A Life to Die For - Book Review

A Life to Die For
By Nilay Shah
Review By Ila Garg

A Life to Die For, a novel by Nilay Shah, is published by Zorba Books. The cover totally grabbed my attention. The amazing use of shades from red to orange to yellow is amazingly spectacular. Somehow the book seems a thriller; red symbolising death.

Singapore Under Attack - Book Review

Singapore Under Attack
By Uzi Ellam
Review By Ila Garg

Singapore Under Attack, a novel by Uzi Ellam, is published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. The cover is so apt. The men with guns represent some shooters and can be the attackers. Backdrop shows the city of Singapore. With such an interesting cover, I was sure it would not disappoint me.

Razor-Sharp - Book Review

Razor-Sharp: 13 Short Stories
By Abhinav Kumar
Review By Ila Garg

Razor-Sharp is a collection of 13 short stories by Abhinav Kumar. The author himself has published it as a kindle version. The cover has a very simple feel to it. With the yellow backdrop and just the title and author’s name on it, not much can be inferred about the stories from the cover. But I like how the colour is bright and the cover is minimalist.

You Never Know - Book Review

You Never Know
By Akash Verma
Review By Ila Garg

You Never Know, a novel by Akash Verma, is published by Penguin Random House India. The cover is so apt; you will realise this after reading the book. With a backdrop of red—which is a colour of love, rage, fury, blood and hell. It’s tagline—sometimes love can drag you through hell—says a lot about the plot. With such an interesting cover, I was sure it would not disappoint me.

The Colours of Passion - Book Review

The Colours of Passion
By Sourabh Mukherjee
Review By Ila Garg

The Colours of Passion, a novel by Sourabh Mukherjee, is published by Readomania. The cover totally grabbed my attention. The amazing use of shades from red to orange to yellow is amazingly spectacular. The knife and blood drops further make it a captivating cover. The sub-title—Unveiling Dark Secrets behind the Limelight—further adds to the mysterious outlook of the plot.

A Broken Man - Book Review

A Broken Man
By Akash Verma
Review By Ila Garg

A Broken Man, a novel by Akash Verma, is published by Srishti Publishers. The cover shows a psychedelic man who seem depressed as his head lies low. The cover has a very simple feel to it which makes it highly attractive as it is clutter-free.

Akash Verma is a management graduate and the co-founder of an Advertising Venture. He has worked across the leading companies in the FMCG and media sector. He has a deep interest in music, history and travel. His work has taken him across the country and he finds this experience very relevant while giving shape to his stories. He has published two bestsellers till now, namely It Happened That Night and Three Times Loser. Akash is currently based out of Gurgaon, India. He is fascinated by Cinema, Literature, History and Travel.

A Broken Man is his third book.

The blurb reads as, “Take a deep breath before you are born here, my child!
You take birth in a land where I struggled; gave it my sweat and blood. A land that I thought belonged to me… unbridled, uncompromising.
Krishna is a Dalit boy from Bihar who struggles to overthrow the chains that hold him back. Chhavi is a high caste Brahman girl fighting for the rights of others, propagating equality in a politically charged Lucknow University campus. After Krishna saves Chhavi from getting torched during a protest against reservation, love slowly blossoms, only to be ruthlessly crushed by a society that thrives on divisions of caste and religion. From student politics in Lucknow to the interiors of Bihar, from the corridors of power to the glitz of media and the film industry in Mumbai.
A Broken Man is the quest of a deprived Krishna to redeem hope from despair, love from separation and success out of repeated failures. From the bestselling author of It Happened That Night and Three Times Loser, this is a story that reinforces our faith in what love can accomplish as it pushes us to achieve the impossible, making us tap our true inner potential.”

A story is about a Dalit boy, Krishna and fairly exposes the challenges faced by him in the course of his life. Krishna, the protagonist of the story falls in love with a Brahmin girl, Chhavi. She is an activist in college and daughter of a local politician. Thus, trouble brews up as anticipated.

The story moves smoothly and deals with matters of love and faith. Because of his low caste, Krishna often gets insulted and lives under undue pressure of getting selected for a government job. It could have helped him and his family come out of the poverty.

