Review of 'Orphan of the Storm' by 'Ravi Dhar'

Title: Orphans of the Storm
Author: Ravi Dhar
Publisher: Blackbuck Publication
Page Count: 227
My Rating: 3/5

Blurb: Countless griefs ago, When the ‘veth’ went red…

The air is thick with rumors. Reports speak of the molesting Pundit girls and the killing Pundit men. There is talk of Nizam- -Mustapha. Kashmiri Pundit families are fleeing the valley in wave after wave. But, one man stands unmoved, refusing to give in to this mass frenzy.

Towards the middle of one night, Nund Pundit’s house resonates with a deafening crescendo. He must pay for his faith. The fury of the mob must be quenched. He must suffer the ignominy of his daughter’s barbaric slaughter. He must suffer the dishonor of his wife and young daughter. He must suffer the mysterious disappearance of his elder son.

The December sky looks too ominous as the School Bus, carrying Siddhartha and his friends, noses down the valley. The queer sequence of events that follow inspire no confidence.

Siddhartha must outgrow his youthful sportiveness to realize the gravity of the calamity that had struck his family.

He must find answers to the barbarity of man as he struggles to build a new world of hope and comfort for his bereaved and shell-shocked parents. He must come face to face with deceit and danger in the hinterland of Nagaland. He must see the barbarity of the civilized and the civility of the so-called barbaric in the petty squabbles of the teachers at Medziphema and the murder of the Dean. In the midst of this maelstrom of events blossoms love not once but twice.

Verdict: ‘Orphans of the storm’ is the debut novel by Dr. Ravi Dhar. This story talks about the struggle of a Pundit family in Kashmir and the unhospitable atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir.

Like almost all Blackbuck publication books this book also has similar size and nice paper quality. Starting from the cover, I felt the cover could have been designed in a better way. The blue effect is looking good but the man on the cover was making the whole look amateurish. The blurb is pretty big. One who has the time to read the whole blurb after picking it, might buy the book because it’s interesting and gives a good outline of the plot.

The story starts with Nund Lal pundit of Kashmir. One fateful day they are forced to leave Kashmir and have to live like migrants in their own land. Soon the story changes its way and the focus shifted towards Siddhartha, the youngest son and carefree son of Nund Pundit. Siddhartha was burdened with the responsibility of his family and yet he manages to complete his masters and finds a job of a lecturer in the Nagaland University. The atmosphere of Kashmir was described by the author wonderfully. The story doesn’t end there. After creating the perfect satire, the author introduces love in Siddhartha’s story. After getting almost back stabbed by the university politics and the abrupt end of his love story had hit him hard. The end was good but it could have been better. One thing I can say is that the readers will close the book on a good note.

The author hasn't described his characters well. Only the dialogs were the rescue for the readers to help them visualize the characters. There are a few characters who I think have lacked the lime light. After focusing on Siddhartha’s life, the condition of Nund Lal Pundit took a back seat, even the disappearance of the elder brother of Siddhartha wasn’t cleared to the audience till the end. The narrating style was good and goes with the flow. Short chapters always helps the readers to enjoy the book more.

Talking about flaws, the editing could have been better. There are grammatical errors which disturbs the flow of the story. The story line was good and but could have been framed in a better way. I didn't quite like the way the book has ended. Being a full time reader, I don’t think readers will like loose ends or unanswered questions at the end. Being from Kashmir himself the author has done total justice to the description of Kashmir. Overall a nice attempt of a debut author.

Available at:

Flipkart – http://www.flipkart.com/orphans-storm-english/p/itme27k8jhavxnbd?q=Orphans+of+the+Storm+%28English%29&as=on&as-show=on&otracker=start&as-pos=p_1_orphans+of+the&pid=9781630410100

Amazon – http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00QXTMUMS/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_in-21&linkCode=as2&camp=3626&creative=24790

Review of 'Of Course, We Are Best Friends' by 'Sonia Bansal'

Blurb:  Aditya and Aditi, both bid adieu to their sheltered existence and walk in the world loaded with challenges.
When they began to sketch their perfect ending laden with joys and smiles then all of a sudden…
BOOM!!
Destiny gifted them another picture.

