Book Review: Prem Purana by Usha Narayanan

Book: Prem Purana- Mythological Love Stories

Author: Usha Narayanan

Genre: Fiction (Mythology)

Publisher: Penguin Books

Pages: 286

Blurb:

Stories of love and extraordinary devotion

No one is untouched by love, not even devas (gods) and asuras (demons), kings and nymphs. And when they face life’s unexpected tribulations, their love also undergoes trials. Read how Ganesha took myriad forms to please Riddhi, Siddhi and Buddhi, how Ravana shared an unbreakable bond with his true love, Mandodari and how Nal and Damayanti’s relationship was tested till nothing remained.

Tormented by passion, wracked by betrayal, torn by the agony of separation, love in its many splendored forms is the origin of these incredibly endearing stories of Prem Purana.

Review:

Prem-purana is one of a kind book which can transport you to a world which is so unusual and divine that you don’t want to step out. The book has three stories, three magnificent stories which can make you see different forms and feelings of love and reading it in the month of love made it extra special and revived the spirit of love in a new way.

From all the three stories there is something to learn, something to grasp and adapt in your life. Though the book can put you in a tight spot at times due to varied tales entangled in between the main story that is going on. This happened with me mainly with the first story which was not very engrossing and was wavering at times.

The first story is of Ganesh and his love life. The story was new for me as I have never read anything about Ganesh in any mythological book till now. So everything was way too much for me. So many names, so many details, so many things to take in. I liked the atmosphere but I didn’t connect to it as much as I connected to the rest of the two stories.

If I have to pick any character I would pick Siddhi, she was amazing, so confident yet so tender. She was perfect.

The second story was so amazing that I read all the way in just few hours without wanting to stop. It was so engrossing and the characters so well explained and interesting that it transported me straight to the world it was set in. I loved the aura of power and knowledge the story carried. It was enticing and I couldn’t like it any less.

I loved the character of Mandodari and Ravana. They were so powerful and their love was so pure and radiant that it made me fell in love with love. They had a different kind of bond and that is why I was attracted to it.

The final story of Nala and Damayanti expressed immense sacrifice and an everlasting love. The story was good but short. I wanted to know more about their hardships and blossoming of love. I think it was wrapped up a bit too fast then needed. But it was engrossing.

Summing up- The book is very different and unique. It surely has the power to attract a reader who likes the kind of genre it falls in. It does justice to its title but taking the reader on a journey of such varied love stories which are not very famous but are still present and are powerful enough to take ones breath away.

About the author:

Usha Narayanan had a successful career in advertising, radio and corporate communications before becoming a full-time author. She has written several books, including the suspense thriller The Madras Mangler and the fun office romance Love, Lies and Layoffs. Her books Pradyumna: Son of Krishna and The Secret of God’s Son have been praised as ‘Indian mythology at its fiercest and finest’. 
When she is not travelling, writing or editing, Usha reads everything from thrillers to the puranas.

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Book Review: When Love Happens by Manish Kumar

Book: When Love Happens

Author: Manish Kumar

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 138

Publisher: Srishti Publishers 

Blurb:

True love never dies. It is redefined every time you feel it.

When Nish falls in love, little does he know the impact it is going to

have on his life. Hailing from conservative backgrounds, love is

nothing less than war with the world for the lover and his beloved.

Albeit limited communication, they still dare to dream of a life

together. But with the pressure of attaining stability in life, he finds it

impossible to chase his dreams endlessly.

An unassuming man from a modest background, he fights helplessness

and challenges thrown at him by life, only to learn precious life lessons.

His faith in God gives him the strength to move on and find his calling

in writing and poetry.

When Love Happens... is a tale of shattered dreams and redemption, of

fear and fortitude, and above all, of the indomitable human will.

Review:

When Love happens is a short love story with elements of spirituality used here and there to uplift the story from the black hole it often fell in due to dark and a never ending struggle.

The story is about a boy Nish hailing from a small place. Like any other boy his story touches the realm of life when he realizes that he has fallen in love and it is not what it seems like. His story is different. It is sour, it is ecstatic and it is dull, all in one, shown at different angles at different times.

