The Golden Temple by Raj Kiran Atagaraha (Book Review: 3.5*/5) !!!

 

18^th Book of 2021

 

As all of you must have noticed in my reviews and posts since the lockdown has begun that most of them are religion or spirituality-oriented stuffs. I suddenly realized the power in the message that the religious texts provide us when I started reading them. Only through that, I was able to get into spirituality deeper and understand the meaning behind it. It was always an aspiration to know everything I can about my religion i.e. Sanatan Dharma or Hinduism and then gradually move towards other religions too and know about the messaging in them.

 

Sikhism is one such religion I have always wanted to read and know about. This happened after I saw an interview of Taapsee Pannu in which she mentioned that this is one of the most modern religion to be found which incorporates the good philosophy taken from other religions too. Knowing about the open-mindedness in the foundation of Sikhism, I got little intrigued about it and who knew that rather than I going towards it, a book on Sikhism will itself come to me by chance. I am talking about the book named “The Golden Temple” written by Raj Kiran Atagaraha. The cover page has a very beautiful picture of the very famous- The Golden Temple from Amritsar. The book is of around 130-odd pages which has been published by Bigfoot Publications and can be completed within a half day itself.

 

Talking about the writing style of the author, I must say that he has ensured that everyone who has even begun reading even if they are in school can find reading this one easy. On Amazon, you will find the reading group of this book as 12 years old + and it is written exactly like that. It is a very light read and meant for beginners as well as people who would like to know about Sikhism and the philosophies behind it. I am glad that author didn’t focus only on the love story of Raj and Geet but very intelligently, embeds the religion and its multiple references into the story. I can say that the love story isn’t very unique but the way author brings his emotions towards a sacred place and how it can change someone’s outlook towards life and future plays a big role in making this book find a special place in your large bookshelf.

 

The main focus of the book is solely on the two main protagonists who are going through a phase of getting closer to each other but get separated suddenly only to bring them back together for a bigger purpose. The characterization of both of them is fine where you are able to understand their personalities. The conversations between them derive the pleasure they experience when they are able to communicate with each other and also the excitement of how it will take their relationship ahead in the future. The teenagers will love reading this part. I remembered the chic-lit books I enjoyed reading when I got into reading a decade back through this love story – as even I was in college then and had crushes over beautiful girls in my campus. Haha!

 

I liked how author inserted the information and details about Golden Temple in the book as it didn’t sound like a Wikipedia page but exactly as to how a person would tell about this beautiful religious place to another person. The innocence and devotion of the author towards the temple is evident in each and every sentence which speaks about the temple. Later, in the 2^nd half of the book, I liked the detailing mentioned by the author about all the Gurus who kept making effort in making Sikhism a religion which ends up teaching only love, forgiveness, goodwill, truth, compassion, contentment, humility and other good qualities to the human beings. Raj also elaborates on the lifestyle changes a person who calls himself a Sikh should follow which can lead the person towards attaining salvation and unite with God.

 

Author discusses many terms of Sikhism such as langar, Ardas, Sevak, Ik-Onkar, Mool-mantra, Khalsa-Panth, Parikarma, Gurbani, Anand Karaj etc. This really helped me understand the basic concepts of Sikhism very well and it has made me enough confident of entering any Gurudwara in future and communicating with all my Sikh brothers. I have generally read books on religion either in non-fiction format or in fictional format which enhances one of the major characters of the religion. This is the first time when I have read a book that talks about a religion embedded into a love story. So, kudos to the author for taking this approach to talk about his love and devotion towards Sikhism. I also liked how author covered the controversial aspects related to the Golden Temple in the story which is very necessary to understand the angst some people in Sikh community has towards other religion.

 

Now, talking about the drawbacks, I must say that there are certain grammatical errors in the book which I believe can be corrected in the next editions. Secondly, the Sikh terms used in the book are marked in italic- author could have also mentioned all of them in a glossary either in the beginning or the end of the book along with its meaning for the readers to go through it at any time. Thirdly, the blooming love between both the characters is written in quite a plain manner whereas author could have done a lot of things with it considering the inter-caste/religion marriage angle in the story. Lastly, I believe – author couldn’t bond both the plots – love and religion strongly with each other. He either talks about religion or the love angle at one point of time. This could have been handled in such a way that both the thing could have sounded like a single story itself and not two separate plots.

