Review: Finding Juliet

Finding Juliet by Toffee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

FINDING JULIET - Can a Geek ever find Love? by TOFFEE : 4.85 of 5* to Romantic novel on Love, lust & Life!

Title & Cover:
Finding Juliet is indeed an attractive title which reminds me of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and Finding Juliet by Frank Sennett, but there is no direct correlation as such with this new book. This book was first published as a digital book on Juggernaut online application and later published by Srishti Publishers in paperback format. This is my fourth book review of the book published by Srishti Publishers. The beautiful cover of Finding Juliet is designed by Wasim Helal. A guy is portrayed in the witty pose. The book asks readers “Can a Geek ever find love?” This question can be considered as the subtitle of the novel.

Language & Writing Style:
Finding Juliet is scripted in a very lucid language and adds some new words in my vocabulary. The author narrates the story in a fast but flowing pace. Author’s wonderful sense of humour, witty and sarcastic dialogues along with beautiful lyrics at apt situation cherish reader’s reading experience. Flashback technique is used in a fantastic manner.

Characters:
Arjun is a male protagonist of the novel Finding Juliet. He is the narrator of the story. Krish is protagonist too who is one of the best friends of Arjun. Finding Juliet is a well-characterized novel but readers might get confused to identify the main female protagonist from so many female characters like Shraddha, Neha, Saakshi, Ruchika, Esha, Aditi, Smita, Preeti and Anjali.

Setting:
The plot of the novel ‘Finding Juliet’ is developed into two acts. The first act of the story runs in and around Begumpeth, Charminar and Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad while the second act of the plot is played in Bangalore.

Plot and Story:
The story of Finding Juliet begins on a funny note. Arjun’s first few days of college and his experiences relate to us and remind the fun filled days of our college life. The book mocks at senior-junior rift, ragging and so many incidents in the beginning days of college. Arjun talks about a lifestyle of an engineering student. I laughed out loud while reading the narration about dirtiness and boy’s disorganized rooms. I liked the way how beautifully Arjun proposes to Neha; her reply to Arjun is just adorable. Communication between them is really touching. Unexpected bomb blast scene brings a major twist into the story and turns the plot from Hyderabad to Bangalore. Arjun mocks at hectic traffic in Bangalore. The novel shows a realistic picture of pool party cum rave party. I appreciate the author for adding this scene in such a manner that the scene doesn’t seem like forcefully added but shows the real (dark) picture of different parties and unknown truth happening inside such parties organized by the rich peoples. A first intimate scene is gracefully narrated by the author. It’s enough to turn you ‘on’ in comparison with the second intimate scene LoLJ!! The third intimate scene is really romantic. Arjun’s best friend Krish differentiates lust and love to the Arjun. I like the secret of happiness shared by Krish. Krish’s opinion on women’s psychology and relationship in conversation with Arjun makes sense and it’s really outstanding. The book tells us how to impress a girl and also talks about etiquettes while dating and living in a relationship. There are so many unexpected twists and turns in the story which gives an enthralling experience while reading. Arjun’s memories of his parents relate to ourselves. Everlasting bond of Anjali’s true friendship with Rahul and Arjun and her concern for her best friend Arjun really touches my heart. Aarti’s touching letter to Sanjay gives me goosebumps. I would like to quote Arjun’s words of wisdom- “Everybody makes mistakes. There’s no point in you killing yourself for something that happened a long time ago.”

Finding Quotes from the novel:
There are so many motivational quotations and one liners. I appreciate comments on women; but in my opinion author’s observation in which he mocks at women in a negative way is not appreciative unless he has done it purposefully to keep the intensity of the story, however such comments can be considered as okay to create and enjoy humour in the story. Few best quotes which I could recollect in a flash are:
1. “A woman is the embodiment of emotions and she feels most alive when emotions are supercharged in her brain. She loves experiencing these emotions, be it happiness, sadness, pain, pleasure, jealousy, or whatever. She feels almost dead when her life is devoid of these emotions.”
2. “The best stories are told in bars by broken hearts.”
3. “When people get something too easily, they don’t value it.”
4. “Problems in your life are like the weights in the gym. You can either get weighed down by them or turn them to your advantage and become stronger.”
5. “One should never really care what others think and should always do whatever one likes.”
6. “Just because a goalpost has a goalkeeper, it doesn’t mean you can’t score goals.”
7. “‘I am fine’ is the most popular lie ever told.”

Finding Drawbacks:
I appreciate the light weight of the novel but average page quality of the novel can’t be ignored. Italic font is used in a good way but it could have been better. I have purchased a brand new copy of the newly released novel, even then I have noticed some faded words in the book. Faded words in the newly launched books are quite unacceptable. I found a single typing error ‘Ireached’ on page no. 12 which should be corrected as ‘I reached’. Closing inverted comma (’) is missing into 31 paragraphs of Krish’s and Sanjay’s monologues in the chapter ‘The Void’ and (“‘) is misprinted instead of (“) in a sentence on page 196. I must say that though I have pointed out drawbacks, all these drawbacks are ignorable when we think of the superb story and plot of the novel.

Reviewer’s Opinion about Finding Juliet:
“Finding Juliet by Toffee is a novel which reminds our college life, fun and those memorable days. The novel talks about true friendship, true love, lust, betrayal, marriage, extramarital affairs and at the same time the novel tries to explain women’s psychology about friendship, love, lust, pleasure and different relationships in life. The novel shows various emotions into various circumstances in the individual’s life. Entertaining storyline, author Toffee’s touching lyrical style, philosophical quotes, motivational one-liners, nonstop humour and unexpected twists keep readers engaged until the climax of the Finding Juliet. Finally I would give my second highest rating ever 4.85 (which is approximately 5) on the scale of 5 stars to the Finding Juliet by Toffee because this one of the must read novels for everyone who loves to read romance.” - Rajesh D. Hajare RDH, Admin of BookLysis

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Review: The Three Wise Monkeys

The Three Wise Monkeys by Jeet Gian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THE 3 WISE MONKEYS by Jeet Gian - Indeed a masterpiece (Review)

language plot drawback revi note I recently read the novel “The Three Wise Monkeys” by Jeet Gian™. This is the second novel from Frog Books (an imprint of Leadstart Publishing) and is being reviewed on BookLysis. Before sharing my opinion on the book, I would like to thank my reviewer friend Surbhi Sareen for recommending such a wonderful novel.