The characters in this book were weak and very limited in their scope of attaining richness. I found the main character okayish. He was what was expected from him. He was good, obedient, charming but not rebellious which I would have loved to see in him. I couldn’t follow the female lead with any appreciative eyes. She came and passed in my happy zone like a small beam of light, leaving very minor impact or to be precise negligible impact.

The supporting characters were so shallow, I felt I am reading just one name throughout the book. There was no newness anywhere in terms of a support crew.

If I talk about the plot then I would say it was simple, to the point and soft. It lacked a little edginess and crispness but sometimes you need a break from intricate tales and enjoy a book like this with a very plain approach, just to inhale the old freshness which is sometimes lost in the midst of new patterns and varied aspects.

Being from a small town myself I could understand a lot of things much better than they were even expressed. I could understand the conservatism, the hidden love blooming and a never ending need to be at peace in between the running chaos. It was a good brush up.

Coming to the story, I felt the phases of Nish’s life were fine, there was nothing extra-ordinary in it. There was no juice in his life because as I said earlier it was very natural. It happens to every next door kid you encounter these days, a never ending struggle to join the biggest run.

I felt the story could have been a little more informative and better, there were problems in the execution of the story because there were a lot of missing links. The story jumped from here and there but there was a missing essence which could have brought up with a little more time and thinking. There were no background images, no atmosphere, it was just a story and that didn’t allow the book to become a proper comforting tale which you can remember for decades.

Summing up- The book was a good real life picture of today’s race in which kids participate out of peer pressure or family pressure and sometimes due to their own want too. The tale was simple and quick but wasn’t quirky and edgy. It had some flaws, like extremely quick wrap ups of situations which didn’t allow me to indulge in the bigger picture.  The book was good but certainly could have been much better.

About the author:

An IT-guy living in Bangalore, Manish Kumar has been working with IBM for the past five years. Keen about writing true stories inspired from one’s own life, he always aspired to write about his observations on nature and its creations. He likes travelling to natural destinations and is fond of riding bikes. This is his first published book.

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Book Review: The woman who saw the future by Amit Sharma

Book: The woman who saw the future

Author: Amit Sharma

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Readomania

Pages: 272

Blurb:

Sapna Vaid has lived with a unique power for a decade; a power that turned her from a timid, wide-eyed, college-going girl into the most influential and powerful Goddess on Earth. Sapna can see the future and saves thousands of people around the world every year through her record-breaking, popular show ‘Lucky People’. The show had given Sapna’s life a meaning and gives her the courage to sleep every night, where death and blood await her in her dreams. Even though the world is at her feet, the power costs Sapna her personal life. Broken relationships and separation from her son bring her unbearable pain. Her parents and the thousands of prayers that come her way every year are her only solace, her only reason to live. When a blinding hatred leads to a desperate act of revenge, a single misuse of her great power triggers a reversal of her fortunes. Sapna begins to lose her ability to see the future.

Review:

The woman who saw the future is full of high profile lifestyle, luxuries, over the top incidents and some very cruel and dark phases. It is a mixture of love, revenge, maliciousness, lust and hunger for power. This book takes you on a very different kind of journey something which can churn your brain and crush your heart.

Abundant characters rule the book, from major to minor, negative to weak, everything can be seen as the tale progresses. I loved Kabir, Om and Anupama. They were the best three for me in the whole book. Their point of view and presence made the mood of the story more powerful and sought after. I also liked Sapna but not loved her. I can’t digest too many changes in a person but here the changes were psychological and it made my whole idea of not liking a character based on its evolution change. I felt that Sapna’s part could have been elaborated a bit more to make readers understand the reality behind her doings. There people can go wary and misunderstand her.

From the minor characters I loved Angad. He was everything a side character needs to be. His presence was sharp, edgy and important.

Talking about the plot I think it was new and fresh but a bit naïve too. I have read author’s other book too (which I thoroughly enjoyed) that one had a magical aura around it but this one lacked finesse and bit of background setting in front of that book. Comparisons are not good but it came naturally. I also loved the narrative style. It gave the book a unique touch and it made the story more open and wise in its nature.