 

Overall, this is a light read which will satisfy even the romance lovers and the people like me who loves to read about religion, spirituality and philosophy. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

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NIGHTWATCHMAN PVT LTD by Naveen Kundra (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

 

17^th Book of 2021

 

When someone says “What can be more real than fiction?”, I totally agree with it. An author has all the creative liberty and freedom to explore the current surrounding in his fictional story in a way that the readers reading it understand that this is being referred to what they are experiencing every day. A non-fiction writer always has to twist and turn their words to protect the dignity of the place or people they are talking about. Whenever I read any fiction book which has such great elements into it which relates with what people around me and I are already suffering or living, I just wish to spread the words to as many people as possible to let them know about the book and author.

 

Here, I am referring to the latest book I have completed last night- “NIGHTWATCHMAN PVT LTD” written by the debutante author, Naveen Kundra. The book is published by Notion Press in around 420 pages. Frankly speaking, when I had seen the cover page and the title of the book, I didn’t expect much but what made me started was the synopsis of the book. As soon as the story begins, it just pulls you in. Even if it can’t be called a thriller, it is no less than that. It is a perfect page turner as you just want to know what is going to happen ahead as all looks smooth at the moment. Because author has written this in a simultaneous format where we are being narrated two different timelines, where the earlier one is the basic plot, we just want to know how our protagonist got in a scoop in the future timeline.

 

The writing style of Naveen is as good as any prominent fiction writers’ in India who write in the same genre. He knows how to narrate an incident. He keeps few of them sometimes limited to a paragraph or two whereas some of them have a chapter dedicated to them. Naveen knows how to use story elements very sharply as his plot doesn’t have only one narrative and thought-process to it. It consists of so many factors that one needs extreme level of research and intriguing observation that when you write it, a person reading thinks that this has always been around you but how couldn’t you focus upon it before reading it in the book.

 

Naveen has used many social and political concerns in his book in a light story format but it talks about our contemporary issues. The protagonist has come from a small place to this very big state for a job which can take him places. His parents have always compared him to his peers which made him feel inferior. After working for some time, like every small-town boy, he dreams of creating his own product and becoming an entrepreneur. Then the book talks about the kind of obstacles and challenges a person faces when he gets into entrepreneurship. The author also takes up the topic of how the big sharks in the market try to wipe you out completely from your business through various demeaning tactics and how it impacts one’s personal as well as professional life.

 

Kundra has also not shied away from introducing us to the internal politics in the Police department and how every officer is different from each other but have to keep their personality squeezed due to the pressure from top orders. Also, how a department like Police which is responsible for Law and Order in the state are continuously manipulated by the State Government is administered in the 2^nd half of the book. The plot of the book corelates with our current Covid situation also at some or the other level and you can understand how internal blame game takes place due to which public suffers. Author has been sarcastic and humorous at several points which really makes you appreciate his witty side and keeps the book entertaining.

 

The writing approach of Naveen is really distinct where he first mentions any character as if it’s just another supporting character but after some time when the story becomes interesting, author makes it more captivating by taking us to their back story and their relationship with the protagonist. It really becomes interesting to read the story for next few pages after that until which we are again taken to another character’s past. This cycle becomes so addictive that you wish the book keeps going further in the same spiral model.

 

Along with a story which is purely based on entrepreneurship and its challenges, I really liked how author was able to embed romance, love, sex and all these delightful light moments in the book in the required quantity to not make it a very complicated read for the readers who don’t prefer it but kept it compatible for all. While reading, I could easily visualize whole story in a very entertaining masala pot-boiler Bollywood movie. This book has all the ingredients to be made in a very popular big-screen film; I just wish that it reaches up to that level.

 

Now talking about few drawbacks, the book has lot of typos and spelling mistakes due to bad proofreading. When you make so much effort in writing such a difficult book, such things need to be taken care of. It just spoils the reading experience. Secondly, author has mentioned spoofy names of some real locations in the book. I believe that if the author would have based his book with real places’ names, it would have made the people relate and enjoy it more as currently, it feels as if author is trying to make fun of things rather than being serious about his own story. Thirdly, the book is of around 420 pages which I believe could have been easily of less than 350 pages. The story really gets slow in the 2^nd half and I wish author could have kept it crisper.