TITLE: ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ is a familiar yet an interesting title which attracts any bookworm to pick this book. The title ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ carries a subtitle “Life is exciting when you have money, honey, and cronies”* on the very first page of the novel. On hearing the title ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’, the first image which clicks in my mind is a historical philosophy of “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” suggested by Mahatma Gandhi through a trio of the monkeys.

COVER: A trio of the monkeys is portrayed in three witty poses on the cover of the novel. These three monkeys seem really (?) wise from their witty poses and funny stuff. The first monkey looks gentle as he carries a red laptop bag and wears black sunglasses (maybe he might singing or dancing on the song Kalaa Chashma…:)) ! The second monkey seems to be a techno geek or a DJ or any big fan of music (sir pe headphone jo laga rakha hai…:))… And the third monkey looks like a big smoker (Cigarette kaise foonk raha hai dekho to…)!!! Jokes a part! The trio of the monkeys hold revolvers and are seated on the bundles of Rs. 1000 currency notes (are re.. ab to wo bhi band (demonetise) ho chuki hain). Blue and yellow colour combination of the cover suits perfectly. Overall, cover design of the novel ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ by Jeet Gian™ is enough to attract readers and perfectly suits to the genre as well as the story of the novel.

LANGUAGE: Author Jeet Gian uses simple and lucid language to narrate the story and so the book is easy to understand. The author uses some regional (Hindi, Marathi and Tamil) words along with their English meaning in brackets. Regional accents are narrated beautifully by the author. Italic fonts and capital letters are used to highlight regional words in a proper way. Punctuation marks are used gracefully to showcase each character's feelings and emotions while narrating the story.

WRITING STYLE: Author Jeet Gian uses third person narrative style. Authors’ amazing sense of humour, presence of mind, deep observation behind each activity are reflected in his writing of this novel. I really loved little unique experiments made by the author Jeet Gian to narrate this story. I have not read Jeet Gian’s debut novel ‘The 3-U Turns of My Life’ but after going through ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ I would definitely try to read his debut novel. This is the magic of his writing style.

SETTING: The story of ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ runs around different locations. More than half scenes of the novel are developed in Mumbai, Maharastra while several scenes are developed in Gandhidham, Kutch, Gujarat. Little scenes are developed abroad like Switzerland and Mauritius etc.

CHARACTERIZATION: Entertaining Characterization is the most important and powerful literary aspect of ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ by Jeet Gian. I just loved the sense of humour of each character. The author sarcastically mocks at real celebrities, ministers, sportspersons, businessmen, actors, singers, social activists, journalists, bankers and saints etc by elegantly comparing them with his fictitious characters. Balanced comparison between fictitious and real characters create outstanding humor and keep readers engaged with the story.

The trio- Amar, Akbar, and Anthony who comes to Mumbai from three different states Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra with an ambition to pursue a degree of CA are the three male protagonists while Meghna, Farah and Sarah are three female protagonists. Two businessmen brothers Raj Pawar and Suhas Pawar and their wives Ruma and Suma, Ravindran Rao, Somnath Bhagwat, Mohammad Zakaria, Solomon Prakasa Rao Pinto, ACP Kishan Kumar and Constable Keshav Kadam are other major characters. Readers meet so many minor characters who lead the story ahead.

THE PLOT & THE STORYLINE:

The plot of ‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ is well researched and nicely narrated. The storyline refers to several real incidents like November 2008 Terrorist Attack, different revolutionary movements, various government schemes, authorities and institutions like UIDAI (Aadhar), IMF and ICAI, natural disasters like BP Oil Still Disaster in 2010 and Uttarakhand floods 2013, disappeared Malaysian Airline 370 and Sheena Bora murder case etc. The story of the novel begins with an introduction of the trio of protagonists Amar, Akbar, and Anthony. The novel comments on an economy of India. In the beginning, the story glances at the 2010-11 Indian anti-corruption movement for Janlokpal bill under the leadership of the senior social activist Anna Hazare and Bharat Swabhiman Andolan to bring black money back in the leadership of Baba Ramdev. Akbar sarcastically questions on the paid honorary degrees and awards in exchange for a large donation. The book shows glimpses of Maharashtrian festivals, cultures, and traditions as well as delicacy and tourism of Gujarat. The book remarks at activities and agendas of regional political parties like MNS and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Anthony’s mom Emily D’Souza discloses a banana remedy as the first aid in an emergency of eye contact with Sulfur. Reiteration of the song “This is gonna be the best day of my life” inspires me to enjoy an every present day. The story remarks at how business tycoons like Raj and Suhas Pawar do believe in the lucky charm advised by babas and Pundits. The novel sarcastically mocks at pedestrians who only become viewer and make videos but don’t come forward for the help of injures in accidents.

The book talks about honest CAs. I would like to mention a
character Natwar Lakhotia’s quotation on black money-
“There is more black money in our country than we see trash and dirt on the streets of our country. We need to clean this country not only physically but also mentally and virtually.”
The book sarcastically doubts on the connection between government, businessmen, and corporate world. Namdev Yadav moronically comments at corrupt bureaucrats-
“Every government department in India is corrupt and has the worst bureaucracy.”
‘The Three Wise Monkeys’ guides you about offshore companies and their meaning and also how parent company and their subsidiary companies work? What does ‘bearer’ mean? How does black money turn into white? (No! The book doesn’t advice you to illegally convert your black money into white.) And how does money laundering happen? I wonder about author’s prediction at the implementation of Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) which has been recently announced after Rs 500 and Rs 1000 Indian banknotes demonetisation 2016 (after the publication of this novel) by the Finance ministry of India. Natwar Lakhotia, Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Department (a fictitious character) tells the figures of dishonest taxpayers,
“97% of our 1.21 billion populations do not pay taxes.”
He announces a whistleblower idea against black money holders.
Stuff found in Meghna’s handbag will make readers laugh out loud. I loved the narration of telephonic conversation between Akbar and Anthony in the background music of Kajrare and Ooh la la…! Telephonic conversation over conference call among Suhas (turned into Raj) Pawar, constable Keshav Kadam and ACP Kishan Kumar about Razz (a dog) is just outstanding!! Naresh Gowlikar’s English accent is full of fun and humor.
You might also like:

MINOR DRAWBACKS:
Weak Page Quality: Being a big 400 pages book I like it’s light weight, but I can’t appreciate the weak pages of the book.
Stretched story: I felt some chapters stretched. This book could have been narrated in maximum 350 pages.
There is a difference between the stuff Tom and Dick carry in the cover image and in a scene narrated before the climax.
Minor Typing Errors: ‘became, doesn’t and Dr Davendra Patel’ should be corrected as ‘become, don’t and Dr. Devendra Patel’ on page numbers 77, 82 and 273 respectively. A grammatically incorrect sentence of page 305 “Raj wore the Suhas’ white dress of Suhas” should be “Raj wore Suhas’ white dress” or “Raj wore the white dress of Suhas”.
I found few punctuation errors too.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
“The Three Wise Monkeys is indeed a masterpiece of knowledge with tadka of non-stop sarcasm, twists, suspense, thrills, goosebumps and of course the incredible sense of humour for everyone to know an unknown side of the banking sector, corporate world, black money, money laundering, taxation and the whole economy.” - Rajesh D. Hajare (RDH)
I would give 4.6 to the story and 0.15 extra for the amazing sense of humour of the author so “The Three Wise Monkeys” by Jeet Gian gets 4.75 on the scale of 5 stars.

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Review: Promise Me A Million Times

Promise Me A Million Times by Keshav Aneel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

#BookLysis of 'Promise Me A Million Times' (Book Review: 4.6/5*)

I don’t read already published reviews of the books which are added to my bookshelf. 'Promise Me A Million Times' was added to my bookshelf even a month before its launch. This book is an exception because one of my author friend and an avid commenter on my blog Mr. Pankaj Giri sir asked me to read his review of this novel. He is a consistent visitor and probably a first commenter of my reviews from so long, so I couldn’t deny his request. I read his blog post and I already got to know how interesting this book would be. I ordered the book from an online store Amazon at a very next moment, but delivery of this book was delayed to me due to some technical issue by local courier service office and continue holidays. In the process of an inquiry of my delayed product, I communicated with several customer care executives of related online store as well as courier service. I believe that “whatever happens, happens for the best.” (Jo bhi hota hain, achchhe ke liye hota hain). As a result of our communication; surprisingly, I got one very good friend Shammi Shahid who works in Amazon as a customer care executive.
Keshav Aneel’s debut novel, 'Promise Me A Million Times' is the third book published by Srishti Publishers which is being analyzed on my BookLysis. And I would like to proudly mention that the novel has already hit the Bestseller chart and around 2000 copies of this novel’s first edition have already been sold within the short span of two months.

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Review: Just the Way You Are

Just the Way You Are by Sanjeev Ranjan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just The Way You Are - Nonstop Humour & Satire! (#BookLysis 4.25/5)

Cover: Book cover of Just The Way You Are is really catchy. The cover itself gives a hint of a romance genre. A young couple’s image is captured on the book cover. Sky blue and the pink color combination looks really charming. Couple’s stuff like footwears, a ball, and a guitar can be seen beside girl’s right side. Vegetarian food like slices of watermelon, arranged in a neat order and cold drink/beer bottle inside the basket can be noticed beside boy’s left side. Green background of the cover resembles green grass in a lawn. How can I forget a smartphone and an earphone? So, this is not a sketch but a perfectly captured photograph by the big firm in photography ‘Images Bazaar’. Yes! Yes! Same ‘Images Bazaar' which is founded by the popular motivator Sandeep Maheshwari. Just The Way You Are is a romantic title. I would give 5 stars to 'Images bazaar' for the cover image and Tara Upadhyay for the cover design.

Themes: The novel Just The Way You Are is a romantic fiction based on love, humor, and satire.

Setting: The story of Just The Way You Are runs through different locations. Though Sameer’s (main protagonist) love story belongs to Delhi, the main story is set up in different locations of Delhi and Noida. The story also runs through Bhopal, Agra, Gurgaon, Patna in India, Bern in Switzerland. The story also travels to America. All the locations are described in detail so the reader feels like not only reading but also visiting that place in real.

Language and Writing style: Sanjeev Ranjan uses very simple language to narrate the story. The language is very lucid. The story helps me to add some new words in my vocabulary. The Author narrates the story in the first person through the character Sameer. He uses flashback technique. I like the phone conversation between Sameer and his mother which is narrated in a brilliant way. Sanjeev’s presence of mind while describing the story adds more humor to the scene. He uses fantastic satire to remark reader’s attention towards errors in the system and society.

Characters: Sameer is the protagonist and the narrator of the story. He leaves his girlfriend Shagun who luckily becomes his wife alone on their first wedding night. Shagun is the female protagonist of the story. Sameer’s mom Rekha is one of my favourite characters. Her innocence and funny English makes us laugh. She represents a typical mother. You relate yourself to your father while reading the sacrifices of Sameer’s dad in the sixth chapter. Further, there are so many notable characters like Sameer’s friends Rakesh, Gaurav, Sankalp, Satyan, Mayank and colleague Taufeeque, Kajal, Shweta and cab driver Vishu.

Plot: There are thirteen chapters divided into three parts. I like the drama on the first night of Sameer and Shagun’s marriage because that is portrayed beautifully. A scene in which Sameer compares two decades is fantabulous. I would like to note a quote in which Taufeeque tells Sameer that how girls end up a boy’s proposal, they say- “I have never thought about it. I thought we were friends. I consider you to be a very good friend of mine, you are such a nice guy and you will get a beautiful and nice girl.” An example of Rama hitting an arrow really inspires us to achieve our goal. Reference to other books is enough for readers to understand author’s knowledge in reading literature. Sameer indirectly appeals to donate to an orphanage; he says- “If you get some time, please visit an orphanage. When you look at the children there, your heart will be filled with an overwhelming sense of peace. You will wonder how life gives everything and will understand the art of appreciation better than before.”

