Review of Metro Diaries by Namrata

ALL ABOUT THE BOOK 

NAME OF THE BOOK : METRO DIARIES AUTHOR : NAMRATA WHAT REVIEWERS SAY - Do you like love stories and poems then you must read Metro Diaries ! It is collection of 20 amazing stories narrated in such a way that you will fall in love with stories and characters involved. This stories will surely make you think about the special person in your life. As the blurb says it will surely hold you from start till end, such is the magic of each story and skills of author.Here's my take on each story -Sachin Prabhu

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WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

Love is one of the most amazing feelings on this earth, one that makes you the most powerful person or the most helpless person in a split second. These stories capture those feelings of despair, longing, love, lust, desire, want, dejection and admiration to create deja vu. Hold onto your hearts as you flip through these pages and take a walk down the memory lane, as "metro diaries" will revive your innermost feelings and imbibe in you the magic of love. Touching, amusing and deeply moving, metro diaries - love classics are tales that will hold you from start till end.

My Review

Metro Diaries is a book of short love stories by Namrata. The author is a gypsy and travel is her second name thus, making her unveil the many faces of love, yearning, and passion. She has also portrayed heartbreaks followed by sorrow and pain that left an imprint on the reader's heart as the moist eyes accompanied what it read. 

The short anecdotes before each story gave the reader insight on what to expect and I loved the way Namrata took the reader on the journey of each couple in her story. The surroundings, the settings, the plot, was so perfectly laid out as if visioning it from distance. Thus, when the heart would unite in love, there would be loud exultation from the reader. 

No doubt all the stories are weaved to perfection, but The Last Letter made my heart wrench and ache cause for love and longing for an individual to sustain all these years was commendable. No doubt Love is just a four-letter word, but this noun is as deep as one could go towards the core of this planet and despite the high temperatures and molten lava, thy love shall stand tenacious and surrounded with chivalry since the vibration from one soul to another soul is unique but that jingle is expressed via their eyes and their loving actions. 

I had read this book a few months back, but to write the review I re-read the stories, and honestly there were some emotions that were overlooked in the early read that were captured now. Being in love makes one emotional, and that mental state has a lot to say, express, and articulate. The author has a done an excellent job in exhibiting that sensitiveness. This book is for keeps!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Namrata is a prolific blogger known by the name Privy Trifles in the blogosphere who romances life through her writings and aspires to make love the universal language. She dons various hats between that of a contributing author to 8 anthologies a reviewer for leading publishing houses an editor to various books and a columnist. Apart from that she is also the editor for an online magazine called Writer's Ezine. Having mastered the nuances of finance till recently she also held the title of an investment banker closely to let it go to embrace her love for writing fully.

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Spotlight and Review of The Dove's Lament by Kirthi Jayakumar

ALL ABOUT THE BOOK 

NAME OF THE BOOK : THE DOVE'S LAMENT  AUTHOR : KIRTHI JAYAKUMAR  PUBLISHER : READOMANIA  MEDIA MENTIONS: *SOON TO BE UPDATED

WHAT REVIEWERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE NOVEL

Heartwarming, heart wrenching…stories that appeal, yet appall. Hats off to Kirthi Jayakumar who sees so much at such a young age. Usha Narayanan, Author of Pradyumna and The Madras Mangler. - 5 Stars.

This will make you think, question and feel. Every chapter is built around a real incident but unlike news reading small threads of emotions are weaved in  - making you one with the story, however much you might hate it. - Rubina Ramesh, Writer, Blogger and Reviewer. 5 Stars.

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

The Dove's Lament is a journey that takes you around the world, bringing to life the human side of conflicts that tear people apart. From the genocide in Rwanda, to war-stricken Bosnia, from child marriages in India to prostitution and drug trafficking in Colombia, these stories traverse a microcosm of reality. Be it the manifestation of Bacha Baazi in Afghanistan, or the fight for paradise on Earth, Kashmir, the repertoire of stories lend a soul to what otherwise remain a muddle of news reports and statistics. Through these stories, Kirthi embroiders a tapestry of the unvanquished human spirit in varied shades, and shakes you up to the reality that surrounds you.

My Review

The Dove's Lament is a bemoaning of the human race! 

It talks about their actions, behavior, and conduct towards thy brethren that has led to bloodshed, fightings, and massacre since emotions could not be controlled as pride, and ego came in their way. The author brings out the plight and the quandary of the victims via these twelve fictitious stories that have actually happened as real life incidents thus giving the urban reader a stage to not only read, but also feel the fear, the panic, and the despair of the sufferers when they faced such demons. 

The author's storyline was riveting as most of her words dug deep into my skin leaving a mark and a stain on my heart with shame and disgust for the way we treat thy kinsperson.  After each of her imaginary stories, she has highlighted the actual incident that had happened year or years back. No doubt, they made headlines then but today they made me visualize up close and personal thanks to her vivid stories. 

“Ugly truths are the biggest source of indigestion in humans.” 

