Book Review : Vicious by V.E.Schwab

So unfair to be literature snob when we know how many male authors have enjoyed decades of fame by writing about troubled women - fictional and nonfictional, both.  It's been years since I picked up any YA novel solely because I wanted more than just a tight plot, unbearable slang and lack of emotions.

I'm probably vastly generalizing here.

I knew of Vicious by VE Schwab years ago. Back in 2014, book bloggers and Booktubers raved about its awesomeness and I snootily dismissed it as another YA amidst millions of YA novel etc.

Well, Victoria Schwab is total game changer and I'm here for it (late, but here for it nonetheless)

The storytelling layout in the book is fantastic, to begin with. Open the book and we have one of our main characters Victor, who had just escaped prison with his cellmate, digging in a graveyard with his young accomplice. Schwab sets the mysterious atmosphere right away and the reader is hooked from page 1.

The next chapter goes back to ten years ago where we are introduced to Eli, Victor's former best friend, and present-day archnemesis. From the way, we are introduced to present-day and decade ago college-going Eli and Victor, the reader quickly begins to formulate opinions on who is good or who is bad. You begin to see what might have caused friction between the two, how their friendship begins to strain under their obsession of being ExtraOrdinary or EOs and what has ensued in all that time that has passed to make them such deadly foes.

Believe me, when I say this, you will spend several hours pondering over who is good and who is bad. Since all characters are EOs possessing exceptional abilities, it all boils down to one who uses it for good and the other who considers himself superior to others. We have siblings, Sydney and Serena, both of whom possessive incredibly powerful abilities but are split to be on either sides of our antagonists - Eli and Victor.

There are some graphic segments in the book that I thought was awesome since most YA authors shy away from including such elements. The language is perfect with no slang whatsoever (the primary reason as to why I stopped reading YA). The pacing is spot on, the anticipatory build-up to the final showdown is perfect, the bone-chilling end;  I loved it all!

The problem though.......

I did not feel the incident that made Eli and Victor such big enemies was strong enough or valid enough. Right from when we are introduced to young Eli in the book, you can kind of, sort of, tell that he has an evil streak in him somewhere deep inside, but not near close to provoking Victor to have this bloodthirst that they had going on.

That's all I can complain about. If you think you're a nerd who would appreciate an anti-hero novel with lots of crazy super abilities, mystery and ALSO want to support a badass female author then Vicious is the book for you.

Final Rating: 4/5

خُدا حافِظ

Book Review : Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

I have taken pride in saying that all my book reviews, for the most part, have been spoiler free. And today I am preparing to violate that.

It genuinely serves twice as hard to review a book like Forbidden when the reader feels a multitude of emotions on a particularly taboo subject. I scoured Goodreads reviews, blog reviews, Booktube reviews and debated whether writing about this book would make me seem like a lunatic to my readers or would they be intrigued.

All I can say at this point is to proceed with caution and with a good measure of open-mindedness.

This book is about incest. Well, not really but it is about an incestuous relationship between 17-year-old Lochan and his sister, 16-year-old Maya. Tabitha Suzuma is brave to take on such a taboo subject and pushes the reader to challenge their morals on this truly 'Forbidden' case.

Our young characters are placed in a tumultuous family setting - their parents' marriage has fallen apart, causing their father to completely abandon them with no support or communication, we learn that he has re-married and moved to Australia with his new family; their mother is an obvious alcohol, absent from their lives while she spends all her time (and money) with her new boyfriend, as the book progresses, her appearances are scarce. So Lochan and Maya assume parental roles for their 13-year-old angsty brother Kit and the little siblings Tiffin and Willa. (ALL the characters in the book could do with better names, let's not fool around and admit this fact already.)

So you can kind of see how psychologically this proves to be a dangerous environment for all five of the kids - Lochan, with his deep and extreme anxiety leaving Maya as his only friend and confidant and Maya, who has to mature rather quickly in order to handle everyone's issues including Lochan's.

Now we know incest is bad. It's very bad, it's illegal and it's not normal. But as you begin to read this book, you just never see them as siblings at all, compared to the creepiness i.e Flowers in the Attic. The incestuous part only kicks in well into the second half of the book, both Lochan and Maya are tormented because they know its wrong, it's not normal and if anyone found out anything they would be at the risk of being separated by the state, serve jail time etc. The book by no means propagates the idea of incest but you also feel like you don't want to use the word incest for what Maya and Lochan have.