Now coming to the story, I think the story line and the execution was praiseworthy. It was the brilliance of author due to which such easy plot could get a nice shape. The story was very moderate in the starting and it was easy to sail through it. There were no complications for a very long time. I liked the middle portion of the book as the major changes were shown well and it made the tale crispy and kept me hooked. I adored the ending because it was much unexpected. It filled all the gaps which I felt the starting had created towards the greatness of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the showdown and how things were woven in an intricate pattern to reach the final outcome. I believe there was no need of the last few pages as it was clear what would have happened. It would have created more serene ending.

Summing up- The book was a great treat all in all. It was fast paced at some points and was extremely gripping. I can recommend it to all those who needs a story with suspense and mystery in it. It do have a fantasy element in it or you can say supernatural element in it. There are love stories as well so there is something for every kind of reader in it.

About the author:

Amit Sharma is an IT slave (read professional) since the last twelve years. He lives with his family in NCR but his work does take him to foreign lands. His wife was a teacher till she gave it up because of sheer exhaustion of answering questions of their four-year-old daughter all day. 

His first fiction book, False Ceilings, a family saga spanning one hundred and thirty years, was published by Lifi Publications in 2016. The book garnered many good reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and critical acclaim. Amit’s hobbies include reading, watching world cinema, travelling, digging into various cuisines, cooking, listening to music, painting, blogging, making his daughter laugh and helping his wife with her unnecessary and prolonged shopping.

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Book Review: A Home For Urvashi by Sanchali Bhattacharya

Book: A Home for Urvashi

Author: Sanchali Bhattacharya

Publisher: Harper Collins

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Pages: 345

Blurb:

Death separates Dulari from her beloved twin sister, Ujjwala. Forlorn, her spirit remains on Earth as a powerless but constant companion to Ujjwala. Like the apsara Urvashi, she has the power to travel between worlds but no family, no one to love.
Dulari has a dream: she hopes to be reborn as Ujjwala s daughter and find a home for herself. Twenty-nine years have gone by, but her dream remains unfulfilled. There is hope, though, for Ujjwala has a son and now longs for a daughter.
Then arrives a man from Ujjwala s past. His presence upsets her life and sets into motion a series of events that threaten to destroy her completely. Only Dulari can save her sister, but to do that, she must relinquish her dream. Will Dulari intervene and protect Ujjwala, or will she wait and watch? Will her endless longing for life and belonging overpower the love she has for her sister?
Sensitively written and evocative, A Home for Urvashi depicts the bond of sisterhood that goes beyond life and death. 

Review:

A Home for Urvashi is a story of different colors. It has fun, grief, magical aspects and a long journey towards ones dream. The author has penned a lot of emotions in this simplistic version of a highly fantasy prone book.

When the books have a flashback narrative element in it half of the work of a whimsical aura is done. I really loved how the story began. It gave me the want to read more and know about the weird things one of the main characters went on babbling about. From the very start it was clear that this is not going to be a plain and naïve read.

As we progress new characters hits us and it’s amazing to see so many different characters which particular traits, so very different from each other. It makes it a huge party. From the whole lot I loved Ujjwala, for her focused and one way mind which didn’t wavered throughout the book. I also loved Yash though he came out to be more of a side character even though he was majorly included in the book but still he didn't emerged as a strong character for me.

I also loved Rituraj for his way of dealing with things. There was a charm in his actions, I liked him as a character and not a person to be precise. I thought it was well constructed. I am somewhat in middle of my liking for Dulari and Sooraj. They were okayish for me.

The story started off great but couldn’t maintain the same pace for long. The book was fast paced due to the easy and flowy writing style of the author and negligible editing blunders. But the story was slow and it didn’t gave me any chills or excitement for a long-long time.

After about some 100 plus pages the story start getting its real tempo. When things starts happening and secrets starts revealing it becomes really exciting to see where the things will go. I can say easily that the middle portion of the book was my favorite.