Sameer comments on spam phone calls. Sameer’s dad points out the dark reality of corruption that how one needs to pay a bribe to officers for transferring a job. The book comments on girls’ makeup. Sameer indirectly remarks the reality that how conservative parents don’t appreciate and don’t accept inter-cast marriages of their sons and daughters.

Humor is the main aspect of this novel. In the beginning, funny pronunciations of English words by Sameer’s mom make us laugh out loud lol. Her diction like phoren (foreign), Amreeka (America) may seem like spelling mistakes, but those are intentionally misspelled by the author himself and he succeeded in creating humour from those funny pronunciations. A discussion about Delhi girls and special tips to impress sexy girls will make you go crazy. Sameer also comments on long queues in a humoric way. He indirectly comments on ladies’ show off. The first chapter is full of fun and humor.

After reading Sameer’s facebook status on his first Delhi visit, I remind my facebook status in my first Kota (Rajasthan) tour. I didn’t go to a parlour in metro-cities but Sameer’s experience in Anis Unisex Parlor Delhi felt me realistic. I relate myself with Sameer’s expectation from to be wife.

Like humor, satire is the soul of this novel. Author Sanjeev Ranjan or his characters don’t attack or criticize directly but they point out dark reality in the system and society through the combo of satire and humor. This novel also comments on security guards, south actors and ladies’ show off. Sameer comments on the day to day issue of the late arrival of Indian rail- “No train journey in India is fruitful until and unless it is late by a couple of hours. This is almost inevitable to mark as a subsidiary tribute to the legacy of Indian Railways, where time runs in a different dimension altogether.” He adds, “Nothing can ever be said absolutely about train journeys in India, at least until the train actually reaches the destination. Till then everything is musky.” The author doesn’t spare even a pillow in Indian rails from his satires. A scene inside the train is portrayed beautifully. Sameer’s satirical comments on arrange marriages are remarkable because of logic and reason. I would agree with Kajal’s statement that having a boyfriend (or girlfriend) is just a status symbol today.

Quotations:

“The one thing we can never get enough is love, and the one thing we never give enough is love.” – Henry Miller
“There is a great value in disaster because you can start all over again” – Thomas Edison
“I understood that whenever one faces a problem, one should look at the people who have lived a harder life than one and who have worked harder than one to get what one already has by luck and inheritance. And that will make one forget all of one’s problems.”
“Power of love is just the same as the power of innocence.”
“A relationship doesn’t work on candle light dinners but on trust, understanding and mutual affection.”
“I have always thought that a relationship requires care, patience, understandings and trust.”
“I understand that just like ‘these young people of today’ do not understand what elders say, ‘these grown-up parents’ will also not understand the logic of not wasting money on marriages.”
“Good boys get heaven and bad boys get women.”
“People who read, generally have a lot of time on their hands and they wouldn’t want to spend or waste time with a girlfriend doing all sort of thing.” (Correct in my case! razz)
Drawbacks:

Poor page quality
Italic fonts could have been used more properly.
Typing Errors: you (your), A (As), and Bhagnra (Bhangra) on page 18, 117 and 138 respectively. ‘you’ is missing in 2 interrogative sentences on page 55. ‘the’ and ‘that’ are repeated in a sentence on page 69 and 103 respectively. A punctuation mark (‘) is missing in the last line of the first paragraph on page 94. Closing inverted comma (’) is printed instead of beginning inverted comma (‘) on page 60.

A NOTE BY THE REVIEWER

"Just The Way You Are by Sanjeev Ranjan is a well-narrated novel. This novel keeps readers engaged with the plot and the story. This novel does not only make you laugh with its humor but also make you think on the dark reality in the system and society by criticizing with the use of satire.”

Rating: Just The Way You Are deserves 4/5 according to me, but I would give 0.25 as a bonus for the humor. So, I rate 4.25 on the scale of 5 stars to the novel Just The Way You Are. If you like humor, you must read this novel.

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Review: Life and Promises

Life and Promises by Ila Garg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

COVER AND TITLE:
Life & Promises is an attractive title. The novel has a beautiful cover with a lovely color combination. Heart (<3) on the head of ‘i’ in Life & Promises is like a cherry on the cake. Anniversary Edition tag tells specialty of the third edition within a year. Yes, you read it right 3 editions within 12 months. That’s why the novel is ‘A National Bestseller’.

LANGUAGE AND WRITING STYLE: Language of ‘Life & Promises’ is lucid. Italic fonts are used in a proper way. English synonyms are mentioned in a bracket next to several Hindi words. The introduction of several terms from the medical field like Renal Angiography/Angioplasty, nephrologist, urologist,haematologists, clotting disorder and PT-INR (Prothrombin Time) shows author’s knowledge and research for a perfect storyline. First person narrative conversation style and wonderful dialogues keep readers engaged with the storyline. Flashback technique is used gracefully. Some scenes are titled by place and date which make us feel like reading a diary.

UNIQUE FEATURES: - ‘Life & Promises’ contain beautiful poems by Rachna Sheth. Her poems perfectly suit in certain situations. I liked the poem ‘She said- I said’ in chapter 4. Hindi poem by Abhishek Atul comments on the irony of life in the epilogue.

CHARACTERS: 'Life & Promises’ is a beautiful piece of wonderful characterization. Sketches of all the three protagonists Rachit Aggarwal, Khushi Gupta and Radhika Banerjee are sketched beautifully. Sketches of major characters is another unique feature of this novel. I always see such kind of experiments in Gargi’s books.

SETTING: The plot of ‘Life & Promises’ is developed at Apollo Hospital, Delhi where Rachit narrates his story to Khushi. The storyline is developed into 3 major cities Delhi, Chennai (Tamilnadu), and Kolkata (West Bengal). Laxmi Nagar and Parathe wali gali in Delhi is portrayed beautifully. I felt like visiting the location live while reading few scenes. Description of IIT Madras and East Coast Road (ECR) is amazing. The introduction of Kolkata and Kalighat temple is described in brief, but helpful for those who haven’t heard or read about the temple.