The interesting observation here is that while society accepts abusive relationships, broken homes, and abandoned families etc; is incest really the worst of the lot? (I swear I am NOT crazy). Like I mentioned, when you do read the book you also desperately want them to find a way to be together, also knowing the fact that it could never happen and its plain absurd. I just love it when books have that kind of power over the reader.

*The Spoilers*

It was not very long before trouble finds them and the consequences are grave. At this point I had semi-predicted the outcome, however, I was not prepared to read a complete, play by play suicide in the first person. And that is quite traumatic. Lochan gives up his life and takes the reader with him on how ends it all. This will physically shake you. It almost feels like all the happiness is sucked out of you.

You could see why he took this route as the only option to keep the family together but at the same time, you feel angry at him for leaving the family behind, for Maya to deal with this pain and for Kit to deal with the unbearable guilt. That would start a whole new argument about suicides and I'm not going to get into that.

A multitude of emotions, right there.

The problems: 

Overall I felt character development was poor. We know a lot about Lochan, what he feels and how he thinks but none for Maya and Kit. We don't know what Maya is like, what she thinks or feels, how she behaves etc. Same goes with Kit. We only see him as a sort of troublemaker and that's it; which I felt was not fair since being the middle child in a broken family is difficult.

The pacing is off for me. We have no idea what Lochan's and Maya's childhood was like, what kind of dynamic they had growing up, so it does seem very sudden that these feelings for each other erupt.

Since Lochan is 17, his development in terms of attraction to women seems late. Was there no other girl he ever got close to in his early teens? Same goes with Maya, surely there had to be some flirtatious encounter with boys her age other than the two set-up dates.

Regardless of all the flaws, I will still applaud Tabitha Suzuma for taking on her chances and writing this book.

Final Rating: 3/5

خُدا حافِظ

Book Review : Raj Quartet I, The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott

Let's just begin by saying that your new yardstick for excellent writing has to be Paul Scott and it's a sentiment well echoed by various reviewers on Goodreads.

Pushing aside all the Rudyard Kipling novels, Jim Corbet, Salman Rushdie etc,  Colonial India couldn't be more descriptive than Paul Scott's Raj Quartet and none other (I will fight you on this).

It's not an exaggeration. Scott's impressive knowledge of India is multifaceted, inter-sectional and dives vertically. I am amazed at the mammoth and detailed understanding of caste, religion, communities, landscape, politics; all craftily woven into a magnificent quartet.

At the heart of the story, we have Hari Kumar or Harry Coomer, alien to India and Daphne Manners, who desperately tries to make India her home. Both of our protagonists pursue a  frowned-upon friendship that quickly turns problematic during the dying days of the British rule. Daphne Manners is violated by a gang of hooligans and the suspicion falls on Hari Kumar.

Through their forbidden romance and  cruel love triangle, we come face to face with the riot-ravaged India. Get ready to let your heart bleed for Daphne Manners and the forged criminality of Hari Kumar.  The plot then takes an ugly turn with Daphne Manners was soon shamed by people of her own color and ranks. Scott's deft writing builds the tension yet manages to retain sensitivity of this cursed affair.

My attempt at reviewing this book in relation to its towering magnificence is feeble. There are delicate subtleties in Scott's allegory and the reader is swift ushered into darker days, lighter times, is familirised to the smells and sounds of the country, riots, war, love, and friendship.

the indigo dreams of flowers fallen asleep

It's a tragic oxymoron to have a story so searingly painful to be laced with poetic delight.

For a humble reader, The Jewel in the Crown would stand as a challenge. The timelines of incidents bounce back and forth, we are introduced to characters one after the other only for their relations to be revealed much later on, it could prove quite complicated to find the association of all the individuals mentions. I did catch myself skimmy through the politics to get to the more paced bits and this is the only reason I would cut points for.

I was introduced to this poignant Quartet when my father was watching the televised series, complete with a commentary on Paul Scott's life and work. It's a pity recognition wasn't rendered any sooner.
Both books and series are highly recommended for their skillful depictions and varied sentiments of the imperialist rule, the tragedies amidst and the ultimate demise.

For a literature lover, the Raj Quarter is a wonderful treat. Like the sweet sorrow of a lullaby.

Final Rating : 4/5

خُدا حافِظ

Book Review : Summer Crossing by Truman Capote

A shocking end to an awry romance and a romance that you perhaps wished, never ignited in the first place.

If like me , you too were allured by the rosy cover, dreamy title and the credible author then perhaps our sentiments would match.