 

Overall, this book is a very entertaining stuff which will compel you to complete it in just one sitting irrespective of its length. When a book has such power, I think author has won his efforts of multiple sleepless nights. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

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Of Epilepsy Butterflies: Flying beyond stigmas by Preeti Singh (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

 

16^th Book of 2021

 

It is always a pleasure getting back to reading an author whom you had read many years ago. I am talking about Preeti Singh here. I had read her first book in 2012 named “Flirting with Fate” when I was really very new to the reading world. I had liked that book and given it a good rating of 4 out of 5. It has taken almost 9 years that I have again got a chance of reading her latest work named “Of Epilepsy Butterflies” which also comes with a tagline that says “Flying beyond stigmas”. This is an anthology-kind of a book which has been compiled very nicely by the authoress. The book is written with a very good purpose of giving motivation to the people who are affected by epilepsy and guiding others to not treat PWE (people with epilepsy) as criminals or untouchables. The book tries its best to break this stigma and taboo from the society.

 

To make it easier for everyone to understand, epilepsy is popularly known as “mirgi” or “mirgi ke daure” in India. Personally, I have never encountered any PWE in my life hence I didn’t know the problems they have to suffer themselves as well as the situations their family members have to go through because of societal approach towards them when they come to know about such patients. Whenever there is any seizure attack that happens in a public place, the person is seen differently. People start distancing themselves from the person and almost boycott him/her. Reading about such stories in this book made my heart felt so weak and exploited that even when I don’t suffer from it or don’t have anyone in my family, I could still feel the plight of the people who go through it.

 

Preeti Singh, the authoress, is herself a PWE and has been suffering the disease since she was 2 years old. She has seen enough in her life because of the continuous seizure attacks she has been getting since then. She has been very good in letting us understand through her personal account in one of the chapters in detail about what she went through at every stage of her life. Her note was so horrific to read that I couldn’t comprehend what goes in people’s mind to think ugly for a girl/woman suffering from PWE that they go further to physically abuse and molest her. She also tells how her beautiful marriage failed just for this reason as her in-laws couldn’t accept this daily trouble. Her challenge in school, college, office, relationships, pregnancy etc. makes us understand that how less educated we are about epilepsy and the people who go through it.

 

This anthology includes many personal accounts of people suffering with PWE and how they conquered it without losing themselves and their willpower with the challenges and obstacles that comes up with this disease. Ketaki Chitale, the actress, tells us how doctors misguided her which took her 19 years to accept her condition. Jitendra Gunti's story is one of the most effective accounts on how he suffered in school due to his seizure attacks and still being a good student, he ended up failing regularly till his Master's course. I liked how spirituality helped him accept his situation. But reading about how an NGO expelled him for being PWE was really heart-breaking to read.

 

Harsheen, Preeti Singh’s daughter’s version-  of how the authoress used to get seizure attacks during sleep sounds so scary but the way she handled it knowing that epilepsy needs to be dealt calmly tells us about the bravery of PWE’s family members even when they are a child themselves who needs to be taken care of. All the other accounts are equally impactful and leaves a mark in your thought process for the kind of life a PWE expects to live and the expectations they have from us of nothing but support and acceptance.

 

It also has few poems and I must tell you, it has really surprised me. Why? It was such a big realization to understand that PWE is such a big thing for few people that they went ahead and wrote something with all their heart in the form of poems. Whenever any person – artistic or non-artistic – thinks of creating any poem or poetry in their mind – it is only because of something that has hit them hard and they have a touchy way of expressing themselves through rhyming sentences in few words. This tells us how lonely PWEs get that they end up writing about their condition and silently asking Universe to do something for them so that they can stand again on their feet without any seizure attacks and move ahead in life like everyone else. All the poems in this book are of very high quality and it has amazed me because most of them are written by non-writers.

 

In the last 2/3^rd part of the book, we get to see the creative side of Preeti Singh as she has written several short stories based on the subject of epilepsy itself. I was very sceptic about them in the beginning because after reading the personal accounts of real people, I thought what difference these short stories will make in the end. But while reading them I realized author wanted to make us understand how the conversations happen with PWEs when they talk to their family members or doctors or people they are trying to make understand about their situation for acceptance etc. And it has been conveyed appreciably as I was able to comprehend the mindset of the protagonists in all the stories. Most of the stories talk about how finding a partner becomes difficult for PWEs and even if they get one, how their marriage suffers some or the other way because of their regular worsening situations. All the stories let us know how the wish to get an understanding and supporting partner becomes a painful prayer for the PWEs.

