Ashvamedha: Book Review

The Game Of Power

Author: Aparna Sinha

Book Blurb:

You have to dethrone a powerful man to become the most powerful. I was itching to defeat the single most powerful person, but there wasn’t any. I was left with only one choice — to create one.”

Little does Ashwin Jamwal know that the last twenty-five years of his life have been controlled by a master manipulator, who wanted to make him the most powerful man on earth, though for a reason! Ashwin steps up to take oath as the youngest Prime Minister of India and is unknowingly thrown into a vortex of power and authority as the entire world is threatened by a faceless enemy — Hades.

The world starts to look up to Ashwin as the savior, but he was just a pawn, reared only to be sacrificed in the end.

A story of greed, lies, deceptions, manipulations and corruption, Ashvamedha is a thriller revolving around the infamous game of power in a maddening bid to seek absolute control.

My Book Review:

This book was quite a political thriller.

The protagonist, Ashwin Jamwal, is an honest IAS officer. His honesty and his dream to bring a change leads to him transferring to other cities. He then realizes that he would have to think of innovative measures to do good. He succeeds in his technique until he gets screwed to an extent that he has to resign. He then joins Politics and becomes quite successful.

The premise of the book that in order to become the most powerful person on Earth, you need to create a “most” powerful person and then defeat that person, is what attracted me to read that book.

The characterizations are quite good. The narration is fast paced and the story is weaved perfectly. I loved the ending. There is an element of surprise till the last paragraph!

But, there were minor spacing errors as well as some of the pages were repeated in the book which was disappointing. The publisher should have paid more attention on the quality of this book, as it truly is worth it.

Aparna Sinha is truly an author to keep an eye on, I look forward to her next work!

 Buy the book

 

Gone With The Wind: Book Review

Author: Margaret Mitchell 

Book Blurb:

A historical romance set in northern Georgia during the drama of the Civil War and Reconstruction years, Gone with the Wind traces the life of Scarlett O’Hara and her relationships with Rhett Butler, and Ashley and Melanie Wilkes. The Novel addresses such themes as survival, romantic love, and how societies structure gender and class.

My Review:

There are romantic novels, and then there is this classic. While it is humongous, you find yourself turning pages wondering what happens next.This is an eight hundred and thirty three page book, so I would recommend it only for those who enjoy reading classics.

I read this book years ago, so this review will be based on the thoughts and the feelings I still have for it. It is one of those rare books that stays with you. The ending of the book, my oh my, the ending is the one that takes this book on a whole other level.

The best part of the book (apart from the ending) was the writing. It takes a truly gifted author to have a selfish, spoiled, arrogant, silly and stupid protagonist who actually grows up to be a woman of substance truly because of the situations she finds herself in which makes her see sense. When I started reading, Scarlett REALLY got on my nerves….REALLY..but by the end, I enjoyed reading her parts and somehow could not stop myself from feeling sorry for her. That’s character development for you!

The book is divided in two parts, one before the civil war and one after. We see the actual impact of the war and how it changed people. The writing is so real, you can actually feel the pain of the people.

While there is a movie on it, I would recommend you read the book as the movie just does not do it justice.

If you are thinking to read this book, DO IT! Pick it up! Even I plan to give it a read one more time, will update this review with my new thoughts on it once I am done!

GET YOUR COPY NOW!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Writer Tips: Importance of Book Covers

We have all heard this saying:

Do Not Judge A Book By It’s Cover

In a way it is true, you never know what is inside the book, the writer and the graphic designer are two different people. Additionally, and obviously, you cannot showcase the essence of the whole book in one image.

BUT!

The number of authors are increasing by day. With self publishing, many many people now have become authors. Even the best of the stories are now hardly get the hype it deserves. With many marketing professionals, and the bloggers, only the books that reach them get somewhat recognition.

So, how do you break the clutter? How do you make that reader be attracted to your book? Why would they pick up your book over others?