After the raving success of his Non-Fiction Crime novel, In Cold Blood and the darling endeavors of Breakfast at Tiffany's, one hardly expect anything less from Mr. Capote and his ability to enrapture you in a tale simple yet magnificent.
So just like me, you pick this book excitedly dreaming of another masterful story that leaves you longing for more, only to have your expectations sorely hurt.

Feel free to weep your disappointment or swear profusely if you must - I'm not ready to do that just yet.
It's not long before the reader understands the difference between Grady McNeil and Clyde Manzer. A young high society girl and her steamy affair with a working-class gentleman, set in New York soon after World War II (honey, it's never going to work).

Obviously, their relationship is rampant and reckless with barely any room (left) for character development or any ambition. Clyde Manzer seems insipid, Grady made me roll my eyes and before you know it, disaster has struck speedingly chased by tragedy (quite literally).

At this point, every Capote fan would be shaking their heads in disapproval wondering why would anyone want to publish this?
Don't dismiss it just yet. As many flaws and faults, there may be, this is where we see the literary skill of  19-year-old Capote and some skill did he have.

It's simple, well-strung and absolutely gorgeous if you pay attention to the language.  Capote knows how to convey sentiments and emotions with just the right adjectives and trust me when I say, it's a real treat. You can almost see why Capote would have been ashamed of this book since it doesn't really live up to the mark as some of his most renowned work.

For no real reason, I found myself oddly comparing Summer Crossing to Brooklyn by Colm Toibin - both the female leads were filling the empty voids in their lives with, let's say, romance from men not quite from their alley and life doesn't seem to get better from there for either.

My suggestion would be to hang on until the end of Summer Crossing if you could endure it. An author's maiden novel almost always says more about themselves as individuals than the story itself. It's almost like a quick glimpse into their own character before they pursue more successful ventures and I'm certain genuine Capote fans would appreciate this little insight.

Overall Rating: 3/5

خُدا حافِظ

Book Review : The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Feeling a tad bit rusty on revisiting my blog exactly a year later. Forgetting your login credentials is a big enough indicator to how long I have been away. 

Trust me when I say I am reading great books and as the year progressed I found myself gravitating towards feminine themes, female characters, female authors and everything that came with that package. It was exciting! 

After 23 years of its existence, Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides finds it way in my  GoodReads Challenge last year.  The fact that this review is way overdue is epically understated. It took me a while before I latched onto the play in the book title but let's just begin by acknowledging a glaring fact; Eugenides knows prose. He lets literature carry on this grim subject with poignancy in this gut-wrenching and heartbreaking narrative of the Lisbon sisters. There is no room for mindless dilly dally nor any sympathetic romanticised idea of the tragedy that occurs.  

The book starts with death, teases you with the idea of young long, the kind that has sunflower fields, sunsets, power ballads and then all of sudden, in one swoop takes it all away. In all of that time, the five Lisbon sisters were forced to live a life they never wanted, find the kind of love that their families never understood and stay locked in like caged birds never to see the outside world again. The choice was obvious to them and with their actions, the impact last 20 years on the neighbourhood boys, the only people they remotely considered as friends.

It's sad, it's disturbing, its mesmerising. It's also only 250 pages. 

Honestly, it is indeed quite difficult to describe the way The Virgin Suicides makes you feel. How do you recommend a book on suicide to someone? Yet, this is one book that leaves you with a lull and a want to read more it. After the tragedy occurs, the book does impart the idea that the Lisbon family fogged and disappeared little by little before the all eventually vanished with no trace.

Aside from the suicides, Eugenidies subtle commentary on the sleepy oblivious town and the marred memories of the neighboorhood boys are worth note. How does no one see the Lisbon's sister isolation as a plea for help? How does no one reach out to them with a second chance at life? A counter-argument would say how is it fair to the rest of the town, the schools and their lovers to proceed with their lives with all the trauma that left deep dents for years to come.

“In the end, we had the pieces of the puzzle, but no matter how we put them together, gaps remained, oddly shaped emptinesses mapped by what surrounded them, like countries we couldn't name." 

This quote from the book sums it up accurately.

 If I was to take a highlighter to choose all of my favourite lines in this book, I would probably end up with neon pages. Every single sentence is well constructed and supported by strong theories to thoughts being delivered here. Sofia Coppola does a smashing job on the film as well. The AIR's soundtrack is one of my favourite albums till date. 

