Monday, 19 February 2018

Book Review: You Came Like Hope

Book: You Came Like Hope
Author: Jyoti Arora
Genre: Fiction| Romance
Pages: 165
Price: 235 INR (paperback) | 80 INR (Kindle)

Blurb:

Peehu:
“I heard them mourn my death. I lay in the next room. Motionless, silent, and staring at the ceiling.”

Adih:
“When it comes to a broken person, some of them are expert at blinding you. Spend an entire evening with such a person, but you may still not know how he is crushing inside.”

Uday:
“Who would say no to him? He is smart, intelligent, super handsome, rich, suave and sophisticated. He’s perfect!”

Pooja:
“Pooja gave no explanation. She asked no forgiveness. She just arrived in his home, resenting him for being her husband.”

Arunav:
“He had smiled as if nothing was wrong.
He had behaved as if he still had his dreams and hopes.
He had pretended as if it didn’t hurt.
But it did.”

Does Destiny hold the key to our happiness?
Is it always the feeble that is the victim?
Love can be the embrace of heaven. But what happens when it unleashes hellfire?

Lose yourself in the intense narrative of You Came Like Hope as it unleashes a rollercoaster of emotions, uncovers some bitter truths, challenges widespread prejudices, and forces you to reconsider your beliefs.

A beautiful springtime read~ It will make you feel the beauty of spring after the cold winter

"You came like hope" starts on a very interesting note where Peehu, one of the protagonists of the book is shocked to see her parents mourn her death. From the very first chapter, the author grabbed my interest in the book. 

This book is not a regular love story. It tells the story of two beautiful yet flawed characters: Peehu and Adih. Both of them have been treated unfairly by the society and have been compelled to take refuge in lies, isolation, blaming and self-loathing. They are the embodiment of "hope" in each other's lives...the hope that was not present in their lives before they met each other. 

Author, Jyoti Arora addresses some very important issues in the book that makes it a very beautiful read. Through Adih's story, the author has shown how some women take advantage of being a woman and can spoil an innocent family. The author has shown the hypocrisy and gossiping nature of relatives. Instead of being a support system, relatives can further break a person by spreading gossip and rumors. The author has also thrown light on how some parents end up being partial with their own children, causing inferiority complex in the child that doesn't get enough encouragement. 

There is one more beautiful character in this book: Mani, Adih's niece. She is a patient of Thalassemia. Despite being sick, her zest for life and love for her uncle is heart touching. The way she realizes the unsaid words of her uncle's heart and the way Adih has devoted his entire life to taking care of her will definitely melt the heart of readers. 

The book is also rich in beautiful quotes. Here are some lines from the book that I loved the most:

"We should be careful what we wish for. Because sometimes, a wish fulfilled becomes worse than a curse."

"It is not easy to battle the greatest need of our heart, the need to love and be loved."

"Maybe, he was scared of love. Because with love comes the risk of losing it. With love, comes the risk of getting burnt with it. When love burns, it consumes even the soul."

"Sometimes, a responsibility can be the only glue that keeps a person from falling apart."

"When a decision is made only by mind, it is seldom obeyed by the heart."

The writing is lucid. The author managed to keep the reader on his/her toes in the first half of the book. Although things get predictable in the second half of the book, I did not mind because of the way the author has narrated the story. I am going with 4 stars and would like to recommend the book to anyone who wants to read a beautiful romance. A great read in this spring season!


Monday, 12 February 2018

Book Spotlight: Letters to my Ex by Nikita Singh


Nikita Singh is back with her latest book "Letters to My Ex" scheduled to release on the Valentine's Day. During Valentine's week, we feel romantic and derive a lot of pleasure reading romantic novels. Valentine's Day is the ideal time to rekindle lost love, memories, and incomplete stories. This Valentine's day, Nikita Singh brings a book that is not just about love and romance, but deals with what comes after and in between. Published by Harper Collings, this book seems to be a very promising read.

The book talks about real relationships, how they evolve and sometimes, dissolve due to ego, misunderstandings and other reasons. A romantic read with a difference, this epistolary novel will surely make you think about love and relationships.

When asked about the plot of the book, the author says, "This book is an exchange of letters between two people who have hurt each other, and are trying to recover from the heartbreak and fix their lives. It tends to get intense, and very emotional at times, which I enjoyed writing. As the girl who writes long texts and emails, I'm very excited to see how people will react to it."

If you find the plot of the book relevant and exciting, get yourself a copy of the book. As the book seems to be a roller coaster emotional ride, I am sure a lot of people will enjoy reading it.

About the book

Most love stories have their share of misunderstandings, angry tears and hurdles- only for longing and faith to save the day and make for a happily ever after. 
Most love stories - but not all. Not the ones that end with hearts left broken, their shards lost under the weight of all that is left unsaid. In these powerful yet quiet letters of looking for closure, Nikita Singh explores the what-ifs, whys and what-could-have-beens; words demanding, with grace and dignity and passion, a salve for what only time may heal. 

From the bestselling author of Like a Love Song and Every Time It Rains, here's a story of heartbreak and things left unsaid, articulated through letters, channeling in their nostalgic charm, making for a fitting medium for expression in this novel which is distinct in form and marks the author as a master of her craft. 

Blurb

'It feels like I'm on autopilot; I have no control over anything. The pain of losing you is so crippling that I can barely hold pieces of myself together. The slightest nudge could break me. But somehow, my possessed brain knows what I need. It's telling me to stick to my choice, to stay away from you, to open a Word document and bleed on paper, try to throw up all my jumbled thoughts in form of words, collect all disconnected facts, try to make sense of it all.' From the bestselling author of Like a Love Song and Every Time It Rains, a story of heartbreak and things left unsaid...