Let us first go into your customer’s mind. They are in a book shop, or are browsing books online. They would either have a list of books that they need to buy, or would be looking for books that might attract them. Now your job is to make them pick your book and read the blurb.

But there are literally thousands of books in any store. What would make them want to pick your book up?

THE COVER.

I have bought many books just because the cover attracted me. Some I bought even without reading the blurb, as the covers were not just covers, but pieces of art! Check out my YouTube video on 5 books that I bought simply because of their cover.

Here is an inforgraph that was created by photoconcierge, that shows the research findings:

Why is this so? Have the readers become shallow?

NO.

This is so because a great cover, means quality. It means that the author and/or the publisher is so invested in the book and they have such confidence in the book that they have ensured the best outcome. It is rare to find a book with an outstanding cover and shoddy story line. BUT, a poor cover, with cliches or text that can hardly be read, shows that the producers did not care to provide the readers with a good material.

So, once you have invested in making your book the best and you are ensured that it is amazing in terms of story line, characterization, grammar and spellings, the next stage is to make it a real beauty!

 

 

30 DAY BOOK CHALLENGE: DAY 19: Favorite Book Turned Into A Movie

HOW ON EARTH AM I SUPPOSED TO FIGURE OUT MY FAVORITE BOOK?

I thought a LOT on which book was my absolute favorite, but since there were so many contenders, I have decided to consider only the books were the movie was AS GOOD AS THE BOOK.

So, the book that I choose is The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Click here for book review)

The reason I picked this book up was that both the movie and the book were a delight to go through. The story line is amazing and inspirational and you laugh and cry your way through them.

This post is a part of the 30 day book challenge.

 

 

 

Perfect Prescription for Broken Hearts: Book Review

Author: Aparajitha Nagesh

Book Blurb:

What is the perfect prescription for broken heart? It is a full close of love-cetmol? Suturing the cut ends? A cardiac transplantation? Or a life time of love with hugs and smiles thrice a day? Hrudi, a heartbroken and calumniated gynecologist, decides that the perfect prescription to her unending endurance is to put a full stop to her life once and for all. Inebriated by a rush of nostalgia, she chooses to relieve the past once again, before finally finding her eternal in peace. This journey back in time takes her to her college days, where she falls into step with Aditi since day one and was always at loggerheads with the hunk, Hrishikesh Datta. But everything changed when the cupid struck his arrow on both the parties and life became even more beautiful, until the inevitable happened, crumpling down her world like a pack of cards. When she was still coping with the heartache, another blow hit her like a wrecking ball and she was razed to the ground once big confrontation that he feared for years. Will she live through this? Will her broken heart ever be mended?

My Review:

This is a different book in terms of story line, but it needed a bit more restraint in terms of narration. There were parts of the book where author went so deep in the narration that a reader forgets the main story. A medical person who reads the story might be able to relate to it better, but as someone from a commerce background, who just likes reading medical fiction, the narrations became quite overbearing.

The characterizations were spot on. They were so realistic that you could really relate to the people mentioned in the story. The best part is that not just the main characters, but even the side characters were interesting and fun to read. Especially the ‘table fan’. The thing was I literally thought the characters were talking about a real table fan when he was first referenced. And then when we find out why he was given this name, it all made sense.

I liked the ending of the story. I think the author did a great job handling it, especially the twist at the very end. Just when you are coming to terms with the ending…BAM…it’s not really ending that way! A great touch!

Overall, if you are in the medical field, you are bound to enjoy this book way more than those who are not from the field. For those who are, if you can stick through those lengthy narrations, the ending would be worth it.

 

Sick of Being Healthy: Book Review

Author: Monisha K Gumber

Book Blurb:

Tara, a young teenager is blessed with a little bit too much of health for her own good. Desperate to get the guy of her dreams, she ends up playing a very dangerous game- a game that could cost her friendship, her peace of mind and even her life ! Actually that’s an exaggeration but yes, she does make some serious blunders in her quest for a perfect body to impress her one true love. Can she do it an d is it all really worth it?