― Raheel Farooq

I commend the author, Kirthi Jayakumar for her endeavors to actually bring out the sensitiveness of the sufferer. The characters emotions were neatly woven around the incident thus making the reader passionately involved as she got entwined with the individual's fear, agony, and pain. 

There is nothing to dislike in this book. More so since it is giving out the truth. Unfortunately, the ugly truth, that 's hard to digest and embrace since mankind is suffering, and being tortured. Although, we cannot hear their cries, but their pain could be felt via these outlandish and grotesque stories that the author has weaved thus, helping to create awareness in this society.

 It is a work that is utterly brilliant but also very shameful from humanity's perspective. I would applaud Kirthi's endeavors in bringing out the facts thus, making it a highly recommended read. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Kirthi Jayakumar is a Lawyer, specialised in Public International Law and Human Rights. She has diversified into Research and Writing in Public International Law, Arbitration and Human Rights, besides Freelance Journalism. Working as a UN Volunteer, specializing in Human Rights issues in Africa, India and Central Asia and the Middle East, Kirthi has worked extensively with grass root organizations that focus on women's rights, and also run a journal, academy and consultancy that focuses on International Law, called A38. Kirthi is also the founder of the Red Elephant Foundation, an organisation that works for the empowerment of women.

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Review and Spotlight of Lemon Girl by Jyoti Arora

BLURB 

'It's all your fault.'
Mere words these are.
"But words can possess a shadow invincible enough to rob even a soul of its eternity."
In a society that finds it easier to mark sins of a victim than the culprit, Nirvi is a young girl punishing herself for the faults she did not do and avenging her hurts by defeating her own truth.
She is scared of her future, and ashamed of her past. She is failing herself, and knows it. She has had a long line of boyfriends, and hated them all. She detests the guy she is living with, runs away from the one she loves , and seduces the one who can never love her.
When Arsh first sees Nirvi, she's a free and frank girl in whose eyes sparkle the lemony zest of life. The next time he sees her, she is a voiceless doll draped in clothes that cover her body less and shroud her soul more. And Arsh can't rest till he finds out what made Nirvi give up her own real self.
Nirvi knows she is dragging herself on a path from which there can be no recovery. Can her spirit survive the treacherous downfall? Or is the pull of fear and push of desperation just too strong to withstand for a girl who believes she has "nowhere else to go" but down.
"When it's time for you to fall in love, even a lemon can become the cause of it," says Arsh.
But can love survive, when even the self love dies?
Can love survive when respect is no more?
Does true love have the power to revive a dying soul?
Find out in the pages of this brilliantly woven, intense, heart-warming and thought-provoking saga of RISING IN LOVE.

My Review

This book has a unique kick that makes you want to know more about this once described carefree girl whose jaunty and happy go lucky attitude was captured by an onlooker on a casual day thus making him nickname her as a "Lemon Girl" 

That spunky, feisty attitude  described by Arsh created such an image that the reader kept flipping the pages to know more about Nirvi, who was given the above nickname. But alas when he meets her after a few years, he finds her reclusive, cloistered and unsocial. However, that does not keep him away from her. He continues to hang around her friends and Nirvi to know more about her, and gradually many closets were opened and skeletons were brought out. This helped Nirvi contemplate her fears as she mulled over her past and tried pushing them away, but with caution. Fortunately Arsh was there at each step of the way, thus allowing him to get a place in her heart, as he gained her trust thus becoming her ally.

 The narration is smooth except for some instances where I thought the communication between Arsh and Nirvi could have been portrayed in a more fledged and mature way given that they are two adults!

Lemon Girl not only tells a tale of a girl named Nirvi, but also talks about a scar that has made the progress of women weaker, and man refuses to peep into it despite the darkness and intensity of this problem caused by thy man! This book delivered not only a literary composition, but also dealt with an important issue that makes me admire the author for the duality thus, making it a recommended read!

 

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MEET THE AUTHOR 

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Jyoti Arora lives in Ghaziabad, India. Jyoti Arora is a Post Graduate in English Literature and Applied Psychology. Her writing achievements include two novels, three blogs, several wins in national level blog competitions, over five years of freelance writing experience, developing books for kids and abridging 24 famous English novels like Jane Eyre, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn etc. Jyoti's first novel, Dream's Sake, was published in 2011 by V&S Publishers. It received great reviews and much appreciation from readers. Books have always been Jyoti’s best friends. In fact, books so fascinated her from early childhood that she learnt reading, by herself, even before she started going to school. And she considers herself most fortunate that she is able to pursue her dream of being a novelist and work at what she loves best. However, if books are Jyoti’s first love, and she’s still very devoted to them, the thrilling and steadily advancing world of technology also fascinates her. As a result, one of Jyoti’s blogs is a technological blog called Techn0Treats. In 2011, a post in this blog won her the title of Samsung Mobiler when Samsung made her a part of the team of twenty bloggers chosen from all over India through a blogging competition. In this team of twenty bloggers, she was the only woman and perhaps the only one who had studied literature instead of science. As a Samsung Mobiler, Jyoti is a patient of Thalassemia Major which forced her to stop going to school after class seventh. After that, she continued her studies on her own through correspondence courses. Her zest to overcome her medical problems and zeal to achieve success keeps her striving on with her endeavors to make her dreams come true.

