Only The Good Die Young by Akash Verma (Book Review: 4.75*/5) !!!

  

10^th Book of 2021

 

As people following my reading journey must be aware that I have slowed my reading process this year because I want to spend time with every book I read so that it stays for a lifetime with me. But there are few books which makes you break your resolve and finish them in a single or as less sittings as possible. This happened with me yesterday with Akash Verma’s latest book named “Only the Good Die Young” which has been released recently by Penguin publication in around 280 pages. There are few authors who win your heart right with their first book itself and Akash is someone I really look forward to read whenever he comes with a new book. This time I was doubly excited as this book is a sequel of “You Never Know” which I had read in October last year and gone crazy with the story. This time, author has just done wonders which again made me get up all night and only sleep after reading the very last line of the book. Such is a magic of Akash Verma’s book/s!

 

The 1st book was complete in itself but the way author took ahead the story makes you believe in each and every scene mentioned right from the 1^st chapter. This time again the story is narrated in first voice of all the three main characters- Dhruv, Anuradha and Sid; wherever needed author has narrated in the 3^rd voice too. All of this has been done so naturally and cleverly that you don’t feel that there’s anything fictional in it. You relate with all the three characters and even the others who are playing a kind of supportive characters here in this book such as Aman, Ash, Anna, Ram, Shalini etc. It is not easy to make you aware of what each character is going through in their minds when the focus is mainly on protagonists but Akash manages to do it very well. The party scene where all the characters play Truth and Dare is defined so beautifully that you will feel you are watching all these characters in front of you and know them very well.

 

Writing thriller is the most difficult art for an author, I believe, as you have to decide it very well how you want to take your story ahead – on the 5^th gear right from the 1^st page itself or gradually accelerate or keep on changing the pace throughout the book in order to win the attention of the reader. Akash has excelled this art very well as he takes it very comfortably at the 4^th gear and keeps shifting little bit here and there that you are at comfort as well as enjoying the adventure in your ride. I like how the book talks about office politics, family lives, new crushes, old-reunions, multiple affairs, marketing meetings etc. but yet doesn’t stop the flow of the story even once. Author knows it very well how to write a perfect page-turner where a reader is not getting bored with these sub-plots or overwhelmed with too many twists and turns. I have very rarely read such thrillers where the story is paced at a convenient speed yet keeps you on your toes due to the shift the characters are going through due to unnatural happenings in their life – which is already scary due to their grey or black past.

 

I liked how author convinces you with the way the killer is executing his task with the technology being used in Hollywood movies as generally, using any of those ways used in movies to define your stories in a book, doesn’t work out but here, it has been very nicely presented. Even the pre-climax and the climax is written so wonderfully that you can’t deny of how things end for the characters. Not to be ashamed of but I really almost ended up crying in the end. When a love story is also being included with all the thrills and killings happening around, the romantic human in us get involved with the tale of love before getting associated with anything else. And when it is discussed with such extremity, depth and sacrifices of characters for each other, it really makes you happy but at the same time, extremely emotional and broken too. Akash really knows how to touch the nerves of his readers who expect the love story to be as impactful as the thrilling part of the book.

 

Talking about the last point, I must say, it is not easy to present a societal taboo or a thing considered as a sin in a different perspective. 1^st of all, there is a big fear if the audience will accept this representation or not. Secondly, how you write and define this in each of your words when you speak of it makes you extra-conscious while drafting the story. This is a very big mental fight for an author to represent something-coined-as-wrong as an okay-stuff for a character. As represented in the 1^st part of this book, the extra-marital affair has been presented so very well in this part too that it might confuse many who are reading if this is a right step for a married or committed partner or not. I have heard many such tales hence going through this was something which made me realize and relate with what author wanted to convey. I hope all the readers get the message behind why author has taken a bit side of it and why it isn’t always wrong.

 

Okay, one more point – writing a story in parts can make a reader’s life hell if both the books are kept very closely integrated without any touchpoints in the latest part which discusses about what happened earlier with these characters. Akash has written this book in a way that you can read it as an independent book itself. This is not very easy to execute but I think there’s nothing impossible for Verma when it comes to writing.

