review, Romance |
Most of us have that one person to whom we have to share every minute detail of the daily life. We spend up dishing about everyone else in each other’s lives. Thanks to the new age technologies, we can do a LIVE relay of anything that happens. It includes any shopping decisions and dating disasters. Sometimes it is more than one person, as in my case. Hence there are group chats. Okay, spare me the lecture about gossiping, because this ain’t. Sometimes there are WhatsApp texts with screenshot and images, other times there is the chatty rant out through audio message a rarer case. But if any of us is trying to reach us through the old fashion phone call way, then it is way too big for texts to handle. And if you are at a place where there is no mobile signal, there is good old email conversation. If you can spin your head around these scenarios, then you would love the new book in the block, because the entire storyline of The Boy is Back has been set on a narration based on email, texts and group texts, journal entries and even reviews.
Book Name: The Boy Is Back (Boy #4)
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: Fiction Romance
Characters: Rebecca, Nicole Flowers, Reed, Marshall, Carly and Trimble Stewart, their parents Judge Richard P. and Connie Stewart.
Disclaimer: Thanks to Edelweiss for the Advance Review Copy of the book.
The story revolves around Rebecca Flowers, President of Movingup! Senior Moving Consultant and Reed Stewart, a pro golfer set at Bloomville, Indiana. The duo part after a prom date gone awry, one that involves EMTs, cops and a judge, none other than the father of Reed, Judge Richard P. Stewart, who cuts him off from the family. But when the Judge Richard and his wife Connie have their senile moments and others are confused how to handle them or their wrath, they engage Becky, with much opposition from their family moments. What happens when the star-struck lovers meet as adults and each having their partners from the rest of the story.
To be fair this is a chick lit and the story is not really too difficult to predict, but the premise is new, about a senior moving consultant and her occupation. As it goes with the premise, there are several other characters and their relationship tangles which make the typical love story more interesting. I loved the chemistry between Carly and Marshall Stewart, elder brother of Reed and the constant marital banter between them. As always, I loved the smaller quirky characters than the main protagonists.
The length and pace of the entire story are steady and apt for the storyline; I was able to finish the 400 pages in lesser than 3 hours. The only issue some might find with the book is the narrative style, as few might not like the entire story through only digital communications, devoid of any actual conversations between any of the characters. While I liked the group chats between Reed, Marshall and Carly and even between Becky and Nicole, it became quite tiresome to read a whole lot of them. It was exasperating to see the couple type to each other when they were physically near each other after a few times, even when that has become quite common these days in even in my life. Again the reviews were cutesy while the journal entries were too much to handle.
The boy is back is the fourth book in the Boy series. The story does continue from the events that happened ten years ago, and it works well as a stand alone even when I haven’t read the series earlier. Catch this funny, light and breezy chick lit if you like the Princess Dairies from the same author and would be perfect travel companion if you read this genre.
![With You I Dance: A Book Review]()
review, Romance |
How far would you go further when you have realized that your dreams are shattered? What if it were the one thing that kept you alive and kicking? Would you forgive yourself if you were the only one that was responsible for your fall? Read my book review of With you I Dance by Aarti Raman to know more.
About With you I Dance
Book Name: With You I Dance
Author: Aarti V. Raman
Genre: Fiction – Romance
Characters: Meera, Zoya, Abheer
Setting: India
Disclaimer: I received this book from the FingerPrint Publishers free of cost in return for an honest review.
Plot summary of With you I Dance
Meera Sagar had nothing to do but to return back to India after an on stage debacle during her very first performance as a principal ballerina at New York. She is failing at resisting her parents’ attempt to get her married and settled, as any typical Indian family would want to, but she has a larger problem at hand. She isn’t able to dance anymore.
Enter Abheer and Zoya, who trust her dreams and give her a lifeline to save herself. Does she or rather can she? Read With you I Dance by Aarti Raman to find out.
Book review of With you I Dance
Sometimes you get tired of chasing the serial killers, apocalypse and paranormal creatures in books, that all you want to do is pick a chicklit and curl up in a corner of your bed.
Well, I did.
Yet I was also dreading to take that risk after the few fiascoes I survived on this genre. Thankfully my fear was unfounded. I liked the author’s writing and the easy pace of the story, by which I mean there were no extraneous twists and turns just for the heck of it.
Though I had no affinity towards the protagonist Meera (rather felt irritated with her, more on that follows), I did like the feisty, helpful yet no nonsense Zoya better. Abheer is definitely drool worthy but I hated that he was not given his due, by both Meera and the author. That brings on my personal rant over the protagonist, Meera.
I do understand her flightiness and her trying to be independent and self-standing etc but it didn’t work its magic on me. I personally hated her double standards and disrespect to everyone else’s feelings and lives. But you know what, it is long since I have felt something for a character – be it good or bad. Kudos on doing that, Author Aarti.
I liked the overall easy pace and positivity throughout the story, even after all that is lost. I liked the flawed characters and realistic storyline.