Welcome to her world and discover her inspiring journey towards real health and happiness, meet her stunning high achiever best friends and her parents who never seem to be satisfied. Let down by her own sister and under constant pressure to do well in studies, she learns how to fight her confidence and self-esteem issues and emerge a winner in the end.

My Review:

This book is targeted towards tween and early teen girls.

The language is fun and lucid. The story line is very interesting and apt for its target audience. It is in this age that girls start to notice their bodies, as well as bodies of those around her. The first seeds of insecurities are sowed. If proper attention is not given, this could lead to a life long eating disorders. The only problem I had with this book was that when the protagonist Tara was diagnosed with bulimia, the entire issue and the consequences were highlighted beautifully. But the way the “recovery” was done felt quite abrupt. I feel if the author had focused on the recovery a bit more it would have been better..

Another aspect that the book deals with is the developing of crushes on the opposite sex and the pressure that these young girls face to “go all the way”. This was handled wonderfully and without judgement. The best part was this was truly written from the perspective of the age, so instead of being all judgmental and moral about this topic (like adults to write about children are prone to be), the author highlights the doubts, the fears, the choices and much more.

This is also a book that has been written in the ‘wimpy kid’ style, so you get a lot of different and fun images which did make the reading experience more fun.

Even though this is quite a short book,the characters were realistic and believable. They felt like some people you meet in your neighborhood.

Kudos to the author for taking such complex topics and handling them with the perfect balance of maturity and age appropriateness.

Buy this book

Book Review: Bharathi and her theory of everything

Author: Anil CS Rao

Book Blurb Blurb
To Bharathi, this was utterly horrific. If it were indeed the case then she was conceived the same way she saw Aryaraj molest older inmates in the encampment. As a result of this mischievous Roopa’s revelation, Bharathi fell into a depression for (she had counted) forty days and forty nights. In her dreams, she recalled a very ancient story Roopa had shared with her a year before: about Noah, who bought two of every living thing on his arc when The World had been flooded by God’s anger at human being’s conduct on Earth. What would God think now about the semi-robotic people that inhabited Aryraraj’ s World? And worse: who was this God? Aryaraj often professed that he was eligible for this status or title.

My Review:

While I really liked the central character “Bharathi” as I found her to be an extremely complex character, the main narration of the story lacks polishing. The story takes a long time to develop and initially the characters are dropped quite randomly and for a long time the reader keeps wondering who are these people and what is happening. If the author had tied the story and characters in a slightly better way, it would have been good.  There were a couple of grammatical errors as well.

Another point that I would like to make is that the book lacked proper cover. The cover, if it had been on a book store shelf, would not have attracted me to pick it up. And even if I had picked it, the book had no blurb to clue me in as to what to expect. So, definitely would have placed it back and carried on.

So, overall the story and the characters were good, the book needs work on the presentation and the pace of the story.

 

Vizag Blue: Book Review

Author: Anil CS Rao

My Review:

This is supposed to be psychological thriller. I felt that the book needs a lot more refining in terms of story line, characterization as well as the graphics. This book felt like the initial draft, and not a published book.

While the idea behind the story was quite good, it failed in execution. The story revolves around Kalpana, who has stopped speaking to anyone. Her doctor evaluates her and sends her to her beach house along with a nurse, Usha. Usha tries to bring her out of her shell by telling her about her life, but no avail. Then one morning Usha finds Kalpana on the beach, naked. How did she reach there? Even Kalpana has no answer.

The premise is so interesting, but it really was not handles properly. The ending felt abrupt and quite simplistic. The ‘thrill’ that should come from reading a thriller never comes.

The cover design could have been better, also on the cover it is mentioned that this is a novella. It is not.It is a short story. A very short story.

I feel that this book needs to be refined in every way possible.