 

Now talking about the drawbacks which this book doesn’t make you find many. I must say because Sid had come back in this book in a psychotic manner, I wanted more of him to be written which would have given us more insights on how such characters think who now wants to take only revenge and nothing in spite of knowing that they have themselves been wrong in the past. I felt author just didn’t cover him as much as he could have. Other than this, there is nothing I felt that this book missed.

 

I give this book 4.75 stars out of 5. I don’t know how long it has been since I rated any book as high as this much but this one really deserves to be in the list of one of the best books I have read in this decade or my whole reading journey. Highly Recommended!

 

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Thanks.

 

WRITING BUDDHA 

It ends with a dream by Medha Nagur (Book Review: 3.75*/5) !!!

 

9^th Book of 2021

I have shifted my reading interest towards non-fiction and spiritually related books but still, for nostalgia and knowing what kind of love or romantic stories are being written these days, I order a book or two and go through them. Mostly I get disappointed but some of them really surprises me even now. One such book which has made me very happy as a reader is Medha Nagur’s “It ends with a dream” which comes with a tagline that says “The Farther You Go, The Closer We Get”. Even though the book is available only in the Kindle edition currently, the whole aesthetics of it – right from the cover page to the synopsis of the book makes you enough convinced to pick it up for your next read.

 

The writing style of Medha is just too perfect for the genre she has chosen to write her first book in. Right from the 1^st word, the way her story keeps you intrigued with its narration makes you aware about how well the author’s drafting skill is. It also shows the clarity with which the book has been written which is not for just telling a story, but to make you live with it and also think about it after finishing it. Initially, I had thought that it must be the same mushy-mushy tale of two lovers but while reading I realized, it is far more than that. Even when the romance between both of them is talked of, author ensures that you learn a philosophy or two from it and not just read an intimate moment and forget it like any other book.

 

Author plays with the timeline of the story initially which was confusing after a time but once you get to understand the characters and plot, it becomes entertaining to find the shift. Even though I was reading and had no other reference with which the story sounded similar with, I still kept feeling that I was watching some web-series due to the author’s command on her storyline. Once you understand the points at which author takes you back in both the character’s past, you start enjoying it more as you know something much unexpected or bigger is about to happen.

 

When it comes to romance novels, either authors keep it confined to only 2 characters and their 2 close friends or add so many college or office friends that reading a book with so many characters become painful. I am glad how Medha have characterized her personas in the book where they are neither less nor many but you remember them well the way their background is defined and introduced to you. Also, because of the genre and synopsis, I had only expected love-tale but the way book takes a shift in between and the whole plot becomes quite thrilling and adventurous shakes you off your seat as a reader. I was very glad to find how author played with the suspense and changed the whole scenario of the story.

 

To add few points further, the locale of South India and Coorg is so very well embedded in the story that you can feel you are visiting that part of the country. The conversations between all the characters are written very beautifully with right tone and context. The emotional and egoistic turmoil that goes between both the characters every time they meet is nicely portrayed. The intimate scenes are written with a very fine balance where author has not shied away from writing things yet didn’t make anything sound vulgar.

 

Author has added other social messages like how girls are often seen and treated in our country, the political environment, the taboo of having sex at the wrong time and bearing the consequences of it, the importance of organ donation, the philosophical, spiritual and religious part of what happens to a human being while living and death etc. Reading these concepts through a story makes you go into the mode of self-realization and self-introspection. You will learn so much about your thought process and personality that you’ll start changing things about yourself from next minute onwards.

 

Now talking about few drawbacks – I must say that the timeline-shifts initially sounded very confusing which could have been executed in a better way. The male character’s name sounds like a female name which keeps confusing you somewhere throughout the story. The pre-climax is not very well-handled as after a major event happens with one of the two main characters, story should not have been extended for so long. It kills the whole excitement you have of reading what happens in the end as you feel it’s not coming at all. I also felt that author could have added some extra-emotional scenes in the conversations of two main characters which could have made this story more memorable and touchy. Lastly, I believe that the book could have been edited well in the 2^nd half and closed down by trimming at least 30 pages there.