 

Overall, this book is a very nice attempt in educating all of us about what epilepsy is and how their patients’ needs to be taken care of. Before this book, I knew nothing about this subject but now I know so much. I have got acquainted with so many terms like PWE, AED, EEG test, seizure attacks, SUDEP, Purple Day etc. which makes me little more confident that whenever I’ll find any epilepsy patient in my life, I would be able to help them better rather than getting scared of their fits and attacks. Preeti Singh’s efforts are really commendable in getting in touch with such inspirational PWEs and compiling such inspiring and transforming stories. Even a person like me who is away from epilepsy got so much motivation from them to lead my life courageously irrespective of whatever situations I may face in life. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5 and recommend it to everyone.

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Sita: Now you know me by Sini Panicker (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

 

15^th Book of 2021

 

I am a big fan of our ancient history- you talk of Ramayan or Mahabharat, I just love reading about them as many times as possible. I just can’t get bored of them at all. And if I have to choose from both of them, I always prefer Ramayan because of my devotion towards Lord Ram. I just can’t get enough of his tales and righteousness. Most books that I have read till now have always concentrated on Shri Ram except one written by Amish which was based on life of Sita Mata – which is the 2^nd book in his The Ram Chandra series. But because that story was more of a fiction than reality, I didn’t enjoy it a bit but the book I just completed reading has made me so close to the character of Sita Mata that every time I’ll hear her name, I am going to feel pain as I do when I hear the name of Ram who had to go through so much in their life.

 

“Sita: Now you know me” written by the debutante authoress, Sini Panicker, in around 334 pages is published by Rupa publications. The approach of Sini has been evident right from the 1^st chapter that the book is solely going to be about Sita from Ramayan and no one else. I must applaud author the way she has been able to keep the focus on her character in spite of having Ram so closely associated with her. I always feel that you can’t write any book on Ramayan without basing it equally on both the characters but the way Panicker has managed the same is commendable.

 

The writing style of Sini is very simple and straightforward. In spite of having good command on the language, the way she manages to keep her sentences and philosophies easy to understand throughout the book is appreciable. Anyone who is a starter will also find going through this book and story easy and smooth. It is very necessary to write about the tales of Ramayan and Mahabharat in easy language as our current generation is less aware about our culture and they should feel motivated to pick up such books. Author’s intention is very clear about the same.

 

I would also like to mention another good quality about Sini- her research. Yes! The way she has written the whole story from Sita’s perspective, it needs a lot of information because most of the books talk mostly about Ayodhya and Ram. Hence, what was Sita going through in her childhood and what she must have felt with so much happening in their life is very hard to know through the available texts. Also, author has not based the whole story only on one version of Ramayan but multiple of them. You will disagree with her on many events that this is wrongly told but it is because we are familiar with only one or two Ramayan versions. Hence, it might seem wrong at places but it opens our perspective on other ways for telling of Ramayan too.

 

The book might sound stretchy with its 334 pages but let me tell you, author has been very specific about what she wants to tell. She has not wasted any of our time in useless descriptions or unwanted specifications. We are just taken as deep as possible into her mind and heart which makes us become one with Sita. We are told about how strong she used to be in her childhood that her father had decided to make her the ruler of Mithila but as soon as her marriage got in between, the way her life transformed where she had to make unlimited number of compromises which kept on messing up with her dreams, ambitions and will.

 

Later, in the book, we get to know about her sufferings during the exile with Ram and Lakshman and later, alone at the Valmiki’s ashram pregnant with her twins. I will not lie but I must have cried 100 of times while reading this book; and I have never cried so much while reading any book ever. The way Sita carries herself in Ravan’s abduction is something very painful to read but you get to understand the strength she had within her to fight against such a powerful and ferocious king like Ravan. Another mention I would like to mention about how author has been able to make us understand about other characters also in limited words that we don’t find them a complete stranger but understand their back stories too.

 

There are many events where Sita’s small and big sacrifices are discussed which makes us understand how she has been treated as a shadow whenever Ramayan comes into the picture. The book becomes more powerful in its last 2/3^rd part where the story starts coming to the closure. After completing the book and revisiting everything I went through in the book while writing summary in my journal, I just couldn’t comprehend how could author cover it in less than 350 pages as this seems to be the stuff of 3-4 books together. Overall, this is a very nice read and one needs to have a strong heart and mind to read it as it becomes extremely painful and depressing at times – because such has been life of Sita Mata.

