Lemon Girl - Book Review

Title: Lemon Girl 

Author & Publisher: Jyoti Arora

ASIN: B00PESCO8O

Number of Pages: 262

Price: 122.79 [INR]

Genre: Fiction
Type: eBook

The Blurb:

'It's all your fault.'
Mere words these are.
"But words can possess a shadow invincible enough to rob even a soul of its eternity."

In a society that finds it easier to mark sins of a victim than the culprit, Nirvi is a young girl punishing herself for the faults she did not do and avenging her hurts by defeating her own truth.
She is scared of her future, and ashamed of her past. She is failing herself, and knows it. She has had a long line of boyfriends, and hated them all. She detests the guy she is living with, runs away from the one she loves , and seduces the one who can never love her.
When Arsh first sees Nirvi, she's a free and frank girl in whose eyes sparkle the lemony zest of life. The next time he sees her, she is a voiceless doll draped in clothes that cover her body less and shroud her soul more. And Arsh can't rest till he finds out what made Nirvi give up her own real self.
Nirvi knows she is dragging herself on a path from which there can be no recovery. Can her spirit survive the treacherous downfall? Or is the pull of fear and push of desperation just too strong to withstand for a girl who believes she has "nowhere else to go" but down.

"When it's time for you to fall in love, even a lemon can become the cause of it," says Arsh.
But can love survive, when even the self love dies?
Can love survive when respect is no more?
Does true love have the power to revive a dying soul?
Find out in the pages of this brilliantly woven, intense, heart-warming and thought-provoking saga of RISING IN LOVE.

My Review:

Characters:

      Meet Lemon Girl, who is bubbly and so full of life. Careless about the norms of society and living her life according to her own rules, she captures Arsh's attention completely, when he first saw her talking to her friend.

        Meet Nirvi, the same lemon girl, except she is not the same. Her laughter has vanished and her careless attitude is gone. She lives to please others and there is something about her that suggests weakness, which is so opposed to Lemon Girl's personality.

       Meet Arsh, the guy who had seen lemon Girl on one of his visit to market and has her image in mind for year. The guy who forces Nirvi back to being the Lemon Girl she was, happy and carefree.

Plot:

      The story is about a girl, Nirvi, who is a victim of domestic violence. When her mother finds out this, instead of supporting her, blames her by saying it's all her fault. The poor girl takes her mother's word and lives her life thinking it was her fault that she was raped. The girl who was once vibrant, become quiet and instead of doing what she wants, tries to blend in.

       But Arsh is not ready to let her do this. He is set on knowing what changed her into this lifeless doll who acts to please others. What he finds out, leaves him aghast. He tries to bring that old girl back and just when he had succeeded in doing so, a small mistake on his part spoils everything.

       Will Arsh be able to find the Lemon Girl again? Will Nirvi see beyond what her mother said and start living her life again? Will they realize their love for each other and have the courage to follow their hearts? Read the novel to find out more.

Things that Worked:

      The narration: Some chapters were narrated in Nirvi's voice and others in Arsh's. This gave us readers an access to both of their's minds. It was a good thing, as it helped to connect with the protagonists. 

     The plot: It keeps shuttling between past and present, giving us a clue of what might have happened that made things change so much. Also the cause for Nirvi's change is kept a secret till the second half, leaving the readers to do the guess work and thus keeping curiosity alive.

     The last chapter where mass protests will be going on, gave me goose bumps. The voice of youth and Nirvi's realization, leaves an impact on the readers. The story seems realistic, which makes the book all the more interesting. The language is simple and fluid.

Things that didn't Work:

      Sometimes, just sometimes, I felt that the pace was too slow and I had to take a break from reading. But otherwise, there is nothing much that went wrong in this story or narration.

Verdict:

      It is a wonderful book, which addresses one of the social concerns of today's world. Jyoti Arora has done a splendid job, describing the right amount of emotions in the book that take the readers right into the world of lemon girl. A book worth reading!

My Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

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Swathi :)

And We Remained - Book Review

Title: And We Remained

Author & Publisher: Asad Ali Junaid 

ISBN: 978-1495378928

Number of Pages: 268

Price: 249 [INR]

Genre: Fiction

The Blurb:

It is Bangalore in the late 1990's. There are tremendous socio-economic and cultural transformations taking place as a result of liberalization. How would these changes impact a group of friends in their late teens? How would they cope, find opportunities and what of their original identities would they be left with, after western ideologies are brought in and bombarded into their awareness by cable TV and new media?