 

Overall, this book will make you look at your love relationship in a better way here onwards so this is not only a love story but ends up giving you many lessons and advices. I give this book 3.75* out of 5.

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Thanks.

 

WRITING BUDDHA 

Of Beasts & Beauty : Short Stories By Bindu (Book Review: 4.25*/5) !!!

  

8^th Book of 2021

Writing short stories is an art which is very difficult even for the writers who think and write continuously. Even the authors who publish full-fledged novel say that writing short stories are a different game altogether as you have limited words to define your character, make their situation familiar to the reader and also craft a moving story around it. I have read many compilations of short stories and anthologies but very few have made their mark in order to make me recommend them to my readers. I have just completed reading “Of Beasts and Beauty” written by the authoress, Bindu. The book consists of 13 short stories where each of them is distinct and unique and says something which will make you move uncomfortably in your seat. This is one anthology that I must say can get the due for the short story writers.

 

The short stories mentioned in this book plays basically on the theme of the title of the book which has two keywords: Beauty and Beasts. In some of the stories, you will find beauty and beast in two different characters whereas in other stories, you will find both of them imbibed in a single character itself. Either the beauty is turning into the beast or the beast is turning into the beauty. Many stories are women-oriented and I liked the way they are been handled where they don’t scream feminism and women-empowerment in your ears but speak it in a way that you understand a tough life that a woman in India has to go through.

 

The writing style of Bindu is quite advanced which will make the people reading literature resonate with the language and the stories. Some beginners might find tough to understand the language due to the advanced way of crafting a sentence – sometimes actively and passively. Also, the stories aren’t straight-forward for the school-going kid to understand them but they are meant for matured audience who have read some incredible stuffs or understand the language in which the authoress is speaking on some really deep topics with elegance and patience.

 

Every story is of around 13-15 pages and some of them are written so beautifully that you’ll feel that you are reading a poem or watching a painting for a long time. Bindu definitely has talent that speaks in each and every word in her stories. She is very particular about the message she wants to convey through her stories and you can relate to it by the climax of every story. After completing the book, I could understand the cover page of the book where a girl’s image is blur. I am keeping this a secret for you to read the book yourself and decode it.

 

I would like to mention few stories and the insights from it:

-          “The Longest Night” talks about a girl’s struggle and compromises in her job as an air-hostess.

-          “Munimji” speaks of how a woman is capable yet society judges her at every stage- either in her marriage or even after she is again single after her husband’s demise.

-          “Ramratni and the Far Gymkhana” is about the patience and humiliations a woman can keep bearing for her children.

-          “Samer” is about what drug addiction can do to you – how slave you become of it once you start possessing it.

-          “The Leopard Diaries” is the story I believe author got the chance to show her philosophical and spiritual side.

-          “Sculpture” is such a unique writing piece where you meet with a character of girl who sculpts and surprises everyone around her. Also, how she relates the sculpture with her own body experience is something I liked to read a lot.

-          “Meeting & Mating” makes you think if what we teach our children is something we ourselves understand and follow. I liked the way whole story is kept very light and the hard-hitting message is given only in the end.

-          The last story “I Fell in Love with a Trippy Gypsy!” is a nice end given to the book which talks about so many contemporary and social problems.

 

Now, talking about few drawbacks, I must say that the language of authoress is little tough for the new beginners to read. I believe authoress could have written few stories in a light language whereas few in the way she has written to give the book the balance it needed for catering to all class of readers. Secondly, few stories are dragged a bit which I believe makes it boring for a while in between. Lastly, I feel that considering few stories in the book, I was expecting more spiritual or philosophical take from it but author keeps it limited to the story itself without taking that dimension into consideration which I feel could have given little more life to some stories.

 

Overall, I must say this book shall be a favourite in every reader’s shelf who likes reading good and matured short stories with some darkness in it. I give this book 4.25 stars out of 5. I wish to read a full-fledged novel by the author Bindu in future.

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Thanks.

 

WRITING BUDDHA