Review: The Lost Paradise by Anjali Vaswani & Vikas Bansal

Stories are written sometimes to convey a beautiful message to the readers. Some stories manage to do it but some don't. Authors Anjali Vaswani & Vikas Bansal have come up with a story in their novel "The Lost Paradise" which highlights our society and leaves a message for the readers. Is the message deep enough to influence people's hearts or it's just a story? Let's find out. 

Riya was in a dilemma. Should she help her hostel-friend Kamini, who was involved in a sex and drugs racket and was depending on her to get her out of the mess? Riya had always dreamt big of becoming a politician some day. So this was her chance to really help out innocent girl victims and bust a racket or should she just concentrate on her studies and enjoy the attentions of her handsome boyfriend Vivaan with whom she soon planned to tie the knot? More important, could she help Kamini without getting into really dangerous waters herself and risking her own life and the lives of all those whom she loved? 'Some love....' unravels the rare path taken by a gutsy, urban collegian and the repercussions it has on her life.

The cover page of the book shows a young girl with some mixed looks and the title gives glimpses of a story which can take hearts away. The blurb focuses on Riya who is ambitious and wants to become a politician one day but is in a fix too because of her friend Kamini and then comes Vivaan the love of her life and it unfolds a series of events which might change the entire landscape in Riya's life. So is it just a love story or a love story with a message. Let's sort it out for the readers.


The story starts off with Riya a small town girl with big dreams in her eyes and her conservative parents strictly against her dreams. Luck favors the brave and she lands up in Delhi to fulfill her dreams. She befriends Kamini and later finds out some shocking stories about her which make her feel helpless in that situation. Along all this drama comes Vivaan whom she admires a lot from the first day in her college and then love blossoms between the two. But Kamini's problems lands up Riya in a huge political mess which threatens to spoil her life. She somehow musters strength and with the help of few people just tries to get to the roots of the problem and help her friend and the society too.


The story is smooth and it's not a very long book by any means. It's a flashback of events that happened in Riya's life The chapters in the first half are about dreams & ambitions of a girl and love knocking on her heart's door. The mushy love story has a parallel plot i.e thriller which runs in tandem with the love story. The thriller part tries to highlight the dirty politics and trafficking of girls and drug abuse in the society. The authors have done complete justice to both the stories. They have successfully managed to capture the essence of love and the filthy elements of the society and blended them into one story. The poems towards the end and the emotions of a struggling soul are best described by the authors. The characters have been built up and maneuvered around quite beautifully in the story.

The editing is not so good with spelling mistakes in the story and few abbreviations and spacing errors occurring at various places in the story. The marriage part has been stretched far too much in the latter half of the book. It could have been kept a little smaller. The Vikas & Anjali part was unnecessary towards the end of the story. Social causes don't invite jealousy which looked out of sorts in terms of the story of the book.


The books leaves a lovely message for the readers that no matter what the odds if you have will and courage to fight the evil, then nobody can deter you from your path.Sometimes success comes at a sacrifice in life is another very important message in this book.  Readers will get to enjoy a love cum thriller story. The latter half might feel a little overstretched but the end of the story will make up for that dullness. It's a story with an important message for the readers and the society.

RATINGS:

3 OUT OF 5

Chit-Chor!!

ghanghor ghata kaale badal
bijli kadke goonje ambar
chit chor hua mann ye mera
chit chor hua..

patte geele dharti bheegi
jhoom utha saawan
chit chor hua mann aaj mera
chit chor hua..

pyaasa hai van pyaasi aankhein
par boondon ne ki halki thirkan
chit chor hua mann ye mera
chit chor hua..

bheege ye mann jo mera
pyaas bujhe jag jeevan ki
chit chor hua mann ye mera
chit chor hua..

lehrein jhoomi jhoome pakshi
layi apne sang ek jot nayi
chit chor hua maan ye mera
chit chor hua.

mor bhi naache aur naache har insaan
tu gaye har dil ka geet jaga de ek nayi umeed
chit chor hua mann ye mera
chit chor hua.

hum gayein khushi ke geet re
tu pyaas bujha dharti ki zara
chit chor hua mann ye mera
chit chor hua..