Have you ever fallen in love with your best friend..??
If yes, then fasten your seat belts and get ready to experience the most thrilling ride of your life, ride from the love to out of it, from school corridors to college campus blended with a maze of swirling emotions.

A true yet unusual saga of Aditya and Aditi imbued with traces of pleasure crunchy moments of happiness and togetherness.

Beaware!! It may change your definition of love and friendship.

Verdict: ‘Of Course, We are best friends!’ is the debut novel of author Sonia Bansal. The book is yet another tale of friendship and love in the backdrop of high school and college.

The cover looks very simple to me but goes with the title. The cover is not gorgeous enough to drag the reader’s eyes and I feel the book can easily be lost in the crowd of numerous romantic novels by Indian authors. The name sounds good but not intriguing and doesn’t help the book to stand out from the rest. I would say the first appearance of the book is pretty ordinary and nothing remarkable.

As the blurb suggests, the book starts on a regular note with the Aditi (the female protagonist) joining a new school and soon finds out a good friend in Aditya (the male protagonist). Without understanding the depth of the emotion, it was love at first sight for Aditya. An introvert guy at nature Aditya, can feel butterflies in his stomach whenever he talks to Aditi. Soon they became friends and started sharing every tiny details about each other. Like always, after few days Aditi starts to like him and soon they were dating. Their relation faces the problem when they were promoted to college and have to part ways. Can their relation survive the long distance? Can Aditya, who was more involved in the relation, find a solution to save his love? All these answer lies inside the story.

The narrating style is the main force behind the story which will keep the readers engaging. The author seriously got some skills to narrate a story but she have to work on framing a better plot. The narrating style is simple and very much in the trend. The narrating style helps the readers to understand the point of view of both of the protagonists which I like the most. Apart from Aditi and Aditya, the other characterization is not that impressive and would not be able to create any effect on the readers.

The book has few silly spelling mistakes and few grammatical mistakes too which disturbs the flow of the story. The story is not new and very much similar to the high school romance book available. The narrating style is remarkable for a debut writer. I will definitely be looking forward to read from this author in the future. Those who have experienced a school crush or teenage love, can enjoy this story. I would recommend this book to those who are in search of a light and refreshing read after a tired day. 

Final Words: This is a teenage love story with a sweet and simple narrating style. Kudos to the author for her wonderful skill of describing emotions. A light read.

Title: Of Course, We are Best Friends!
Author: Sonia Bansal
Publisher: Blackbuck Publishers
Page Count: 200
My Rating: 3.5/5

Available at –

Flipkart – http://www.flipkart.com/course-best-friends-english/p/itmdyz7gegzyrncf

Review of 'Who told men, not to cry' by 'Azar'

Blurb: Raj, a typical school boy from a middle class family, who was also born unlucky.

Living with his aunt, he had a good life at school and great friends.

But everything changed when a girl entered his life. Everything changed and he himself believed he was unlucky.

His school life no more to be great and his friends no more trustworthy.

His love..?

After years of tragedy he meets his love and life doesn't stop being crazy.

But how crazy is it going to be for Raj?

Verdict: ‘Who told men, not to cry?’ is the first work of fiction by Azar. This book is a light read which the readers might consider as a one-time-read.

The cover looks good and bright. The yellow color is bright and would definitely attract eyes. The name is good but not that impressive. The author could have put some more effort in choosing a more appealing name for this book. The blurb seems to be a bit dull to me and I can’t say that all readers will go for the book after reading the blurb. The blurb indicates that the book has nothing surprising and new. Which I liked about the book is its size and quality. It fits perfectly in the hand and the readers will feel comfortable holding this book.

The story starts on an ordinary note with the main protagonist Raj recalling his story. The story moves on with Raj being a nerdy, studious guy spending some good time at school with his few friends until that fateful day when Keerthi, the female protagonist enters the story and every one of his friends started drooling over the new girl in the class. The story goes on Raj leaving his old school and friends after some incident and shifting to a new school to begin a new journey. In the new school, the readers comes to know that Raj is a good athlete too. The competition among the students and the loose ends left by the author at the beginning of the book will make the readers complete the book. For me, the best part of the book was the end. The end was unanticipated and came with full drama. The readers will love the end and will close the book in a happy note.