PLOT AND STORYLINE: Life and Promises contain 16 chapters alongwithprologue and epilogue. I like a comparison between two different education systems in the second chapter. Rachit’s sarcastic comments are just brilliant. He comments on children’s fear or hesitation to talk about physical changes, sexual problems and symptoms of any decease with their parents. He beautifully demonstrates the beauty of Radhika in the fifth chapter. I loved the romantic scene between both of them. Rachit’s room in boy’s hostel represents a typical room of a college student and take readers back in those happy days of college life. Authors elegantly maintain the generation gap by referring the use of Bluetooth and Infrared for data sharing in the current generation of advanced data sharing applications. They remark on college students’ variety of passion and hobbies from different states. Jay satirically compares booking railway ticket with a war. A scene in which Rachit’s friends from different states debate to claim Rajinikanth ‘our’ superstar is just amazing. I got new information from Rachitthat “prepaid numbers don’t work in Kashmir.” Eighth chapter ‘Chak de! India’ take us into flashback and recollects memories of so many real incidents like Chak De! India movie in 2007 and T20 Cricket World Cup 2007.

In the second half, Rachit introduces a course of CA. His reference to Coaching classes in Kota reminds my recent trip to Kota. He describes coaching life of CA aspirant in detailed. I would like to quote his words which relate to me and every unemployed friend of to be an engineer- “The worst part is to see your engineer friends getting a job in the 7th semester, getting a promotion, increments, making foreign trips and finally getting married.” lol!! Rachit’s speech delivered to CA aspirants is truly motivational and inspires me a lot. Four examples of his inspiration show Rachit’spassion and authors’ knowledge about cricket.

Radhika’s letter sent to hospitalized Rachit is very emotional with Radhika’s sentiments and touches to reader’s heart. Her notes written in her personal diary literally brought tears to my eyes. Her diary relates my own diary and remembers memories of my someone closed which I am going to rewrite soon, if I found some traditional publisher of Marathi novels then you shall read my debut novel soon in coming years. Khushi indirectly appeals not to compare our failure with other’s success. She appeals sensitive people- “Don’t let your emotions overrule your decisions. Just give yourself some time, talk to yourself and relax your mind. Do what you like. Something that you love to do and it will act like a stress-buster.” She tells Rachit that what does inner happiness mean!

A MINOR TYPING ERROR: This is the second novel in last 20 books I have read as a book reviewer where I didn’t find major drawbacks. (Now you don’t start counting my mistakes in this review, you will be tired by counting lol!) This novel is almost error-free but the only exception is a minor typing error on page 64 (which I am highlighting with strikethrough effect in next sentence)- “Arrey,you will the get the answers to all of our questions there.” Of course, we can ignore this minor print error but I have pointed out here for the correction in the next edition of ‘Life & Promises’.

REVIEWER’S COMMENT:

“Life & Promises by Pulkit Gupta and Ila Garg keep readers engaged with so many twists and turns in the story. Second half of the novel gives you goose bumps. The love story of Rachit and Radhika make readers laugh and cry at the same time. Rachit’s deep observation and sarcastic comments make us think on crisis in our surround. Khushi’s positive attitude towards life motivates me a lot. I already have mucked every page of the novel as my favourite. ‘Life & Promises’ is added into my alltimefavourite list of the romance genre. I am glad to share that ‘Life and Promises’ is recently published in Hindi by Petals Publishers. I wish author and publisher a huge success for LNP’s Hindi edition ‘Khwaeshein’.”

RATING on BookLysis:This novel deserves one of the highest ratings in my BookLysis and I would rate Life & Promises 4.75 on the scale of 5 stars. This is the second highest rated book on BookLysis.

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Review: Ensnared

Ensnared by Prashant Wase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'ENSNARED' BY PRASHANT WASE- A FANTASTIC HORROR-THRILLER!! (RATING: 4.4/5*)

Hello friends, I am back with one more BookLysis. Guess the genre of the book I am going to review here. Guess… guess…! Don’t know? Okay, let me reveal the suspense. I am not good at keeping suspense anyway! So, I am reviewing the novel ‘Ensnared’ by Prashant Wase. ‘Ensnared’ is the horror- thriller published by Authors Ink India. After ‘ The Pocket Love Story’by Ajitabha Bose, this is the second title by the publisher which I am going to review here. After reading ‘Khel–The Writings’ by Vishal Goswami,Ensnared by Prashant Wase is the second horror – thriller I am analyzing here-

About the Author

Prashant Wase (born on 1st September 1985) is an aspiring Novelist from Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. His previous novel “ It’s Complicated- An Uncommon love story of a common man” was published in 2013 by “Notion Press”, the book received very good response overall. Apart from writing, he is fond of watching thriller/horror movies. He has completed his higher education from Melbourne, Australia.

Cover and Title:- The cover of Ensnared is very soft and smooth like gauze, if you finger on the cover, you feel like fingering on silk. Black background, black shadow, gray, blue and red color combination perfectly suits to the horror thriller. A shadow image of a witch girl in the mirror, a shadow image of an another witch on the front cover and a black cat on the back cover make readers understand all the themes of the novel. Ink Studio deserves full marks for perfect cover design. One word title ‘Ensnared’ seems interesting and relates to the genre and themes of the novel.

Language and writing style:- Author Prashant Wase uses very lucid language, which is really easy to comprehend each and every page of the novel. Hindi words are highlighted with the proper use of italic fonts. Author Prashant Wase uses the flashback technique and narrative style to scribble the story from protagonist Neil to listener Prashant himself. Author’s fast pace grows curiosity among readers for flipping pages and going through the climax.

Haunted Locations:- The conversation between Prashant and Neil starts in London. The author takes us to Rajasthan trip when Neil shares his experience with wife Divya in Jaisalmer, Jantar Mantar, and Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, Jaigarh fort and City Palace in Rajasthan. The story of Ensnared runs through several cities like Lokhandwala (Mumbai), Pune, Kolhapur and Konkan in Maharashtra. The author beautifully portrays the background scene of Konkan, so readers feel like being on a Konkan tour. There are some glances of Maharashtra-Goa border and Gandhinagar (Gujarat) as well.