This book is by far unbeatable on the subject of suicide and I can't wait to re-read it again.

Overall Rating: 5/5

خُدا حافِظ

Book Review : Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

Pages :  250

Read on : Kindle

Goodreads Rating : 3.82/5

Review:  All the wonderful things in life are often obscure. We try our best to disintegrate them into little meanings that would or could make sense to our lives not realising that such things are best admired when left as is. 

I compare Murakami's work to this theory. May be it was the timing in my life that made Sputnik Sweetheart hit the soft spot and every page was like lyrics to a background melody of an episode that was detailed but got over way too quickly. 

The whole book is rather small and feels like poetry, with the delicate balance of reality and magic that laces the plot so perfectly. The descriptions of the characters emotions are well reflected by the atmosphere around them, the time of the day and other inanimate objects that are within their parameters. 

We don't always make the smartest choices with the people we hold most dear to us and our actions towards there are clunky even though in essence they were/are good intentions. Sumire is puzzling and nothing short of an interesting study, someone I would observe from a distance with minimal words exchanged. Miu is as charismatic to me as she is to Sumire and I'm sure her grace would intrigue a cat-like interest in me, where I would just move around her feet and gaze at her wide-eyed. K, our narrator is who sets the mood of the whole ordeal. There's a slight wiff of pity for him and the gentle, bruised pain from his unrequited love that he harbours so deep. 

The three of them are bound by baffling circumstances. The three of them love so desperately. And lose so painfully. It feels like waiting at a train station with all the trains whizzing past and K is stagnant.  

By saying goodbye to Mui, K knew that it would mean that everything was lost, over and he had to accept it regardless. Seeing Mui's face for the last time is what hurt most because it reflected everything that was gone. This was most definitely a part of the book I cherish with all the feels. I'm not going to ruin it for you by telling you what happens next but it's exactly what one would do in real life. Being able to capture all those sentiments and actions in such a small book is a feat and Murakami has to be applauded for that. (A Noble prize would be nice).

I hold this book close to my heart and will look forward to revisiting it with the same feeling when I'm old.

Final Rating : 5/5

خُدا حافِظ

Like Oil and Water

'What is meant for you will reach you even if it's beneath two mountains. What isn't meant for you, won't reach you even if it is between your two lips'

This is the verse I remind myself when I run into bad times. It comforts the anxiety of the pits of my stomach, it makes my heart breathe a little easier.

Trials and tribulations of life will not cease as you get older. At times even experience, the 'big there, done that' jargon fall short to rescue you. It's not the situation but more how you react to it, is what matters. Or so I've been told. And react I did.

A puzzling situation,  unforgivable to most, stood right in front of me and stared at me in the eye. I shrugged my shoulders and tried to do the right despite knowing my inevitable pain. Probably out of defeat or being well aware of the fact that there really was no way around it. Damage it is, I was the one picking up the pieces and getting cut at the same time.

Strange people happen in your 20s. They drag you into stranger situations and before you know it, you're entangled in that web. You question the point and purpose to no end. No answer is an answer by itself.  You know cobwebs. Invisible. You walk through them and it clings to you. No matter how hard you try to pry it off you, you can still feel the remains.

I was in such a web about a month ago. I let go and almost instantly found my sorry self leaning on a shoulder that I didn't notice was there. One that lurked in the shadows. I was grieving and still hadn't noticed. There were black clouds looming over me, my feet dragging that abominable lull like chains. So easy to destroy something so fragile that nursing it back means more aches and pains. You wince at the thought of it. Forgiveness is no longer an option, It's a choice one has to make. Reaching that choice would only further your pain. A little suffering to ease your selfish soul is most likely a sin itself. Again, there was no giving more than I already had. I chose to be greedy for my betterment.

Some one opened a door behind me, grabbed my hand and yanked me through. Funny, the way things work, you miss a chance so closely while only later on you realise what was right in front of you. May be the door behind me was what I was meant to stop and look at. I smile meekly in an attempt to repair myself from the cords that unravelled. But I was already feeling better. Relieved precisely speaking, I could breathe again without being choked up.

I know that I am safe. I know that I will be okay.


*****

To all those who are worried about my well being or were wondering about my absence from the blog, I'm absolutely fine. Took a break to clear my head and heart of some emotional turmoil that took momentum couple of weeks ago but thankfully that has ebbed. I'm recovering fast and well. I'm blessed with well-wishers, friends who are family to me and of course, family itself. Hope this Ramadan is treating you all well. 