The characterization was not so good and the direct narrating style had only made the matter worse. The characters were missing necessary description and the narrating style lacked the focus on the supporting characters. The author was so busy with Raj and Kreethi, that maximum of the characters lacked the limelight.

I always believe if the book starts well, it will create an instant effect on the readers. The very first sentence of the book has grammatical errors which brings the readers down. Not only the first sentence, but the whole book needs a round of editing badly. One more thing I didn’t like about the book is the author’s consistent effort to inject laughter through the conversation which wasn’t working. It is the end that will make the readers feel good about the book. I hope the author will come with a better novel next time.

Final Words: The author has tried to pen down a light read and somehow has succeeded to do so. A simple narrating style and a twisted end is what this has in store for the readers.

Title: Who Told Men, Not to Cry?
Author: Azar
Publisher: Blackbuck Publication
Page Count: 249
My Rating: 2.75/5

Available at –

Flipkart – http://www.flipkart.com/told-men-not-cry-english/p/itmdyz7g4zhb6h4g?pid=9781630414306&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=who+told+men+not+to+cry&ref=f8cd4906-7b4e-4e21-8c62-18a3cffa50df

Review of "As Life Has No UNDO" by "Abir Mukherjee"

Blurb: Campus interviews are around the corner for the final-year students of Burdwan Engineering College. Everyone is busy honing their skills at the last minute except Ankit who wishes to see his parents for the last time.

Ankit, a simple boy and mediocre student from a lower middle class Bengali family has only two aims in life – to become a computer engineer per his parent’s wish and to spend his entire life with Shreeja, the lady love of his life. Shreeja is pretty, ambitious and career oriented. What happens when Debdeep walks into their lives?

Does Ankit have more things to lose than he ever imagined? Have you ever loved someone more than yourself? Have you ever felt the need of an undo button in your life?

This may be your story...

Verdict: ‘As Life has no Undo’ is the debut novel of Abir Mukherjee. Undo is such a key that can give us the option to take a step back but life can never give the chance to take a step back. How often we think that if we can go back and re-write that scene in our life, but unfortunately life has no Undo.

The name is so practical and interesting that it is bound to grab the reader’s interest. Every person dreamt of having an Undo button in their life, so what made this author write a whole book on this topic will be the reader’s center of attraction. The book has everything in its jacket that had played an important role in the story.

The story starts with Ankit (the main protagonist) narrating his story to a senior of his in a hospital lounge. Ankit was a normal Bengali boy who unwantedly falls for a girl for whom he had a bet with his friends. Everything was going perfect and they got admission in an average engineering college together. Like all clichéd love stories, Ankit also compromises his chance of getting admission into a reputed government engineering college, to study with the love of his life. Ankit’s life turned upside down in the last year of the engineering when Debdeep aka Deba entered into their life. The readers should read this story to know what made Ankit take the ultimate decision of leaving the earth. Is it because of his love Shreeja or his best friend Deba or the expectation of his family or something else?

I found the story-line very common and already told. The presentation style was good but the narrating style is so simple that it couldn’t help the book to stand high in the crowd of romantic novels. I would like to appreciate Abir Mukherjee for jotting down the truth which is very much visible from the story but the lack of description were making the scene hazy and tough to visualize. The author has concentrated a lot on describing his male and female protagonists and by doing that unintentionally he kept all his other characters in the dark.

The author has described the mental state of Ankit in the end quite efficiently and that can make the readers complete the book in a good note. The author could easily replace a few unnecessary details with few more described scenes and that will make the book all more interesting.

Final Words: A love story that unfolded on the streets of Burduwan has a flavor of its own and can give the readers an overview on how love stories blossoms in Bengal. Overall an average read. 

Title: As Life Has No UNDO
Author: Abir Mukherjee
Publisher: Blackbuck Publication
Page Count: 301
My Rating: 3/5

Availabe at - 

Flipkart - http://www.flipkart.com/life-has-no-undo-english/p/itmdtqkz9cytepcr?pid=9781631022630&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=As+Life+Has+No+UNDO&ref=26637b5c-232e-49a4-b656-82481f461434

Amazon - http://www.amazon.in/As-Life-Has-No-Undo/dp/1631022636/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408603930&sr=8-1&keywords=As+Life+Has+No+UNDO