The author has sketched both the characters—Krishna and Chhavi—beautifully. The poems in the book seem quite realistic and successfully portray deep and intricate emotions. The language is simple and easy to comprehend. Nowhere will a reader feel any disconnect. It’s so well-written that once you pick up, you cannot keep it down without finishing it off. I found it quite engaging. The subject is tackled beautifully by the skillful author.

How Krishna tackled with the problems of poverty and how he bore the innumerable insults, how He met Chhavi and fell in love with her, will he be able to get the reciprocation of his love for her, will Krishna and Chhavi be able to have a ‘together forever’ are some of the many reasons why you will keep turning the pages to find out what happens in A Broken Man.

Further, this 240 page book is good enough to expose the double standards of society we live in, the caste differences that still continue to exist in our mind sets. It’s a light read and overall a compelling book.

Ratings: 4/5

Buying Links: Amazon | Infibeam | Shimply | Flipkart

From Where I See - Book Review

From Where I See
By Ajay Yadav
Review By Ila Garg

From Where I See, a novel by Ajay Yadav, is published by Lifi Publications Pvt. Ltd. The cover shows two sides of a tree – one is full of leaves and other is leafless. Just as the title speaks about perspectives, the cover design reflects that very beautifully. It speaks volumes about the plot of the book and manages to attract the readers. The book from the cover and title seems to be all about one’s opinion, the way one sees life and things around oneself.

The blurb reads as, “Ajay meets his childhood friend Shruti on a social network site. He finds her to be struggling with intrapersonal, interpersonal, inter-social and inter-religious conflicts. Eventually the conflicts killed her. Police could solve the case but will it prevent hundreds of Shrutis from getting killed? How long will we aim ‘who’ killed, more important is to find out ‘what’ killed. Till we don’t address this issue and work on it, many Shrutis will keep on getting killed. We need to cure the disease not only the symptoms.
This book is an effort of the author to find the root cause and probable remedies of these conflicts, exploration of hundreds of pertinent questions like “why in one religion it becomes so easy to get volunteers to blow themselves and others for the sake of religion? Does the religion divides or unites? Have the immature and wrong interpretation of female emancipation the reason for 13 times rise in divorce rates in last 5 years?
It’s not only a book; it’s the path to revolution, it’s a journey towards Utopian world. If you are open minded, have courage to accept truth and have a desire to change the world; then be the part of change. Let’s take our first step to build a road to the Utopian Dream.”

Like already unveiled by the cover, the book has characters that give in their real perspectives about issues of real concern. The book is therefore laced with instances of realism and precisely, this is one reason why readers will find themselves hooked to the book despite its length.

The story is about two childhood friends Ajay and Shruti—two childhood friends. Opening on the scene where Shruti is found dead and speculations are on, the book essentially is centered on Ajay. The plot is very different from regular chicklets. In fact, the genre is very different from the ones floating in the market.

Shruti’s dead body creates a lot of stir. It is believed to be a case of suicide and not murder. Investigation begun with immediacy. Ajay is confronted by the police regarding the case, and thus the main plot begins. The story is mainly about Ajay’s childhood and adulthood, how his perceptions change over the time, and then emerges an eye-opening discussion on topics that we all come across but choose to turn a blind eye to—religion, history, women emancipation, etc. In a nutshell, the story is quite relevant in our present lives and also makes us realise how some decisions if taken correctly in the past would have benefited the humanity at large. The story also moves ahead to talk about the measures that we can take today to make the future better.

Nowhere will a reader feel any disconnect as the book brings to light some very crucial topics. People who take interest in such subjects will find it engaging. The subjects are tackled beautifully by the skillful author.

The detailed insight into the controversial subjects like religion and history add to the USP of the book. Also the language is easy to comprehend. Though there are some serious editing flaws in the book which were a major put off!

Further, this 400 page book is good enough to exposes a lot of debatable topics. However, it tends to get boring at places and treating the book as fiction seemed a little wrong as the topics dealt with are real problems.

Ratings: 3/5

Buying Links: Infibeam | Shimply | Flipkart | Amazon