Themes:- The novel Ensnared by Prashant Wase covers various themes like friendship, love, betrayal, crime, superstition, invisible negative power, psychology, science, thrill, and horror.

Characterization:- Author Prashant Wase introduces each and every character pretty well. I figured out 13 characters in the first half and 24 characters in the second half. So I can count 37 characters in the novel. However, I have ignored some very minor characters. It seems that author has portrayed each and every character keeping a presence in mind. He correctly scribbles Bengali accent in the name of Bengali character Pronita.

A businessman Neil Mehta is the protagonist in the novel. He shares the story of past life’s strange happening around him and his wife Divya with his friend author Prashant Wase in the novel.

There are so many other characters in the novel, but if you want to meet them, you will have to be ensnared in their trap like me. HaHaHa! (This isn’t a smiley smile , this is witch’s laugh evil ).

Plot:- Ensnared’s plot is constructed into two halves (Part I and Part II) like a film script. Part I contains 14 short chapters scribbled in 49 pages meanwhile Part II contains 9 long chapters (compare to the part-I) in 68 pages. Like a Bollywood movie, both parts are separated with ‘INTERMISSION’ page which makes the book more interesting and somewhat unique.

Author Prashant Wase’s beginning of ‘Prologue’ reminds me the prologue of a national bestseller ‘ The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ by Chetan Bhagat where protagonist Govind asks an author to scribble his story in the next novel. However, I don’t intend here to compare both authors. Please don’t get my observation in a wrong way. The conversation between Prashant and Neil makes us believe that Neil’s story might be true.

The novel ‘Ensnared’ points out superstitions like Aghori Vidya (black magic) by Aghori Sadhus. The novel reveals the difference between Traditional-Tantra and Neo-Tantra- “In Traditional Tantra the guru is the ultimate authority and is treated with utmost respect. In Neo-Tantra utmost importance is given to sex.” A character Ramlal explains Neo-Tantra- “Neo-Tantra brings sex into the light, making the practitioner more sexually aware. It gives you the opportunity to expand your limits of pleasure, to try new positions and techniques, and to delve deeper into intimacy. It helps you to have better, fuller orgasm and deeper, more meaningful communication in the bedroom. By bettering the quality of your intimate relationships, you better yourself, your partner, and those around you. Not to mention, every aspect of your life is bound to benefit when you achieve a great sense of peace, balance, and harmony with the world.”

In the prologue, author sarcastically comments on the same negative news of politics, accidents, and corruption in newspapers. I would like to note a quote by Pronita, “People (with negative energy) don’t love anyone. They desire lust and sex and when they cannot achieve this on their own, they transfer their negative energy in doing wicked spells, curses or even black magic.” Protagonist Neil remarks the serious reality in India that how bribe stops legal procedures. Inspector Prabhakar’s assistant police Vijay ironically comments on the dark reality of average salaried policeman (any government servant’s) financial crisis, “An average salaried policeman doesn’t have enough money to save his wife from cancer. We are saviors for others, but we can’t save the people who belong to us.”

Protagonist Neil warns readers that how the first attempt of smoke for fun turns into a bad habit, it means he indirectly message readers not to smoke. When Neil takes an appointment with a psychiatrist for his wife Divya, he indirectly appeals people not to ignore the abnormal behavior of their loved ones and to consult a psychiatrist for patient’s better mental health. I would like to mention the quote of tarot card reader Pronita here where she tells the importance of laughter therapy, “Laughter really is the best medicine because you can use it quite effectively against any type of curse. When you feel the effects of the curse around you, think of something funny and laugh. Focus entirely on a funny video or book and see how it makes you feel.”

I felt Goosebumps and thrill while reading brutality in chapter 13. The first part ends with a hint of something unexpected, unpredictable and more deadly incidents in Divya and Neil’s future life. Neil, Divya, and their friends experience after being trapped/ensnared by Chhalava in a jungle in the dead of the night really entertains me! Unpredictable climax thrills us with so many shocks when suspense gets reveals in an unpredictable way with more twists and turns.

Quote:- “We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. We don’t value what god has given us. This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness. Learn to be happy in what you have instead of looking at what you don’t have. There will always be someone who will have more or less than you have. Person who is satisfied with what he/she has, is the happiest person in the world.”- Prashant Wase

Minor Drawbacks:-
1.Typing Errors:- Prashant is misprinted instead of Neil in the last paragraph on page no.2 but is was corrected by pen (in handwriting) in my review copy from the author. But your copy may have this error as it is. Neil is misspelled as Neal on page no. 46 and 47. A Comma is missing in the last line of page 51. Poorab’s character is spelled as Purab as well as Poorab, though both are correct; I think anyone spelling had to be continued because two different spellings confuse readers to think both are different characters with the same name. An author uses doctor’s abbreviation doc., I know it is correct but I believe that abbreviations should have been avoided in the piece of literature.
2.Binding of the book could have been better because current binding seems cheap a bit.

Blurb of Ensnared:-

Neil and Divya are the perfect couple with a perfect life until they are not. They fall prey to strange happenings around them. It doesn’t just stop there; along with them, their family and friends experience the unspeakable. What is the secret behind their tragic fates? Will they survive this haunting?

Prepare to taste the dark side of Tantra and find out the answers for yourself. Feel the chill for yourself. Get ensnared.

Reviewer’s opinion:-

“Ensnared is the fantastic horror-thriller which shocks readers with non-stop twists, turns, thrills and suspense. The novel haunts readers and sometimes make them feel goosebumps with horror. As the protagonist, Neil says to Prashant, “To make a film we need a perfect script.” I would like to note that, “Without any doubt, this is indeed a readymade script of to be a blockbuster movie.” This book is a perfect entertainment piece for the lovers of horror. If you are interested in haunting yourself with entertainment, you must read Ensnared by Prashant Wase. I would rate this novel 4.4/5*.”

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Review: Yama

Yama by Kevin Missal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Review of Yama by Kevin Missal; A perfect mythological thriller (Rating: 4*/5)

I have finished reading the second book published by 'Half Baked Beans' publishing. The first book was ' A Minute To Death' by Ganga Bharani and today, I am going to analyze another book titled ‘YAMA’ by Kevin Missal. Co-incidence about both the books is both titles belong to a thriller.