Told through emails and first person account of events, And We Remained is a light and entertaining read of these friends as they experience love, heartbreak, prison, politics, drunken binges, strip clubs, sexcapades, US and Europe during their journey into adulthood.

My Review:

Characters:

      Meet Sahir Hassan, Sanndeep Gadwal, Anand Nair, Gopal V and David Williams - five students of the Engineering College of Vidyakeerthi University (ECVU). These are the five teenagers, who have seen possible variations in their engineering life. They have gone through so much, even fallen for the same girl (three of them) but still, in the end, their friendship is intact. Not exactly hero types but they will manage to make you smile.

       Meet Wardha, the girl on whom Sahir, Sandeep and Gopal have a crush on! Daughter of a Major General of Indian Army, Wardha has entered ECVU through a special merit list and has the ability to cause some serious havoc in the life of three guys, who are friends.

Plot:

      The story is about five friends and their life at engineering college and post graduation. It takes you through different phases of college life - friendship, love, lectures, bunking, canteen, politics, student body elections and back logs! Struggling through all these are our five friends, whose life becomes and entangled mess when they are accused of ragging and are sent to jail. Time there is certainly not what we can call rosy. If anything it is hell and the only thing that survives through this difficulty is their friendship. 

       The story continues about the rest of their college life which includes all sorts of fun and politics. What follows post graduation is another story altogether. Further studies, jobs, foreign trips, strip clubs, guy talks, money problem, unemployment; there is a lot to add spice to the story. And the email conversations between friends just keeps us in the loop of their life, witnessing each of their life from a certain angle.

Things that Worked:

      The narration style - unique and catchy. The past is narrated in first person and the present through email chats between the friends. There is a frequent switch between the past and present and each part gives you just enough hint to anticipate what will be next. In no way was it predictive, which was good.

       Also, the story is narrated like a conversation between friends. It makes it appear more realistic, like listening to friends talk and that made the story all more believable. There are incidents which make you laugh, like you would do when with your friends. The typical 'Guy Chats' were fun to read and gave a glimpse into the minds of boys.

       Here is a line that I loved from this book -

       The most telling sign of receding youth is not balding or a paunch, it is when you do not feel like laughing as much anymore.

Things that didn't Work:

      The frequent switch between narrations caused some confusion because in one chapter, where the narration was from Anand and he once refers to Anand, like it is someone else (Chapter 3, Page no 12)

      Sometimes, all that there was in the email conversations were the chat about girls and sex. Though it might have been the way the friends chatted, the overdose it made me lose interest at some points. But when the chapter ends and a new one begins, the interest and curiosity will be back.

      The characters lacked depth, especially during the narration of their engineering life. Though the narration was from different view points, they all sounded like the same voice to me. And Wardha! Her role, though should have been dominant considering how three out of five friends had fallen for her, is really insignificant. I really didn't understand why so much hype was given to her after all!

Verdict:

      It was a light read. The narration was different and managed to keep the interest alive, though it faltered at few points. A quick read. If you love to read about college life, friendship and fun, then this book is for you.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

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Swathi :)

Breach - Book Review

Title: Breach

Author: Amrita Chowdhury

Publisher: Hachette India

ISBN: 978-93-5009-855-4

Number of Pages: 334

Price: 350 [INR]

Genre: Mystery

The Blurb:

How secure are your secrets in the virtual world?

Weeks before pharma-gaint Acel is ready to file a global patent application for cancer wonder-drug Calore, its offshore data centre in Mumbai is hacked. The charismatic, young leader of its Indian business, Dr Udai Vir Dhingra, finds himself being blamed for negligence and breach of security.

Battling market pressures, media scrutinity, livid American bosses and crumbling relationships, Vir must find the perpetrators, or see his career - and his life - spiral downwards. But the deeper he gets dragged into the shadowy world of masked online identities and muddied digital footprints, the more Vir discovers that nothing is easy or obvious, and everything has a price.

Set across Mumbai, Washington and Guangzhou, Breach is a compelling and edgy cyber thriller that explores the dark and dangerous underbelly of our increasingly virtual existence.