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Review and Spotlight of Canvas of Dreams by Jaya Siva Murty

Canvas Of Dreams

by 

Jaya Siva Murty

The Blurb

 Riya seems to have lost everything—the man she loves to another woman, her husband to death and her soul to fear.An unexpected meeting with her first love, Ryan, stirs up long repressed feelings but also allows her to move out of the long shadow of the past. Unburdened, she feels free to pursue her dream of opening an art gallery and the handsome and intriguing artist Rehaan. But memories of her marriage refuse to fade away and then suddenly, Ryan shows up in her life again. Now, Riya must find the courage to reconcile her past and present.For Riya, life is a canvas of dreams. Can she distinguish between reality and fantasy?

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Canvas of Dreams

My Review

Canvas of Dreams is about a story of Riya and Ryan, who were childhood friends and love blossomed thereafter. However, the bond broke loose when they separated for higher studies, and eventually all contacts were deliberately cut when Riya heard a something about her boyfriend, Ryan.

Life continued, and they meet unexpectedly. Old flames rise, which eventually lead to a fire that was getting difficult to extinguish. This lead them to partially open up their pile of their past, but then ego's clashed when temper was raised by each of them, and that resulted in things staying as is, and they departed with a heavy heart.

Life gave them another opportunity, and this time maybe they realized the impact of time and how life was flying by that they both paused to understand each other, and eventually the cat was out of the basket!

This lead to these two individuals to a happily ever after!

The Author, Jaya Siva Murty did an excellent job in telling a story of two lovers that had the urge to unite, but kept themselves away when their self-pride came in the way. They lived their respective lives in bitterness, and agony until destiny threw them together and forced them to unite after breaking all the barriers.

Canvas of Dreams a story that all persons plan to imagine and draw upon a white raw canvas for themselves a tale of happiness. But when different personalities collide, it could become a story of love, misunderstanding, break up, living under regret, egos clash, and finally making up when the flame within refused to extinguish. 

Meet the Author

Jaya Siva Murty is a business writer and social media manager from Visakhapatnam, India. Fascinated with the written word since the age of ten, she would file away her poems and short stories in a secret diary, till some were finally published by ‘Times of India’ and ‘Savvy’. She has written for the Economic Times and now provides India-relevant stories for a Hong Kong based magazine. When she’s not designing content for websites, or writing technical blogs and articles for clients worldwide, she spins yarns with unusual twists and turns through her works of fiction.

Jaya holds a business management degree and has taken creativity lessons at Stanford University. ‘Canvas of Dreams’ is her debut foray into novella writing.

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Spotlight and Review of 'Playing With Fire' by Devika Fernando

 

Playing With Fire

by 

Devika Fernando

 

The Blurb

 If you’re playing with fire, prepare to get burned – or to fall in love.


Sparks fly when Felicia and Joshua meet. Discovering her inner fire and unleashing unimaginable powers makes her realize that all her life, she has been hiding her true self. When buildings burn and people are in danger, the tempting game of playing with fire becomes serious. Will their love and desperate struggle for control save her life, or will the fire magic turn itself against its mistress?


My Review

The book opens with a bang. This bang symbolizes sparks flying, window panes bursting, and loud noises of structures falling. Felicia was slowly approaching this ball of fire to test her guts, when suddenly she gets a push, and her plan gets busted when another main character of the novel, Joshua enters the scene.

Story after that is an attraction between these two while battling the fury within themselves. This energy within them is opposite to each other, and maybe that is making the appeal even more intense. Felicia has a ferocity for fire; there is a furnace within her that is burning and could blame it on her childhood. While Joshua is calm and poise like the water.

These two elements (water/fire) make thy novel. 

Although, I would have loved to know the past of Felicia that made her so fiery. That would have helped me as a reader to understand and position her better. 

The Author has woven their interactions, chemistry, supernatural powers that they fight within to surface their emotions and sensitiveness that allows them to portray the kind of personalities  they are assigned is played well.  The words are crisp while giving visions to the reader as she goes page by page as if she is right there experiencing it first hand.

I would recommend this book to any reader who believes in paranormal forces; this is one of a kind!

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Meet the Author

Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. Having lived in Germany and in Sri Lanka with her husband has made her experience the best (and the worst) of two totally different worlds – something that influences her writing. Her trademark are sweet, yet deeply emotional romance stories where the characters actually fall in love instead of merely falling in lust. She draws inspiration from everyone and everything in life. Besides being a romance novel author, she works as a self-employed German web content writer, as a translator, and as a faithful servant to all the cats, dogs, fish and birds in her home. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or thinking about writing.

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