Light Denied by Mangala (Book Review-3.25*/5)!!!

        Mangala Nagarajan is one authoress whom I adored since the release of her debut book "Amidst The Tides Lies a Beautiful Island". I was so impressed with the book that I had to rate it 4.25*. She has again got herself self-published but this time with Gargi Publishers. The curiosity to read her 2nd venture "Light Denied" has been on high since its announcement and finally, I can breath sigh of relief. Mangala has a very simple and sober way of conveying her story to readers which reflects innocence in each and every word scribbled. Right from the 1st page to last, you understand the intention of the author and the message she wants to deliver.   

            Light Denied is a trial of Mangala to make the common people understand the plight of people with disabilities. Here, she discusses about a girl "Mukhi" who's blind and can't see since her birth. Her parents offend her every now and then and treats her as a servant. It is her grandparents who understand that Mukhi needs love and she is capable of doing many things but depression has made her under-confident. Her friends help her to grow and show her real talent to the world. To know what Mukhi does in the end and in the process, get the book. :-)

            I liked one thing about the author that she didn't over-exaggerate anything to uselessly generate emotions. She didn't mention a single scene where someone had teased the girl for being blind or disabled(except parents). She has focused just on how a blind girl too has the same emotions as us and how love and support can give a better life to such people. The role of grandma is perfect and that's a memorable character that shall stay with me for a long time. 

            Summarizing, author's narration is very friendly. Book is just 186-pages and hence you can complete it in one sitting. The message that author wanted to deliver has been told well. There are few editing mistakes. But that's always an issue with new and small-scale publishers. Also, I still find author's first book far better than this. It had some really mind-boggling sub-plots whereas this book is very simple in comparison to that. Light Denied is also predictable at most of the times. Cover page of the book is very beautiful and it's something you would like to keep above all your books in the desk. I give this attempt 3.25*/5.

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

Beyond Forever..in love by Kiran Joshi (Book Review-2.5*/5)!!!

       Out of my busy schedule due to the last semester of college, I am getting quite less time to read this month and this shall continue for all the months to come in 2014. Somehow, I am done reading Kiran Joshi's debut 184-pages novel "Beyond Forever ...in love" published by Pustak Mahal/Cedar Books. It is another attempt by an Indian author to write a love story and touch hearts of the audience who believe in simple and heart-touching stories. As a debutant, Kiran Joshi has given a fine attempt which can be kept in consideration that the writing will improve with books to come. Anyone who attempts chick-lit or love stories in India aren't expected to be great writers with their first book and hence I won't be very harsh on Kiran Joshi. Considering her age and experience, it was wonderful to find that the plot of the book had something into it which can keep me excited to read the book till the end of it. 

 

            Kiran Joshi's writing style is very Indian and simple. You will not run for dictionary even once. If you love teenage love stories then Kiran Joshi might be one of your favorite authors in future. But if you have already progressed and have started exploring other and bigger genres then Kiran Joshi will remain unattended. The story that she has narrated focuses on how Kamna, who is about to turn into a physiotherapist, has already faced harsh truth in love with her ex-boyfriend, Pratik. The experiences she had with him makes her believe that love would be the last thing she would be looking for. However, she meets Varun and finds herself attracted towards him. Later on she comes to know that he is son of one of the richest businessmen of India. What happens next is why this book has to be purchased by you. :-)

           With Kamna and Varun, even other friends are discussed and their character is treated extremely well. If this is how authoress has treated characters in her first book itself, with refinement and exploration, she can develop better characters in her future ventures. I found few drawbacks too: Starting with, I didn't like story to be as simplistic as this. Everything was very predictable from the word GO. Also, there are few grammatical and spelling mistake for which I would like to thrash the publication house. What were their editors doing? But overall, I appreciate that Kiran Joshi didn't drag and stretch the simple story and made it boring. I give this attempt of her- 2.5 out of 5 stars. Specially written for the audience between 15-23 age group.

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

Just For You by Rahul Saini (Book Review-3.25*/5)!!!

      Rahul Saini's new book "Just For You" is out by Penguin Publishers. As the promotion is in full swing, even I got myself attracted towards the book and I am happy that I picked up a very interesting book that discusses what an aspiring author goes through. The specialty of the book is that it not only discusses this but also about what established authors and even the developing ones are going through in the literary industry. Reading this book will change your outlook towards the book-publishing industry. A fictitious version of real scams, you can say. Haha! Kudos to authors for attempting something as gutsy as this.
      
          The book tells how writers play foul against each other. How innocents become victims while the corrupted ones end up winning the race of Bestseller's List. As I have also closely watched the industry from 3-4 years, I could understand exactly what Rahul Saini wanted to speak through this book. This book could have become talk of the town for writers if Rahul would have added "Inspired from true events" on the cover page. Haha! Because I have myself observed a publisher who's quite gay in approach, an author who always writes love stories and a team that organizes award show themselves and feature all their friends and everyone walks away with a trophy. :-)

         Coming to the writing style, Rahul Saini has provided an insight into his own industry very cleverly with usage of right words and phrases. You can sense how big and real things are spoken gently so that it doesn't offend someone directly and even the truth is spoken. Many characters could have jumbled the tale but the way author have set graph for each of them states their version of story perfectly. Writing as a first person for several characters in a book is very challenging but author has done a phenomenal job. Although characters are based in same working environment, the power of characterization and uniqueness gives distinctness and face value to each one of the characters and thus, all seems to be protagonist after a point of time. The bit of love story plays its part well. Several emotions displayed are also realistic and touchy. In all, the nature that the author has created with this book towards world, relations, dreams, emotions and competitions is applaudable. 

 The first half of the book isn't very fast and hence you find it very unconvincing to read but as soon as Nisha leaves Rohit, story accelerates and many events that takes place between authors excites you to know what happened and how did your favorite character manage to survive. Karun's character is wonderfully portrayed. I also liked the way climax is handled because it could not have been easy considering the way narration progressed with display of each character's proceedings. I also liked a particular scene of a book fest because I have found many a times that authors try to pull down their competitor by counter-attacking them and getting personal. (I call it the famous Number Page 177.)This book is certainly a fine attempt by Rahul Saini. Overall the book is readable and light in words and length which makes it easy to read. I give it 3.25*/5. 

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!