خُدا حافِظ

Book Review: Eat The Sky, Drink The Ocean

Pages :  240

Read on : Book

Goodreads Rating : 3.75/5

Review:  The first time I ever heard Annie Zaidi speak dates back to my post grad days when she has a special session with us filled with her page-3-kinda-like-ermygod stories. As expected, massive eye rolling happened. Fast forward 3 years later, I see her again, this time with Mandy Ord at JLF 2015. More eye-rolling and subtle scoffing, until she and Mandy spoke about alternate endings to iconic tales in our culture, such as the love saga of Salim and Anarkali. I was like a dog who picked up a new scent. That one story and the epic cliffhanger was sufficient enough to itch my mind and click 'add to cart' on Amazon.

What delightful book. I felt as if I had just won the English Elocution at school and was beaming in pride to take home my 'Enid Blyton' prize. That feeling resonated. The brilliant concept behind  this book is that it re-imagines so many various situations or classic tales that it's can safely be handed to people of all age groups, starting say 12+ and on. The visuals in some of the stories are raw and no nonsense, while some of them are whimsically clever. 

The beauty lies in the little snippets on how the Indian and Australian contributors collaborated. Some of them never even met, but the sense of sisterhood was strong enough to keep them bound to this project. Matters that plague the two entirely different cultures were glued together by this vision for a female-friendly world and I applaud the start. It is not as hard for women to connect as people assume. In most cases, what we have endured, what we see, feel, do and receive remains the same universally and we are ever ready to aid our fellow sisters.

The mix of short stories, classic folk tales, dystopian fantasies, graphic stories make it such a collector's delight. Brag points for the bookshelf. We know 'Zubaan' is the house of feminist themed publishing, nonetheless, the backdrop of feminism was so subtle that it made me want to jump into the book and live in that world. No cliched words are casually thrown around, the concept goes beyond wishful thinking to make it a seeming reality - a very refreshing change. 

One point. And the only point that troubles me is that most of the stories are established centuries after modern times, as though to imply that this idea that they have set up will materialise only after practically everything on earth has stormed revolution after revolution, mass destruction etc. This could be just me but the feeling of a dystopian society was strong and that did make me think.

Regardless, it did leave me happy which my readers would know is quite rare. The attempt is fantastic.

Do pick it up. It may not be the most literary read, but it sure is enjoyable.

Final Rating : 4/5
خُدا حافِظ

Quicksand Worrier

If my thoughts were constantly displayed on my face, they'd be two kinked lines running across my forehead with a furrowed brow. It's just that the year 2016 has been overwhelmingly different right from new year's eve. I didn't realise that the last week of December and the new year was going to whisk me away so frantically that all constants would change. Evolve. Right in front of my eyes. I'm not complaining. Changes have been kind to me for once or may be I'm 'growing up' to accept them. It feels like the same me though. Same face, same hair, same girl, same exterior, same heart and mind. Yet so so different. Like the axis of my daily life has shifted.

With the onset of new challenges, old worries become new concerns. Yesterday's problems seem so insignificant. Tomorrow is an anxious mix of nervous excitement and I seem to like the taste of it. Overthinking is still a part of me that won't go away so swiftly. Whenever I have to dip my toes into something new, I wince, half expecting icy prickles, only to find warmth and comfort envelope me. It welcomes me like a protective blanket. It fills me joy, with new reassurance.

There are golden beams of the sun, glistening on my face. I close my eyes and take in the glow, most contently. I don't blink, I don't burn, I don't look away.

I smile from within, from my toes, from my gut, from my hair follicles to my face. It feels like for once my worries will melt away soon enough. It feels like may be, just may be, this might be my time.




خُدا حافِظ

Book Review: Dragonfly in Amber, Outlander #2 by Diana Gabaldon

Pages :  369

Read on : Kindle

Goodreads Rating : 4.30/5

Review:  I'm weak when it comes to really juicy synopses. Those couple of lines are good enough to get me hooked and before I know it, I have my nose buried deep into a fantasy novel. Seduced by the prospects of a faraway, nonexistent parallel universe that I so desperately desire to seek. After my lukewarm fling with Outlander, much to the shock of a lot of fans, I still remained curios to know how Diana Gabaldon managed to stretch this highland fairytale into 6 backbreaking books.

