but I didn't really like it.

Book Review:

That's How It's Meant To Be is a story about growing up, falling in love, falling out of it, and making your own identity.

I felt that Nilanjana was the only character that was well developed and complete. But I guess since it's her story, it's alright. Not good, but okay. 

The storyline is well thought out, and the writing style is pretty impressive, though the beginning wasn't all that interesting. It was way too passive, with no action. And that's definitely not how I like my beginnings. 

Another thing that irked me was the fact that some characters were only introduced when they were absolutely needed. Like Nilanjana's roommates weren't named or introduced until months later at her birthday party. Similarly, Vikram never talked about his nanny until the accident with his sister. This sudden appearances of new characters were a definite put off, but if you can ignore that fault, the book is actually a pretty good read. 

Overall, it was good enough to finish reading, but I won't be reading it again. 

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Review: My Mute Girlfriend

Author: Himanshu Rai.

Genre: Romance.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

“That day I realized I had lost her forever. I had lost
her smile, her friendship, her voice…
But still, somewhere in my heart, I believed her to be

my girlfriend. My mute girlfriend.”

Rohan is a telecom professional posted in Meerut and misses his girlfriend from college days, who had stopped interacting with him,
without giving any reason. Although she had always stood by his side and her eyes reflected immense love, but she remained his mute

girlfriend.

The book opens with an SMS from Vaidehi to Rohan, after five long years. But before he could reply, his mobile gets damaged and he
wanders in his memories to narrate a story. About how his girlfriend became his mute girlfriend after the first year of their engineering

college.

My Mute Girlfriend is a true romance story of how Rohan unravels the answers to why Vaidehi was mute for so long, and how their life is about to change. But little do they know that the worst is yet to come.

Cover Review:

The cover doesn't have any special qualities. It's an average romance book cover. I'm okay-okay about it!

Book Review:

My Mute Girlfriend was engaging, with well crafted characters and a well written storyline. 

Though there were many frustrating moments, the suspense build up was perfect, and the climax was a good feat too. It lived up to all the suspense. 

There were parts that I wished were differently written, but overall it was a nice read.

Not something I would re-read, but it was a good read as a first-timer. I couldn't connect all that well with the story i.e.it didn't make me cry, but it still was a good enough read. 

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Review: For A Girl In A Star

Author: Ratna Chandu

Genre: Drama, Romance.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

What do you do when your best friend – the one person who has stood by you through thick and thin, knows you better than you know yourself, and
literally saved your life – falls in love with the same girl as you?

Avinash and Sahas, two village boys, arrive in Bangalore in search of art and in pursuit of ambition. Sahas, hardworking and nervous, antonym to his
friend, has emerged from a troubled past only to find that his future doesn’t come without encumbrances. Their friendship is the one constant in the two boys’ lives, but that is tested when they each meet Aarti – a mysterious,
compassionate, beautiful girl who captures both their imaginations and
sets their hearts aflame.

Will their passion for the same girl, and an untimely tragedy, sunder the two friends forever?

A compelling tale with twists and turns reminiscent of India’s melodramatic films, For a Girl in a Star deals with the age–old staples of young love,

heartbreak, and what it means to be a true friend.

Cover Review:

Stars are one of my most favorite cover themes. The second one is silhouettes. And this book has both of them. So there's no doubt that I loved it!

Book Review:

For a Girl In A Star is a story about friendship, love, sacrifice, hate, revenge and guilt. Basically, it has a myriad of emotions. 

The characters were perfectly created with their own personality traits and styles. The only thing that irked me was how easy it was to guess the relationship between the girls Avinash and Sahas had met. 

The story was full of twists and turns, some very welcome while others kinda weird. The part about Sahas's dad hiring men to kill Avinash seemed a little stretched to me, and the result thereof too. 

Though other than that, For a Girl in a Star was an emotion-packed read that I thoroughly enjoyed!

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Review: Solitude And Other Obsessions

Authors: Uma, Binod, Trupti, Shruti and Saurin.

Genre: Poetry.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫

Cover Review:

The cover is beautiful and artistic, though I couldn't find a connection between it and the title.

Book Review:

All of the poems were beautiful and an awesome read. Though I liked all of them, my favorites were the ones by Trupti Kalamdani, especially, Two to Tango and Wedding Bells. 

Uma Sudhindra's poems were more inclined towards the nature, and soldiers. A Soldier's Message was my most favorite one from her.

Bindo Panda's poems were reflective, short and beautiful, especially A Few More Moments...

As I already said, Trupti Kalamdani is my favourite one from the lot. Her poems range from social issues to love to heartbreak, and her writing is absolutely enchanting.

Dr. Shruti's poems were deep and mesmerizing. My favorite one from her was All That Matters.

Lastly, Saurin Desai's poems were short, meaningful and full of wonder. My favorite, without doubt, was Alcohol On Prescription.

The artistic representations by Shripad Bhalerao only added to the beauty of an already beautiful collection and I loved reading it!

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