BookLysis of YAMA by Kevin Missal

Cover and Title:-
YAMA is a familiar name from Hindu mythology so the title seems devotional as well as mysterious. Book cover of the novel looks attractive and grows curiosity among readers to pick the book. One can notice the huge portrait of a dark man with red eye. Blood spots can be noticed on the body of huge portrait and horns can be seen behind the huge portrait, so the portrait looks like a replica or imagery of Yama (God of Death). On the bottom of front cover; shadow image of a human being is portrayed who represents the protagonist. On the background; moon and shadow image of trees represents the night scene. Picture of buildings having big towers and street-lamps represent any metro city. Assassinated dead body’s blood can be noticed on the road. Overall Yama has a beautiful book cover designed by Manoj Nath, which hints towards the thriller.

Setting:- The story of YAMA runs around several locations like Gurgaon, Noida, Delhi, and Mumbai. The story has a background set in Srinagar. The whole story runs to find the Hell (Narak) for victim’s sins.

Language and Writing Style:- The language of YAMA is lucid. Italic fonts are used to highlight few Hindi words like Narak, suhaagraat, dahej and lafanga etc. But I feel that italic fonts could have been used better. I felt the font size small a bit. Author Kevin Missal uses some uncommon words which confused me as typos but later added to my vocabulary. He scribbles all characters’ proper movements. Few scenes are portrayed gracefully. Kevin uses a narrative technique to scribble the story into past tense. The author uses some phrases like ‘coos of pigeons’ and ‘hoots of the owl’. Another phrase ‘silent crier’ reminds me and accurately suits to my own character (Hehehe!).

Characters:- There are three protagonists, five victims and more than eight minor characters in the novel.
1.Yama:- There are 2 character sketches of the character YAMA. Yama is referred as the God of Death according to Hindu mythology. But here in the novel, Yama plays a character of a violent saint who is a suspected psychopath. He treats himself a messiah entitled to kill sinners, bad persons, and criminals. His character commemorates me the protagonist Shahenshah (Amitabh Bachchan) and Gabbar (Akshay Kumar) from Bollywood movies ‘Shahenshah’ and ‘Gabbar Is Back’ respectively. I don’t claim that it is copied, but I felt Yama’s philosophy of punishment inspired from the protagonist Anniyan (Vikram) in Tamil psychological thriller movie ‘Anniyan’ which was further dubbed and released as ‘Aparichit’ in Hindi.
2.Iravan Rajput: Iravan Rajput is a second protagonist in the novel who plays a character of a delusional hero. He belongs to an Ex-Black Cat Commando (Fauji). He receives a time frame with the name of Yama’s targets to find their sins and save them from Yama’s punishments.
3.Swati Kaushik:- Author portrays Swati’s character as a widow and an ambitious news reporter.

Plot:- The story and plot of YAMA are constructed into 90 (actually 87) short chapters in 167 pages.
Chapter one begins with a familiar portrayal of the God of Death YAMA. Author gracefully describes Iravan’s psychotherapy session by psychiatrist Dr. Tapaswa Gandhi. Iravan also mentions his wife Rutvi Rajpoot’s disease schizophrenia. The author describes the shootout scene in brief which could have more thriller. The author portrays some crime scenes which seems familiar as we watch and experience daily in crime shows on a television set. A serial killer Raghu (Psycho) Yadav’s entry thrills reader in the fourteenth chapter. I like the conversation between Iravan and his nephew Vardhaan Sippy where Vardhaan asks his uncle Iravan to ask him a ‘right’ question. Journalist Swati’s interrogation by ACP Surya seems realistic. Dr. Tapaswa Gandhi tells different psychology disease like schizophrenia, bipolar, depression and the usual sort to Swati Kaushik. Swati’s interaction with a patient of depression named Samar Anand in Dr. Tapaswa Gandhi’s clinic seems interesting.

Social Plot: Author negatively refers ‘letters’ as an outdated service in the current era of an advanced technology. I agree that postal service is being used on rare occasions these days. But I personally think that Indian postal service needs to be promoted by authors in their literature instead of such negative comments to save this oldest telecommunication service in the period of an advanced technology. A character Tapaswa Gandhi comments on the people’s mindset and a reality of bribe in India- “People want to get rid of the bribing thing in this country, but when it comes to their getting favors they always want to hop back”. The author also refers ‘Gulabi Gang’ in the book. Author gives indirect message not to believe in superstitions and explains the scientific reason of one act- “Its science. The killer made invisible ink with the help of lemon and water. You can make your message invisible by just writing it with the cotton bud that was dipped in the mixture of water and lemon. Lemon is an organic substance that oxidizes and turns brown when heated but when it is dipped in water, it changes its rhythm.” Author comments on Indian Army (faujis’) aloofness from their family for a long time. A bit negative picture of a soldier doesn’t feel fair to me. Author comments on corruption in the government system. Swati’s offer to her friend Arjun to spend a night together being a media person seems controversial. I saw some controversial statements in the novel. Thank God! That authors do not need a censor certificate like movies from censor board of India; otherwise, many controversial scenes would have been suggested to cut like Anurag Kashyap’s movie Udta Punjab! LOL! Jokes a part! The author remarks to the fact that how hooligans, criminals, and addicts can be seen behind schools, colleges, factories and other desolate areas. I like a conversation between Tara Rajpoot and her father Iravan Rajpoot where she gets angry for offering dowry to her to be in-laws by her father. I think girls and women need to raise a voice against dowry in practical life. Tara and Iravan’s another conversation says a lot about a negative impact of parents’ (father’s) absence/ignorance in children’s (daughter’s) life.

Author comments on escort’s financial crisis and unwanted need to do such disrespected business. A character Pinky narrates about a physical torture of prostitutes. Though the narration is a hyperbole, reality is not very good. Kabeer’s description of Kotha (bordello’s) scenario seems realistic. I never visited such places, and I am sure that many of you wouldn’t have gone there. So you must read the description. I felt the scenario real because although I haven’t experienced, I have passed through red light areas so many times by bus and sometimes on my foot in Itwari, Nagpur. Hence I have sensed the wretched reality of prostitutes in bordellos.