 Lo and behold, before I know it, I'm devouring the the second book 'Dragonfly in Amber' and I daresay, I quite enjoyed it much much more than Outlander. Of course, Jaime still hold mine ( and everyone else's) heart. That could be the major contributing factor. THE major contributing factor, I'll admit. Aside from this, of course, I will give Gabaldon her due credit for her impeccable research of the era, the politics of the region and cleverly manipulating them to fit the title. The language is brilliant and Claire's wit shines through.

There are more dimensions to otherwise pointless characters or so I had  deemed earlier, All of the surrounding people like Fergus, Murtagh and everyone else seemed to boast more persona that most of the people in Outlander #1. The romance was kept well muted, thankfully. The lack of love in my life is kind of making me scoff at anything remotely romantic I suppose. War, issues at war, injuries, the spirit of belonging to a clan etc were well coloured with just the right amount of emotion and technical detailing to avoid constant yawning. Jamie as sweet natured as he seems, does act daft at times. As expected to be honest.

The 'villain' was way underplayed for the heinous crimes that he had committed in the past. For such a dastardly character, I was surprised the author went soft on him.There were new challenges for Claire and Jaime, if those were topped with a haunt of the past, I think the story would have been able to better trace the state of helplessness. 

Most definitely a progress from Outlander (Review here!) considering how I felt about that.

Final Rating : 3.5/5
خُدا حافِظ

A Little Detour

When you feel the impulse to do something completely off the chart and the impulse get's so strong that you almost can't think of anything else, then it's best to go forth with it.

Such an impulse struck me all day today when I wasn't in the mood to brew up another review, instead I wanted to share some more randomness. The past few days of this year were spent 9000ft above on the mountains and in the valleys of India. Finding serenity or being brave in the cold- call it what you may. As the year's motto for me is to 'Take it Easy', I'm loosening up from the monotony of literary content to share some things that just might be purely pleasing to look at and nothing more. Without getting too personal and crossing the boundary of oversharing, I hope you are will enjoy glancing through these little tit-bits of India as I rediscover it anew.

Change is always good.

View from a remote point from our drive in and around Shimla

Summer capital of the British

Our little trek to Mall Road was scenic as ever

Breakfast table view 

Turn around to face the stunning topography of Himachal at every corner

School's out - snow day at a local school

Serenity - the trees whisper cold wind in your ears

Hope you enjoyed this little visual treat, even if managed to refresh you for a minute. I'll be back with more reviews soon.

خُدا حافِظ

New Year, New Challenges !

I read 51 books in 2015 as per my Goodreads Challenge. That should make me feel accomplished. However on the contrary I didn't feel it's something to be proud of. I can read 50 books is a thing to say that sounds great. Borderline flouting. However, I am never challenging myself to something like that anymore for 2016.

Lots of lumpy books were acquired last year that sat on my bookshelf unloved. Due to the pressure of the challenge, I had to be cautious and try not to pick up anything more than 350 pages. Unnecessary pressure, no fun. Enjoying the stories became difficult as the plot lines got hazy,  I had to speeding past dialogues and characters and which caused my inability to a churn a well opinionated review. This is not how it should be.

Since 'Chill out and let it go' will be my newly adopted mantra for the year, the same will be applied to my reading. Thus I have set a reasonably realistic challenge of 20 books. That's it. Only 20. So I have liberty to read the massive books at my own leisure, take my time and genuinely get to enjoy the writing.  Not slacking but trying to re-instill my love for reading. I will also take this moment to mention that aside form my literary adventures, a few Islamic books too will be part of my reading stack due to obvious reasons.

It's amazing to see that over the two years my preference of reading material and choice of genre has changed so much that I feel proud of myself. From starting off my 'downtime' with Dystopia and Young Adult sci-fi and now going towards classic writers, literary authors and more matured content, I do feel it's become much more than just reading. It's evolving. My eyes crave to glaze through words that will stay with me. My kindle sleeps under my pillow will I cheat on it's ancestor of whispery pages, gorgeous prose and alluring covers.

I realize now the value of reading only 10 beautifully written books than just cramming in 50 or so. So without further adieu, here's to another fabulous year of wonderful books. Happy New Year and Happy Reading !

Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Pages :  369

Read on : Kindle

Goodreads Rating : 4.38/5

Review:  At some point, I do feel should rename my blog as 'Unpopular Opinions'. I hate hype. It builds up such expectations that I unconsciously set a standard that most hyped things fail to meet. Miserably.

All right, so I picked up The Martian after all the fuss about how amazing the film was and I'm sure it was to non-readers but prejudice aside, I did follow that unspoken rule of 'Book before Movie' and I was left puzzled. 