Bottom-line
Pick With you I Dance by Aarti Raman up if you want to read an easy romance that doesn’t ask you to pawn your brain and grammar for a storyline.
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![With You I Dance: A Book Review]()
review, Romance |
I remember complaining to one of my friends that I need a simple, ordinary love story to read. You might be surprised to hear that those are rare, these days. I have had enough of vampires sucking blood, werewolves fighting with their clans for a mortal and how could I forget offspring from the future come to haunt you. I was ranting on why it was difficult to give me a simple romance for once. Then I got 300 Days
by Bragadeesh Prasanna in exchange for a review.
You know what it is – an uncomplicated love story a boy meets girl, boy likes her, boy gets her and then boy doesn’t – he grows up. The story that would be easy to relate to almost everyone, the kind that we hope happens to us just to experience the warm gushy feeling and then suffer through the gut punching pain all in the name of love.
Book Name: 300 Days
Author: Bragadeesh Prasanna
Genre: Fiction – Romance
Characters: Jai, Sravani, Sai, Sindhuja, Chris
Setting: India
Jai meets Sravani in the midst of a forest, during a trek and falls head over heels for her. Sravani is a shy girl who is already in a committed relationship with Sai. The story narrates how Jai convinces Sravani that he is the one for her and to break up with Sai after two years of silence. But when things seem to settle down for the couple and they decide to tie knots, their world turns upside down once more.
The story also narrates the relationship of Jai with his best friends Sindhuja and Chris and their lives is drawn parallel. I liked the protagonist, even if he was the typical south Indian guy and did not do anything that is impressionable. Yeah the kind of guy we usually friendzone at the first instant – the kind of guy we run to when we have an issue. I liked him, but neither do I approve nor would want someone to do the things he does, for me – so yes I feel obviously like Sinduja. (I will get to that later).
I can not say the same thing about Chilakamma, oops Sravani. Having met enough number of Sravani’s in my life understanding her shouldn’t have been difficult, but I felt nothing towards her. Maybe that is due to the one dimensional development of her character. I loved Sinduja, she seemed my kind of girl; someone I could be friends with, and cursed the author for never giving her her dues, apart from the long ‘marketing dialogues’ (using Sravani’s words) on their sibling love and everything else. What is the deal with her and Vinod?
I understand the stale state of relationship between Jai and his family, but it is really odd to see him being so attentive to Sravani, Sailu and their family and even Viji and then completely leaving his family out of the picture. Is there something I am missing about his character? I loved the writing style of the author. There were too many instances in the story that made me feel as this is as real as it can get. I somehow predicted the end was not going to be something that I was rooting for, but I was okay with the ending as it made sense.
I loved the beginning of the novel in terms of the language. I did not even have to wait for something to happen, because I was reeling among the words. The critic in me wanted to go past the mundane trek itinerary, which had nothing to do with the story at all, but the language lover wanted to stay. There were too many conversations between Jai and Sravani – I mean too much to even care for. I don’t want a peep into someone else’s diary, especially if it was not going to contribute to the pace of the story.
The pace of the story wavers; it was slow – accelerated – then a bit drag and all of a sudden at a jet speed and there we are at the end. But having said that, I couldn’t put the book down even when the pace was slow. If you love a simple, no nonsense love story with beautiful language 300 Days could be your pick.
![With You I Dance: A Book Review]()
review, Romance, YA |
So there is this book. You hear rad reviews about the author. His quotes are everywhere. And you pick it with all high hopes. Just to be sorely disappointed. Still you read on hoping it would get better. You are bored. You start doubting if it was you. You continue reading as you don’t usually quit books halfway. You now hope it will end soon. Then it does. We are talking about An Abundance of Katherines!
About the book
Book: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
Genre: Fiction – Drama, Young Adults
Main Characters: Colin Singleton, Lindsey, Hassan
Setting: Gutshot, The USA
The plot
The story starts with Colin, a prodigy being dumped by his 19th girlfriend named Katherine. Yes you heard it right. He dates only girls named Katherine, with that exact spelling.
He is heart broken and decides he is completely useless, ie, he doesn’t matter. His superpowers are he could anagram any word, can speak in several languages and socially awkward.
His only friend, Hassan takes him on a roadtrip to nowhere specific. And ends up seeing the place where Archduke Franz Ferdiand is buried (yes the guy from WW I) at Gutshot, Tennessee. Ok long story short, he makes friends with Lindsey and Hassan ends up kissing the hot girl Katrina.
After 100 pages, Colin finds a theorem that could predict the life span of any relationship and dates Lindsey. End of the story and sorry for the spoiler. Colin learns to narrate a story!
My thoughts
There you have my review about in just few sentences. I know I can’t live without talking more about it, because that is all was motivating me to finish the book.
Ok seriously, nothing ever happens in the book at all. I really tired liking it though. I particularly wasn’t liking any character at all – neither whiny, self obsessed, self absorbed so called child prodigy Colin nor the self absorbed and nothing to offer to the story female lead Lindsey. Not even the other insufferable smaller characters.