Review: Long Distance Relationship by Rachit Bhushan

Love. It's a feeling which has not fitting description for it. Every human being experiences it one or the other time in his/her life. We all have out experiences. Novels have become a medium to portray love in the best possible manner in front of our audiences and gain something out of the author's experiences. Long Distance Relationship by author Rachit Bhushan is one more attempt to portray love of a person. Will the book survive the onslaught of other love stories or will it fizzle out? Let's find out.

A novel which has emotions like never before has sacrifices that gives love a new definition and has romance that intensifies with every page. The story where it has family to friends has beautiful beginning but has different ends. A journey where 2 hearts beat but it is just one name that they repeat. All that can be said about this story is to love someone is the best thing for few.....but to be loved by same someone........ Does destiny has the same fate for every one of you? 

The cover page looks well structured in accordance with the title. The blurb just gives a slight hint about what to expect from the story without mentioning the protagonist's name. The title itself gives an impression of a long distance relationship story of two lovers. But is there more than meets the eye? Next few paragraphs will clear out all for the readers. 

The story revolves around a young and a simple boy Rishi who has dreams and aspiration to become a successful engineer. He is focused, dedicated, obedient and possesses good looks too. He is way too simple for the worldly riches. Things change around when he is introduced to the world of Internet and what follows up is a story which will make hearts ache, love blossom and expectations crush within few moments. Then there's Pooja a childhood friend of Rishi & next door neighbor who's been secretly harvesting love in her heart for Rishi. What will happen when Rishi will come to know about it and how will he handle everything is the story. 

The book is an editorial disaster. It's full of mistakes. Spelling mistakes, grammatical mistakes and the Hindi words have been written wrong at many places and at many places even words are missing too changing the meaning of the sentence completely. The index is another disaster without any page numbers for the chapters. It has fairly long paragraphs and lack of punctuation marks and poor editing just makes it a sore for the eyes. 

The story has a lot of promise in it with lots of twists and turns in the latter half. The first half will cover the lovey dovey mushy moments of Rishi & Anjali and their online love story which is not a new concept. The latter half brings Pooja and her undiscovered love for Rishi in the limelight leaving him in the lurch which makes things really interesting towards the end. The emotions of a mother and some untold secrets in the last few chapters are heart tearing. It has a right kind of mix of emotions in it. 

The presentation is very shabby with a poorly edited book pushed in the market for the readers. It gives a look of a rough manuscript full of errors and mistakes nearly on each and every page of the book. The mixture of Hindi & English ain't so smooth. The plot in the second half is the only saving grace for the story. A lot was expected from it but an editorial disaster like this will kill the charm of the story completely and will leave the readers annoyed and exhausted. 

RATINGS: 

2 OUT OF 5.  

You & Me!!

It was a fiery night
the wind blowing with all its might
there I was with you
and the stars twinkling in the backlight. 

It was a perfect twilight
the light of the moon was bright
there I was with you with a delight
and the eyes shined bright. 

It was a mesmerizing sight
the silence of the midnight
there I was with you with tonight
and our lips quivered with fright.

It was a fiery night
the wind blowing with all its might
there I was with you
and you and me and our love tonight.

Review: It Started with a Friend Request By Sudeep Nagarkar

It is the most hyped novel of this year. It is the third novel of author Sudeep Nagarkar. It's been titled "It Started with a Friend Request". There's lot more to it than a title. But has Sudeep Nagakar been able to pull off some kind of a surprise out of the box for the readers or is it going down in the history as another love story? Let's find out. 

A brand new love story from the bestselling author of Few Things Left Unsaid and That’s the Way We Met!Why don’t we feel the moment when we fall in love but always remember when it ends?
Akash is young, single, and conservative with a preference for girls with brains than in miniskirts. One day, he runs into free-spirited Aleesha at a local discotheque. A Mass Media student, Aleesha is a pampered brat, the only child of her parents who dote on her. This brief meeting leads them to exchange their BlackBerry pins and they begin chatting regularly. As BlackBerry plays cupid, they fall in love. When they hit a rough patch in their life, Aditya, Akash’s close pal, guides them through it.
But just when they are about to take their relationship to the next level, a sudden misfortune strikes. Can Aditya bring Akash’s derailed life back on track?
It Started with a Friend Request is a true story which will make you believe in love like you never knew before.