 

Now, talking about the drawbacks, I must say that my review is surely biased because of my love for Ramayan and Siya Ram but there are surely some issues with the author’s version of Ramayan. Firstly, I feel that author has become very critical of Ram. Anyone who would be reading Ramayan for the 1^st time through this book will find Ram to be bigger villain than Ravan, unfortunately. Secondly, I must say that few events of Ramayan are completely twisted in order to make Sita’s life look more miserable than it actually was. Author has purposely picked up the specific tales from several versions wherever Sita’s plight is immense. I believe there should have been some balance.

 

Thirdly, whenever we read about ancient history or such strong and legendary characters, we expect philosophy in between. This book tries at some places but majorly, there are no philosophical approach at all. You wouldn’t get many quotes to keep with yourself as learnings from this book. Lastly, I believe that book focuses too much on Sita only. I just wanted to read about other characters as much as I wanted to read about Sita. Again, a balance is needed even if the subject of your book is based on one character. Though I would appreciate the way Sita’s beautiful relation with her father, Lakshman, Hanuman, Lopamudra, Urmi and other characters are portrayed.

 

Overall, this is one of the books I’ll always remember and recommend. Reading this has been an emotional journey for me. It has definitely become memorable. Kudos to Sini Panicker for writing it so beautifully. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

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Marriage in the time of Corona by Arbind Bhatia (Book Preview) !!!

 

14^th Book of 2021

 

Since Coronavirus pandemic has begun, specifically, in India, the major concern for few people apart from surviving this disease has been managing the wedding ceremonies. Government came up with the guidelines that marriage can’t happen with more than 50 guests. Now, considering that a family has 2 parent members and 2 siblings, the invitees from each party could only be 21 members. Counting 2-3 photographers, 2 priests and other important relatives, you just can’t invite even all of your relatives and closest friends. I have seen many people getting married in my acquaintances during this lockdown period comprising of last one year and I still see many marriages happening in my circle. This book that I am going to talk about; “Marriage in the time of Corona” written by Arbind Bhatia discusses one such marriage that takes place during lockdown.

 

This is a short book of less than 100 pages so you can easily complete it within a sitting or so. The writing style is little advanced so may be the beginners will have to put more concentration than others but people into reading would be able to grasp the story at the fullest. The book talks about the full cycle that takes place in an Indian marriage circle – right from the moment of proposal till the honeymoon. Occasionally, author keeps on discussing the challenges that keeps interrupting the families and their preparations time to time. This is the purpose with which the book has been written.

 

There are seven chapters where each one of them talks about a ceremony related to the Indian marriage which involves inter-religion match and hundreds of legal and document issues that comes with it. You can relate with few characters as one can trace them somewhere in their respective family too. This is basically a preview of the book hence I won’t be talking about the drawbacks and other factors. I would like you to read it yourself and let me know what you think of this book which talks of pain of every Indian family who were and are planning marriage during the lockdown phase.

 

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The Golden Book of Business Presentation Skills by Prajeet Budhale (Book Review: 4*/5) !!!

 

13^th Book of 2021

I remember reading Prajeet Budhale’s first book named “Infin-Eight” and I really liked the eight principles shared by the author to gain professional success. This was way back in 2019. After two years, I again get a chance to read a new book by the author named “The Golden Book of Business Presentation Skills” which shares the quick and easy tips to make powerful presentations. The book is of around 120 pages and doesn’t waste much time in speaking what it is meant to. I liked the way author has discussed the topic right from the first page and makes us understand what the book is going to be about.

 

Author maintains the fact that he is not going to tell us how to make MS Powerpoint presentations but about how to present ourselves while giving a presentation to an audience. Most of us have stage-fright, anxiety or nervousness before we have to deliver any presentation or speech on stage to a set of audience. Author’s effort with this book has been to assure that half of our problems with preparing for our presentation gets over just by preparing in the right way.

 

The book shares 7 gold standards for developing good business presentation skills reading which I really felt that they are substantial and practical. I have been a student of two Master degrees and even as a professional, I have to present our software module and requirement to my team members and clients. With my experience of giving number of presentations in last 10 years, I found the concepts shared in the book good to know for anyone who is preparing for an important presentation. Every chapter is divided in two parts – “Know” and “How”. “Know” section shares with us the concepts and fundamentals related to presentation skills whereas “How” section asks us to answer several set of questions which makes it easy for us to apply it in our next and future presentations that we are working upon.