I couldn’t connect at all with the ending of the book though. I thought it could have been so much better. It just felt it ended because stories are meant to end. If the tale could have a more different approach towards the wrap up, things could have touched another tangent.

Special mentions to the book cover; it is really pretty and can attract a reader way too much; because it speaks of freedom of womanhood and of despair in some ways.

Summing up- I enjoyed the novel. I was flying through it after I managed to read the first fifty or so pages. The writing style was good, very fluent and was easily connecting with my taste. If and only if there could have been a grand wrap up to this unique story, the book could have done wonders. Still it is a very enjoyable read. I think it is a genre free book and any sort of reader can pick it up.

About the author:

An electrical engineer from Jadavpur University, Sanchali Bhattacharya is a director in her own engineering and manufacturing company. Sanchali's short stories have featured in The Statesman. She is married and has a son. She lives in Kolkata.

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Book Reivew: The six symbols of ink by Meliza Merlinde

Book: The Six Symbols of Ink

Author: Meliza Merlinde

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Publisher: Olympia Publishers

Pages: 306

Blurb:

Living in a world governed by cruelty and persecution, where the Ink Mark symbol is the law and where kindness and love have long been forgotten, Ashley has always believed that her symbol is faulty, that she is not worthy. However, she discovers that, far from being faulty, her Ink Mark actually identifies her as one of the Four; the special ones who will fulfil the ancient prophecy and rid the world of its inhumanity.

But can an ordinary girl like Ashley possibly live up to this expectation? Who are the other three and where can they be found?

This is the beginning of a quest where demons, giants and the true wickedness of mankind are interwoven with friendship, loyalty and faith. Which ones will triumph...?

Review:

The six symbols of ink is a story of revenge, friendship, love and dark magical aura. The book is a great piece of fantasy which can transport you to a different world in just 300 pages. There are elements of violence in it also some gross incidents but what is fantasy if it can’t tickle your imagination beyond extremities.

The starting of the book was a big turn off for me. That is the point where most of the readers can feel a little off because there were a lot of missing information. I had to google twice to see if I am really reading the first book in the series. There was a lot of information without any explanation and lot of action without any reason. I thought there was a need of one more chapter in the starting to get the readers used to of the world the author was designing.

But when we pass that phase the book is amazingly interesting and fast paced. I struggled for around 40 pages but after that the book became a page turner. I was really excited with the two way story that was happening. It gave me a break from the present things and made my brain churn with the things moving towards the bigger picture. What I loved about the book were the aspects it touched. It takes you to an unbelievable world where anything is possible.

I loved how there were different elements layered in the story. There was flirting, there were wars, fights, creatures, giants and what not. I love stories where there are alliances and groups that work together towards the big show.

If I talk about the characters then I loved Zhila and Corlias. These two always showed what was expected from them. I don’t like characters who change their traits with the moving story. And these two were the same throughout the book. From the minor characters I loved the king and the queen. They were for a very little time but they left an impact on me. It felt they were from a parallel world which is dark and weird. I think they could have been given a bit more part in the story here and there; taking in account the role they play in the book is vast and important.

I didn’t like Ashley that much because she was growing as a character and there were a lot of flaws if one looks in the bigger picture also there was a huge gap between her history and my understanding. Maybe she grows in a better way in the next book but for this one I didn’t enjoy her character much.

Also the relationships that the characters shared was a bit dicey. It felt like it was not well thought of. They were arranged in the cubicles where they could fit in. there was a lack of dimension I believe. Apart from this there were only some editing flaws which hampered the reading a little bit.

If I see the bigger picture then this was a great fantasy world which I was introduced to. There was everything which I expect in a fantasy novel. There were plot holes, big one sometimes, mainly in the background setting and execution but overall it was a good fiction fantasy. It can entertain you without any doubts. And I am really anticipating the end. I think the series is worth a try.

About the author:

Meliza van der Linde grew up in the affluent, multi-ethnic society of South Africa, the variety of cultures, languages, and religions has shaped Meliza's passion for writing. Seeing the struggles of a Third World Country and its people striving to accept the different culture has always been an ember to her fire.

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