The most exciting book of the season and with an excellent cover and a catchy title. This novel is already making headlines everywhere. The blurb is nothing unusual nor compelling enough to catch the reader's attention. It's about two people Akash & Aleesha who hit cupid and their love story suddenly hits a rough patch and then Aditya comes out all guns blazing and help the two lovers rekindle back their lost moments. So is it enough to hold the fort? Next few paragraphs will carve out the entire image of the novel in front of you. 

The story is a love story with the lead protagonist Akash as a shy and an ambitious and a fun loving person falls in love with Aleesha who is young charming and hot enough to take anybody's breath away in a single glance. They meet by chance, they fall in love. As it is said true love never runs a smooth course so is this love story. There's Tamanna Kapoor the god mother cum sister for Aleesha and a strict and introvert professional for Deep. But she has a dark side to herself. Then's there's Aditya & Kritika who act as supporting pillars for the two lovers Akash & Aleesha. But all fell apart because of a misunderstanding and then it's up to Akash to restore faith in the world and more importantly Aleesha that he is innocent and committed only to her. 

The story in the first half is completely a regular narration with nothing sparkling in it to make it a ever remembering love story. It has glimpses of stories which have been read by readers time and time again in so many books with not a pinch of newness in it. The only saving grace of the story comes in the second half where Tamanna & Deep take charge of the plot and things go haywire from there in everyone's life. It's the only added drama that makes the book a little interesting towards the end. The narration is smooth and reader's won't find it too tiring on them to read. 

It's an easy paced novel with a glimpse of thrill in it towards the end of the book which makes the plot fairly predictable towards the end. The first half generates only a slight interest with only a few parts like the love proposal for Aleesha by Akash which is very unique and fairly a new idea employed in a book. It had been hyped too much and has fallen flat on my expectations. The title just doesn't gets justified by any means in the story. 

It's not worth the hype and a fairly predictable plot and an average looking love story might take away all the charm from it and probably the thrill element comes too late in the plot to make it more effective as a thriller romantic story. It's all too easy and fairly predictable and a very flat attempt at making things interesting for the readers. 

RATINGS: 

2 OUT 5. 

Review: A Half Baked Love Story by Anurag Garg & Gunjan Narang

Love stories, love stories & love stories. There are too many of them right now in the market to read. It's a trend which can never die. What I got in my hands right now is one more love story in this ever increasing list of love stories. It's called " A Half Baked Love Story". It's been written by authors Anurag Garg & Gunjan Narang. So is there anything special in this novel or is it really a half baked recipe for the readers? Let's check it out. 

Have you ever: Been a prey to love at first sight? Proposed your girl after boozing and fainted before knowing her answer? Went to your first date with an empty wallet? Got caught kissing your girl by none other than her father? Risked your IIT exam 'to meet her for the last time'?
Well, if this excites you enough, here is an enchanting read for you all, A Half-Baked Love Story!
The book unfolds a candid narration by a love struck, dumb struck and spellbound guy, Aarav, who confesses every last detail of his love story to his drunkard friends on a new year night. The tale of his first love Anamika. This story is a feel good love story of these two very different characters as they understand the Pangs and Pleasures of first love while battling with the situations that life has placed them in. The book takes a dig at our so called 'modern society' and peer pressure in one's life.
Just when life seems perfect, Love chooses its own routes. From the first glimpse to the last letter! What happens finally?

The cover page is decent. Its neither flashy nor glossy. It's simple. But what appeals on the cover the most is the title "A Half Baked Love Story". Some readers might even seriously consider it a cook book. It's not. The blurb in a first few lines leave an impression of a regular love story with a little bit of love,breakup and tempers soaring high but the last few lines hit the right chord. So are these last few lines enough to pull out a magical story out of the box? Let's check it out.

The story revolves around the protagonist Aarav who believes in multiple flings, is carefree, loads of attitude, some non sense friends and lots of booze and chicks fluttering around him all the time. He is a typical filthy rich guy who just doesn't cares about the opposite's sex sentiments and their feelings. He toys with the feelings of Radhika and in turn becomes more abusive and aggressive to the people around him. But there's one more side to him unknown to others, a past which has enough in it to make one's heart melt like wax. It goes down into memory lane and reveals a darker truth, a bitter truth of Aarav's life to whom he is the only witness and which altered him entirely. It;s not about Aarav entirely, a few other noticeable characters like a misfit bulky out of sort friend Karan, a caring Sunaina & the first and foremost love of Aarav i.e Anamika the cute little Bengali girl have made the plot really very interesting.