 

I liked how author managed to cover the interpretation of all the key actors in a presentation such as Presenter, Listener and Questioner. Also, it made me think again when author told a reality that our presentation is always meant for one of the three purposes – informing, influencing or inspiring. This is so true because I don’t think we make a presentation for any other reason at all. Author provides a very good formula for building core presentations abbreviated as DIET which talks about using Data Points, impacting the listener, connecting emotionally with our audience and trail close for acceptance. I won’t talk much about it as it’s one of the main parts in the book and I would like you to go through it yourself.

 

Further, author also helps us understand how to answer the questions of the questioner and audience by using the three critical components of another formula named ARC which stands for Acknowledge, Respond or Answer and Check for Closure. Lastly, author helps us in ways how we can summarize our presentation in the end and gives us a very new perspective where in the world of presentation, the Last Impression is the Impression audience take away with them rather than the First. Such insights by the author makes this book a recommended one for the new business leaders and freshers getting into the world of presenting.

 

Overall, this book discusses many such pointers, bullets and tabular data which helps us understand the art of presenting. Every sentence shows the author’s experience put into words. I really liked the approach and tendency of the author because it is really a selfless effort in the way this book is written. I would request all the readers who would be picking this book to really go through “How” section by seriously filling it rather than skipping it. It will really transform your outlook towards something you are yourself creating without knowing the importance of it. I give this book 4 stars out of 5. Please go for it.

 

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Death in Colaba Bay by Ambika Subramanian (Book Review: 2.75*/5) !!!

12^th Book of 2021

 

Any reference to Mumbai makes me curious to pick up the book and know about my city and the story which can thrive here. This made me pick up a book named “Death in Colaba Bay” written by the debutante author, Ambika Subramanian. This book belongs to the thriller genre and is summed up in around 140 pages. Generally, when we read thrillers, it is quite long in around 300+ pages but I am glad that we are getting more Indian authors who are trying to write short thrillers rather than narrating useless sub-plots just to keep the book long. Ambika is another one in this list who knows how much to write for a story which has a basic plot around which the whole investigation shall be taking place.

 

The writing style is good and I didn’t feel that the author is a debutante considering the way she has managed to pick up a topic which isn’t very easy to write. Like, a thriller in the very first attempt is very difficult to scribble because if it isn’t good and your readers end up guessing the criminal in the first few pages itself, your book is a big flop. Secondly, taking the charge of writing it in as less as 140 pages only. Thirdly, basing it in Mumbai of 1800s which requires a lot of efforts as you need to know the locale and modus operandi of how things worked during that era. Hence, the way she has tried to maintain the balance considering all these factors is appreciable.

 

The story moves very crisply in the first half of the book and you just get excited to know how these multiple plots will land up together eventually solving the cases of abduction of 3 girls out of whom one girl is found to be dead. The character development of Tara and Arun is very nicely done such that you are able to relate with them. Tara resolving the case in order to help the police has been handled beautifully as you are able to digest that a common person is doing all of this so easily. The way royal family is involved in this plot from the central provinces keeps you excited as you wish to know what the role of Prince is in this whole abduction and murder story based in Mumbai.

 

Overall, this book is a light read for the people who get scared to pick up a thriller book thinking that it might be difficult for them to understand the murder mystery and several characters getting introduced here and there. Ambika has assured that once she is done introducing her characters in the initial pages, she will not add up any other character in the book for no reason. All the characters are introduced and used properly. The book doesn’t have any violent or vulgar scenes which are often added in thrillers to make them sound interesting. This tells about author’s conviction and belief in her story.

 

Now, talking about the drawbacks, I must say that there are many editing mistakes in the book. I don’t know how the writer and editor missed it even in such a short book. Talking about the story based in 1800s’ Mumbai, I must say that there isn’t much talked about the way Mumbai looked or lived during that era which makes you worry why the story is even based in that era except that it involves some trading which could have been easily replaced with today’s world. Also, even though the author has certain twists and turns to bring in the story, she couldn’t write them in a way that could make you jump or open your mouth in astonishment. They are written quite plainly as if someone is narrating a romantic tale to you. There could have been a lot that could have been done with this plot. It is quite an average book in terms of the offering it promises in the synopsis.

 

I give this book 2.75* out of 5.

 

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