My Review:

Characters: 

       Meet Dr Udai Vir Dhingra, the charismatic young leader of Acel's Indian division, whose mantra for life is 'Multi-millionaire by thirty and retired by forty'. But at thirty three, he finds the goal still unaccomplished, the business he is managing at the brink of destruction, American bosses shouting absurdities at him, a fiancee about whom he is unsure and a ex, who still continues to have the same magnetic effect on him.

       Tracey, Vir's fiancee flies to India to spend time with him. But the more she stays, But the more she stays, the more they find that their relationship is crumbling down.

      Diti, who dumped Vir years back, refusing to maintain a long distance relationship, now finds herself still drawn towards Vir when their paths cross again in Mumbai. But what can she do now that Vir is engaged?

       Ankita - witty and immature, Madhu - target of bullies and national topper, Raghu - with a passion for hacking and Suv - who thinks he is a hacker; four teenage students whose life was revolving around mundane stuffs till they are accused of the data breach of Acel's Mumbai office.

      Andrew Rudd, the Head of Research at Acel Biosciences, Dr Peter Lee, the mastermind behind Colare, Sandman - the mysterious hacker, peevs - one of the programmer of Indian division, Karthik - the best ethical hacker in India and Jake - the head of security at Acel.

Plot:

       There are just few weeks left for the filing of a global patent application for Colare, a cancer wonder drug by Acel when things start going awry. The data seems to have gone wrong from the Indian division. Upon closer inspection, an open port is found in the security system. The hacker is not only accessing data but also modifying it after copying out. Gives more reason for Andy to dislike the Indian centre of Acel, who has opposed creating one from the beginning. But who is doing it?

       The Indian centre is blamed for the breach and Vir finds himself held responsible for everything that is going wrong. His personal life isn't going well either and the crisis at work just adds more to the mess that his life has become! Accusations flow freely and experts are hired in India by the American centre for solving the mystery of hacking.

       Unsuspecting commoners are becoming prey of hackers and blame is placed on four teenagers. Will they be able to convince their innocence? Especially when Raghu is involved in hacking some sites.

       When the investigation starts, there are so many people involved and the mystery just get deeper and deeper. Every turn they take seems like a dead end and every step they take seems to aggravate the American centre. And to add more to the misery, media gets a whiff of the security breach and it is all over the news. In this situation, will the team be able to find the hacker? Can they successfully file the patent application before it is too late?

Things which Worked:

       Story line - A lot of research has been done and it is evident from the story line. By explaining different scenarios to giving slight insights about the characters, which helps you to connect with them, the author has done a splendid job.

       The suspense - With so many dimensions, it was difficult to point out who the culprit actually was. The different layers provided to the plan worked well.

       Pace - The pace wasn't too racy or too slow. It was easy to read without getting bored.

       Language - The language was good and there weren't many typos which made reading easier.

Things that didn't Work:

       The narration - Though the narration was good, there were many biology and technical terms used. While it was necessary for the story line, I guess people who aren't aware of them find themselves clueless at such times and slowdown the pace.

      The start - It takes a little time for you to understand as what is happening actually! The initial few chapters were confusing but once the data breach issue is raised, you will get into the loop.

The Verdict:

       This book is recommended for mystery/thriller novel lovers. But I would advice to pick this book at leisure time because it is definitely not for a quick read. Trust me, you would want to take it slow to enjoy the story.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

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Saved in Sri Lanks - Book Blitz

Book Blitz 

Saved In Sri Lanka 
by 

Devika Fernando

Some People Are Destined To Meet 

Blurb 

Some people are destined to meet.

It sure feels that way when Sri Lankan tour guide Sepalika meets Daniel. The mysterious tourist from Ireland steals his way into her heart and makes her question everything her life is built upon. Instant attraction turns to love – but does he feel the same? And what about the secret she’s hiding from him?
Follow the two on their quest for a happy ending amid the beauty and wonders of the tropical island paradise of Sri Lanka.

Grab Your Copy

 Amazon.in | Amazon.com

About 
Devika Fernando

Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. Having lived in Germany and in Sri Lanka with her husband has made her experience the best (and the worst) of two totally different worlds – something that influences her writing. Her trademark are sweet, yet deeply emotional romance stories where the characters actually fall in love instead of merely falling in lust. She draws inspiration from everyone and everything in life. Besides being a romance novel author, she works as a self-employed German web content writer, as a translator, and as a faithful servant to all the cats, dogs, fish and birds in her home. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or thinking about writing.

Stalk her @

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