I'm not a big sci-fi kinda gal. Outer space does excite the nerd in me and so I picked this book up hoping it would seriously please my space-loving soul. (No pun intended). First of all, let's start by saying, this book is way too science-y and I get a feeling that technically most of it aren't even the right calculations. 

Watney is annoying. Honestly, he sounds like a whiney geeky kid unfortunately left behind by his friends at lunch. Okay Okay, I get it, He's stuck on Mars but come on! I can't possibly be the only one having a problem with the way it was written. The language was way too casual for something as grave as leaving a man behind, the smart interjections were good, no doubt just the 'Yaay Me!' and other catch-phrases seem stupidly immature for an astronaut. His wit did come handy to him eventually we can see that and how.

Nonetheless, it was an engrossing book because it's this situation that you kind of give up hope on right from the very beginning. You want to know what will happen eventually and it's something you can't wait to reach the end just to know what happens. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I will not be in-depth with the details. 

A little over the top, too technical, slightly dramatic and a good unbelievable chunk thrown in - makes it quite Bollywood to me.

Final Rating : 3/5

خُدا حافِظ

Book Review: Grimm's Fairy Tales

Pages :  518

Read on : Kindle

Goodreads Rating : 4.02/5

Review: Where do I begin. Let's start of by saying this would probably be the shortest review I have written or will ever write. Really, how much criticism can a classic get when it's already pretty well imbibed, churned,diluted, watered down, read, re-read, re-re-re-re-read over the years and people like me just got older. 

To think that this book is perfect for your children is probably one of the biggest disillusion you would have. The concept behind why these stories are so 'Grimm' (Ha! See what I did there :p) is to scare children into behaving. I see it contrary to that. The stories are terrifying to a child yes, but they are also quite sexist and anyone who knows that it's what really gets to me.One has to keep in mind the day and age they are residing in.  So to sift through all of that and look for the morales behind it, I had to literally take a magnifying glass and hunt for it. The book also has the usage of.......certain words.... which I don't like reading even in the grown-up novels. (I'm pure and pies). Don't get me wrong. Grimm's Fairy Tales are quick, snappy, witty and extremely clever. The question is, would I give it to my child to read it as it is? I wouldn't.

Adding another perspective would be if like me, you too have a sickening and darkly sense of humor, you'd love this and that's exactly the lens I looked through.

IF your kid is as annoying as I was/am , please read a cherry-picked, milder version for these stories to them. There's enough misery in the world as it is.

Recommended to generally weird adults with an odd sense of humour such as myself.

Final Rating : 3/5

خُدا حافِظ

Dye-Stained Hands And A Mid-Year Freak Out

If there was an award for slacking at blog posts, I swear I'd be sailing to it. My excuse this time would be shoddy internet connection , non cooperative service provider and my inability to juggle responsibilities.
Without further ado, let's look ( and laugh ) at my reading progress. (NOT!)

Best Book You've Read So Far in 2015 ?

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Not a single flaw. I wanted to stand up and applaud. It's like that.
Other noteworthy reads this year were - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, A Flight of Pigeons by Ruskin Bond, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Best Sequel You've Read So Far in 2015 ?

Didn't read any sequels this year. Fortunately or unfortunately

New Release You Haven't Read Yet But Want To ?

Not one to follow new releases. I have a gypsy's soul when it comes to picking what to read when.

Most Anticipated Release For The 2nd Half of 2015 ?

Winter by Merissa Meyer. The 4th Instalment of the Lunar Chronicles

Biggest Disappointment ?

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie Mcguire. No idea what people loved so much about this book or may be I'm stupid.
The Girl in The Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender. Just could not connect with any of the stories in this book.

Biggest Surprise ?

Brother Grimm's Fairytales was an unpleasant surprise.
The good surprises were - Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Favourite New Author ?

Authors more like. Haruki Murakami - absolutely love anything and everything by him. The consistently peculiar stories are perfect for my kind of reading. Amitav Ghosh because I finished the Sea of Poppies and fell in love with the characters. Marcus Zusak for The Book Thief because no amount of words will be enough to express this beauty of a book.

Newest Fictional Crush ?

Jamie McTavish from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Can you say guilty-pleasure :p

Book That Made Me Cry ?

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, Room by Emma Donoghue, Living Dead Girl

Book That Made Me Happy ?

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Favourite Book to Movie Adaptation You Saw This Year ?