The authors have made a rush of a story in the first half with some college settings, make outs and typical college conversations. It just takes all the charm away from the readers. The pace is suitable but the story doesn't lives up to the expectation. But there's a twist to it when the entire plot shifts back into time. The second half i.e the past reflects the true potential of the story. It'll make you laugh, it'll make your heart doodle, it'll make you cry and in the end it'll silence you for sometime or rather a little bit more. The second half of the book is straight out of the heart of the authors. The whole purpose of the book gets summarized in it.

The book is only half baked in the first half where notable spacing errors are irritating for the eyes. These spacing errors are spread out in the book at many places. Poor editing. The narration is good in first half but the plot is dull. The entire soul of the book lies in Aarav's past i.e the second half of the story. It's more than enough to connect with the reader instantly. Few notable letters and imaginations and a poem towards the end are perfect in every sense.

It's a mix & match story where two cultures will collide and lots of ups and downs will happen and an unexpected ending which will take the reader's breath away. It'll make up for the first few dull chapters. Patience is an essential ingredient while reading this novel. It's a lover's delight and gut wrenching for few who still have some desires of love left in them from their past.

RATINGS:

4 OUT OF 5.

Review: I am Heartless: A Real Confession by Vinit K Bansal

Some love stories never die. Some are written in blood and some are filled with some gory details. Vinit K Bansal in his debut novel has adopted an unique style of confession in which the lead protagonist goes back into time and unfolds his life in front of his loved ones which ultimately led to his downfall. But is this confession enough to make it a readable love story? Let's find out. 

“This is not only a story rather it is real confession of a lover”
The story revolves around VIREN who is a day dreamer, an egoistic, a hopeless romantic and an attention seeker afflicted with a bizarre madness and arrogance engulfing him. It is the story of his life which encompasses love, dedication, eccentricity, friendship and overall his discovery of his true love and also the anguish of losing it due to his obstinacy and self-centeredness. It is a repertoire of moments coated with velvetiness of love and bruised by the thorns of betrayal. It highlights the situations which ultimately turn him into a devil, who wants to annihilate the whole world with his impiety, consequences being the least he cares about; and eventually loses his happiness, identity and even himself in this process.
I could neither speak in words, nor could ever write it down
The loneliness, the emptiness your absence left behind....
Those moments spent in the warmth of your cuddle Still linger in a cruel heart...... in a guilty mind!!!
Whenever I dream, I see you so tranquil Can I trace the reason of my going away and getting back never?
If by closing my eyes I see you happy sweetheart, I promise I shall close my eyes FOREVER! 

The cover is excellent and full of emotions and the blurb has been written very well. It gives an idea about the protagonist who has been defined with the help of few adjectives by the author. All three of these things are very important in order to catch the readers grasp and the author has made sincere efforts in order to catch the attention of the readers. 

The story revolves around Viren and his college and professional life. His journey from a shy boy to an arrogant soul. His carefree attitude. His unnecessary indulgences. His love tryst. His compatibility issues, his confusions and in the end his defeat at the hands of destiny which he chooses for himself. The characters involved in the story be his imaginary Pari or his college friends Max, Jiya or his one and only best friend Manasi they are the characters which have taken equal weight in the story. Manasi will assume a role of friend, philosopher, guide and a lovely soul which will make some readers mesmerized at the end of the book. 

The narration of the story in the first half of the book is simple and there's nothing extraordinary about it. It all changes in the second half when Manasi steps in Viren's life. From there on the flow of the book, the emotions, the heart crunching dialogues and the selfless love will leave the readers hooked to it. The author has chosen a simple yet very serene style of writing which makes the readers heart pump. Some conversations between Manasi & Viren are worth reading again and again. The emotional ending and prologue are written keeping in mind the exact amount of emotions required in the story. 

Lovers can get some real life lessons from this story. Manasi is a very inspiring character in it. Whatever charm the book lacks in the first half, is made up for in the second half. It's really not a confession it's a heart crying out at it's ignorance, unnecessary arrogance and craving for those lost moments once again. The soul of the readers will be dipped in it for quite sometime. 

RATINGS: 

4 OUT OF 5.