And hope you will forgive my generalizing of John Green’s books (I have read three now), but I still have to find any person, let alone teens, being so nerdy (again forgive me using the most over used word in the past few years). Seriously I am yet to meet even one single person who actually speaks like any of these characters
And if you knew where ever they were hiding, please please let me know – I really need to make friends with them. But these characters in all of his stories seem to have the best of friends – equally nerdy ones. Come on, it is killing me. Be it Hazel and Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars, or Alaska and Sam from Looking for Alaska, or every one (Collin, Hassan and Lindsey) from AOK.
If I hate him creating too good to be true, ‘unique’ characters and making my normal life miserable, I wish him hell for making socially dysfunctional to be cool. We have had enough off the same churn. Dear Mr Green show us real life characters, I understand it is a book of fiction but I am not interested in old wine in new bottle, even if we had liked the old wine.
I tried really hard to like the book and went to the extent of bookmarking favorite quotes and stuff – but after a while I felt I was doing the same thing Colin / Green did – searching for something that would matter when there was absolutely no other sense at all.
I am actually frightened to say this aloud, is John Green the western version of Chetan Bhagat? His characters are smarter, I get it. But there are too many of clichés thar keep repeating and making me feel so.
Quotes that worked for me
Ok now for some of those over hyped quotes:
“Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.”
“If people could see me the way I see myself – if they could live in my memories – would anyone love me?”
“He liked the mere act of reading, the magic of turning scratches on a page into words inside his head.”
“You don’t remember what happened. What you remember becomes what happened.”
Bottom-line
In conclusion, AOK was an ok read, but yet another book that let me down mainly because of the hype around.
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review, Romance, YA |
caI quickly needed a short and sunny read to wash out the bad after taste of the last book I read, and I picked out ‘Lola and the Boy Next Door on an impulse. I had wanted to read the Anna and the French kiss before this book, being the first of the series and all, but couldn’t find it on my book pile.
At a time when my Facebook wall is filled with pompous quotes from Augustus and Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars, Lola’s teenage love story came out as a refresher. It accomplished what I wished for. A quick breezy, light hearted distraction from all the chaos around me, without trying to be more than what it is. Don’t get me wrong, I do love reading about nerdy teens, even nerdy dying teens but that was not exactly what I wanted read just now.
Book: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Fiction – Romance;, Young Adult
Main Characters: Lola Nolan (Dolores Nolan), Cricket Bell, Calliope Bell, Max, Andy and Nathan Nolan, Norah Nolan
Setting: San Francisco, California, The USA
Dolores Nolan, a costume designer of 17, almost perfect daughter to her two dads and a part time worker at movie theatre. She is desperately in love with Max who is all coolness personified – a tattooed band musician with bleached hair roots of 22 years. She is pretty smitten over him, much like her namesake. She tries to earn her fathers’ blessings and freedom from their Sunday brunches with her boyfriend and check-ins through hourly calls. The parents and her best friend, Lindsey try to voice their concern over their age difference.
The story takes a turn when her first love, Cricket Bell (More about the name later) and his family return to their house after two years. Lola is unable to choose between cool and older Max or the childhood best friend and sweetheart, nerdy Cricket.
I loved the writing. It is a simple story, boy-girl break up, girl dates someone else, boy-girl meet again, gets back together after heart aches (and few sad tunes if it were a movie). I liked the way each character was described just the right depth without dragging the story line, yet deep enough to understand them.
I found it really hard to like Lola – for a 17 year old she is pretty dumb to be chasing a 22 old guy. Wait, that’s love – I am overlooking it. But she is too selfish, lying pretty much to everyone, ditching her best friend, and letting Max walk over Lindsey at every opportunity and then later gets completely dependent on Cricket for everything.
And what was the author thinking when she named a lead ‘Cricket’? He is Mr. Nice that’s it. Nothing to be liked about nor hated. But when he is with Lola he is just happy being a doormat. Wait again, it is love. Then what is this being a toy to his possessive sister? Both the male and female leads didn’t personally appeal to me, but I liked the mushy love story.
Oh, there is also yet another love story on the sidelines, Anna and St Clair from the book one, which made me feel I have to read that book but not right now. I will wait for my next mood out or another bad book 😉
Most of us have that one person to whom we have to share every minute detail of the daily life. We spend up dishing about everyone else in each other’s lives. Thanks to the new age technologies, we can do a LIVE relay of anything that happens. It includes any shopping decisions and dating disasters. Sometimes it is more than one person, as in my case. Hence there are group chats. Okay, spare me the lecture about gossiping, because this ain’t. Sometimes there are WhatsApp texts with screenshot and images, other times there is the chatty rant out through audio message a rarer case. But if any of us is trying to reach us through the old fashion phone call way, then it is way too big for texts to handle. And if you are at a place where there is no mobile signal, there is good old email conversation. If you can spin your head around these scenarios, then you would love the new book in the block, because the entire storyline of The Boy is Back has been set on a narration based on email, texts and group texts, journal entries and even reviews.