Not something I really watched but I found that Outlander and The Shawshank Redemption were way better than their original books.

Favourite Review You've Written This Year ?

Room by Emma Donoghue. The book made me feel emotions I didn't know one could ever feel.

Most Beautiful Book You Bought So Far in The Year ?

Necropolis by Avtar Singh which was a part of my JLF 2015 goodie bag. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh that was handed to me by a friend who's roommate had to move.

What books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year ?

I'm 7 books away from my Goodreads Challenge and in order to successfully accomplish that, I'm gravitating more towards books that I might like for certain. Since there's really no time to dabble around and I'm amidst a panic attack. ( It's already NOVEMBER people !)

P.S. Apologies for being away for a month. I've already go a list of books I need to review and have gotten cracking with it. So stay tuned !

خُدا حافِظ

Skinny Girls are Real People Too, You Know.

' Oh you can afford to have sugar in your tea with a figure like that !' came a remark from behind me at an event.
'How old are you?!' smirked the lady.
' 23 ' I spluttered.

I can safely say that I have never ever encountered such a retort from a total stranger and it completely caught me off guard. To think that after years of being called skinny or skeleton, adult life would focus more on responsibilities than just my size. Unfortunately I'm still waiting for that time to come and looks like I'm ageing to it.

'Eat something!' - a delightful greet I receive even from the most educated of people. Makes me really scratch my head and wonder if anyone has given that phrase a rational thought, a genuine thought and how absurd it sounds when you tell a petite person 'eat something!' . As if I'd been living on clean air ever since my existence.

While we are already amidst this wonderful movement to embrace plus sizes and curvaceous beauties, the idea behind it should be well implied to all the variant sizes. ALL THE VARIANT SIZES. By this I mean, the smaller sizes too; the really small, just small, extra small and whatever have you.  If 'fat-shaming' is not cool then 'skinny-shaming' is unacceptable too. ( Yes, skinny - shaming is a thing ). In order to wholly accept the idea of every body is a beautiful body,  I cannot stress enough on how imperative it is for people to stop picking on slender women because trust me when I say this and I say this for every girl like me, it hurts EXACTLY how it would hurt when you negatively remark about a plus-sized girl. No one deserves that either way.

I don't diet or practise any kind of portion control. I eat as I like, when I like, whatever I like. I would openly encourage any woman to live as they like, wear as they like regardless of body shape. Considering my situation as a hereditary process, the body image bullying has been dealt with since the last 3 generations, therefore, by default I too ended up facing the same comments my mother or grandmother would have heard in their youth. I can't say for the previous generations, however this decade is much more logical and sensible enough to understand that everyone is different. Even when you categorised women in pear-shaped, almond shaped, boy-shaped, apple-shaped, plum-shaped, diamond-shaped,chair-shaped, table-shaped and any other absurd shape, everyone will still have unique features to them that they will sit and scrutinise, 'If it doesn't fit a category/stereotype, ITS A FLAW' as we have this policy very finely drilled into our heads.

People. Stop.

Stop overanalysing yourselves and others around you. Learn to accept people for who they are or what they are. May be the overweight girl can't shed kilos due to a hormonal issue or may be the skinny girl has great metabolism, it could be anything. We have to be sensitive before we let words just roll out of our tongue.

There's nothing wrong in being thin, What's wrong is the attitude that surround the word 'skinny' and the constant need to make a petite person feel guilty about their frame even when its entirely natural. In a parallel sense, there's no shame nor anything wrong in being plump either. It's just a disgusting effort to kill one's esteem and will do more harm than good if women themselves with go on criticising body image. ( SENSE OF SISTERHOOD! ) Yet, we still fall for this everyday.
The concept of accepting all shapes and sizes would be the greatest irony if 'Skinny b*tch has it easy' still flouts around with no end.

Be healthy and be happy, refrain from using unkind words like 'Real men love curves only dogs love bones' because we don't particularly exist to impress any man. If you have a problem with mine or any one else's figure, it's really your problem and is best advised to keep it to yourself. Also, vague exclamations like ' skinny women hangout only with skinny women' will only make an abysmally low impression of yourself. Everyone has an opinion, I get it.

On a side note, I am fully aware of how ridiculously rant-y this post is, nonetheless the sad issue had to be expressed since limits have not been clearly vindicated. From experience, it is known that at times you have to be blunt to shut the unnecessary running criticism and this instance is one of them.


خُدا حافِظ