Author Kevin Missal elegantly refers real two incidents like 2012 brutal Delhi gang rape case; he also remarks an impact of Gujarat riots. Author also scribbles few sarcastic comments through characters in the novel. ACP Surya’s comments on journalists is an ironic reality in India. Author comments on a charlatan like a character Guru Shiv. He also comments on politicians and police for protecting charlatans and hypocrisy. Yama’s quotation from the novel- “I don’t blame the authorities. There will be a day when our authorities will be righteous enough to punish criminals rather than freeing them. But for now, my authority is the supreme authority.” is a satire on the judicial system in India. The author gives an indirect message that a human being does not entitle to kill another human being, it doesn’t matter that how bad circumstance is because a human being can not be a God of Death YAMA. He informs that “knowing about the murders and not reporting them is also a crime.”

Mythological Plot: It seems that author Kevin Missal has researched a lot about different and primarily Hindu mythology. He narrates the philosophy of ‘hell’ according to Christianity mythology- “There are too many mythologies consisting different hells, especially Christianity. In ‘Dante’s Inferno’, it is said there were nine hells and in the end, there’s the devil. Every hell consisted of a certain punishment to a certain sinner.” Chapter Seventeen make bore in the beginning but turns interesting when ‘hell’ is defined from ‘ Percy Jackson’- “Hell is derived from the word helle. Every culture, a mythology has an overload, like for instance the one who holds it tightly. In Greek mythology, the hell is known as Tartarus… and it’s controlled by Hades.” “There’s Nergal in Mesopotamian mythology. In Norse, hel is a being who presides over hel. Osiris in Egyptian mythology.” The author defines sins- “Sins are the bad deeds we perform, and every sin has a punishment.” The author introduces Yama (The God of Death)- “Like every mythology, we (Hindu Mythology) also have one. He’s called Yama. He has a lot of Yamdoots, as well, who are his messengers. His hell is known as Narak.” Author Kevin Missal scribbles about different hells described in various scriptures from Hindu Mythology. “In Agni Purana, it mentions four hells. In Manusmriti, its twenty one hells. And in Bhagvat Gita, it has twenty eight hells.” He defines a hell ‘Tamisra’- “Tamisra. It’s a hell for those who grab another’s wealth, wife and children.” In Chapter twenty-three, author writes- “PRANARODHA- Wanton killing of animals. Yama play plays archery sport with this sinner.” Author clears the confusion between Maharaurava and Sarameyadana- “Maharaurava was for the sinner, who inflicted pain on others. And Sarameyadana was for the sinner, who used his wealth and pride for wrong reasons; you know to plunge other people in fires and destruction. Now, Maharaurava hell with sinners will be eaten by ferocious animals called Rurus and Sarameyadana with seven hundred and twenty ferocious dogs, the sons of Sarama, will eat his flesh.” The author defines ‘Andhakupa’ and ‘Ayahpana’ - “Andhakupa is the hell where such people are attacked by birds and insects and all sorts of reptiles.” And “Ayahpana is a narak where alcoholics go, the ones who give up everything to nasha.” He also tells about one more hell-“Asipatravana is a hell reserved for a person who digresses from the religious teachings of the Vedas and practices heresy.”

Drawbacks in the novel:
1.Missing 3 chapters: There are total 90 chapters in the book. Though the 90 is too much, I don’t mean that a book can not have chapters in such large numbers. But the drawback in those 90 chapters is, 3 chapters (chapter 58, 65 and 77) are missing in the book. When I checked missing pages, I found correct page numbers; which clears that there are only 87 chapters in the book, but editors have mistaken in typing chapters according to their correct order. You may call it a minor print mistake, but it is a major drawback in my opinion because this mistake is repeated 3 times and it is about chapter’s title.
2.Typing Errors: I found minor typos which had to be corrected as mentioned in the bracket- I (It), ram (ran) and Sanjavan (Sanjayvan) on page numbers 21, 22, and 60. I found some punctuation marks missing in the novel.

About the Author

Kevin Solomon Missal is studying History Hon. In St. Stephen’s College. He loves to write plays, books, reviews, watch television shows, classic movies and has a knack for thrillers. He has written two books (Damien Black- The battle of Lost Ages and Unlocked), with the second one(Unlocked), being number one best seller on Amazon Christian Fiction.

Blurb

What will you do if you have 24 hours to save someone?
A VIOLENT SAINT…
A man who claims he is Yama, is punishing sinners by killing them according to the twenty eight hells described in the Bhagavat Gita. Who is he? What does he want? Is he a vigilante or a psychopath?
A DELUSIONAL HERO…
Iravan Rajpoot, an Ex-Black Cat Commando with a dark past is receiving letters with names and time limits. It’s no sooner that he learns about the intended victims than they die within the mentioned time frame
AN AMBITIOUS REPORTER
Swati Kaushik, a widow and a woman who can do anything for success, must team up with Iravan to stop the god of Death and Justice

Reviewer’s Verdict:

“The novel Yama by Kevin Missal keeps readers engaged until the end with a lot of twists and turns which surprise and sometimes shock readers. Short chapters and author’s fast pace of narration maintains the curiosity to flip pages and finish the book in one seating, so a reader doesn’t wish to put the book down. Overall, Yama by Kevin Missal is the well-researched mythological thriller filled with action and a lot of suspense until the climax. I would recommend this book to all history and mythology lovers. I would rate the novel Yama by Kevin Missal 4 out of 5 stars.”

Title: YAMA
Author: Kevin Missal
Publisher: Chetan Soni (Half Baked Beans Literature Publishing)
First published by Half Baked Beans in 2016
Copyright © Kevin Missal 2016
Cover Design: Manoj Nath
Language: English
Typeset in Utopia 9.50 pt at De Unique
Binding: Paperback (in India by De Unique)
Genre: Fiction (Thriller)
ISBN: 978-93-84315-245
ASIN: B01C2YB5SW
Pages: 182 (including cover)
Price: Rs. 175
My rating: 4*/5
Reviewed by: ©Rajesh D. Hajare (RDH)
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