Exploring the Bookish World

The Chi-Chi Boy by Sombit Naskar is a short and beautiful tale about love. After reading Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda  recently, I wanted to read more books belonging to LGBTQ genre. Hence, I decided to give this book a try. The book revolves around the love life of the protagonist, Rik. He gives a first-person account of his relationships,  how he met different men at different points in his life, and how his relationship was with each of them. The story is quite simple and is narrated much like a journal entry. It is a very short book and took me hardly half an hour to complete reading it. But there are certain aspects of this book which I did not quite like. The book seemed very abrupt. It progresses at a very fast pace and ends too soon. Although the writing style of the author is lucid, making the book a very simple and easy read, the plot could've been much better and developed. It could have been better if it was a bit more descriptive. I really liked the...

The World Between Us by Sara Naveed tells a heart-warming tale of love, the journey of the protagonists, and how they overcome the demons of their past. It is very different from the regular cliched plot that romance novels in general have. It is unique and that is what I really liked about this book. Amal is a simple girl who is troubled by the memories of her disturbing past. Although she tries to move forward, she cannot completely let go of her disturbing memories. Qais Ahmed, on the other hand, is very different from Amal. He seems narcissistic, manipulative and arrogant. But Qais has a troubled past too. And that affects his mental health. Qais joins Amal's office and both start to develop feelings for each other. However, the story takes a drastic turn, when they find out that they have a deep connection to the past from which they are trying to move forward. The author has a beautiful style of writing. It is descriptive yet the story proceeds at a fast pace. It ...

A sweet tale of love, loss, and most importantly, second chances, Sindhura Kotaru's novel, My Crownless Queen  is quite an interesting read. The protagonist, Peter, is a doctor and has his career soaring, his dreams fulfilled, new colleagues in his life, and his friends beside him. But his life takes a turn when he comes for a trip back home. His parents have fixed his marriage with a girl of their choice. But Peter cannot forget the love of his life, Annie, with whom he broke up ten years back. Both of them tried to move on with their lives. But clearly, Peter had not. Although none had tried to contact each other during the past ten years, Peter still had feelings for her. But, what awaits for his is the most unexpected surprise! Will he be able to accept his past and move on, or will fight for what he believes in without any guarantee for happiness? Peter is left with two choices. Either to make peace with his past or to keep dwelling on it. Read the book to know what...

Sheeja Jose's book, F irst Love,  is a passionate love story which journeys through the love of two youngsters as they get hurt, suffer heartbreaks, and love with an unending passion. The protagonist of this story is a young girl, Tina. She is seventeen. When she was thirteen she fell in love with Adi, her neighbour and classmate. But Adi doesn't reciprocate the feelings. For him, she is only a friend. Things get more complicated when Rohit, who plays tennis with her, falls in love with her. And thus, twist in the plot - a love triangle! The story is narrated in the first person. The story shifts between two different timelines - 2016 and 2012. Read the book to know if Tina succeeds in getting the happy ending which she so desperately wants. The book is very well written. All the characters are quite well developed. I generally do not like reading typical romance novels, but this has a different touch in it. The author has done a really commendable job in penning th...

Karan Sharma's novel Sometimes it Happens is a romantic tale of two smart professionals - Gautam, who is a twenty-five-year-old upcoming professional and Roshni, a senior management member working in the same multi-national bank. However, as Roshni is twelve years older than Gautam, they themselves have doubts about their relationship in their minds. The author has done a commendable job in portraying such a beautiful relationship between the main characters. The society has always been judgemental about relationships which involve a woman older than the man. It's high time, and people need to become more open-minded. The story is narrated in a perfect pace and written in a lucid language. It is a very light read and does not take much time to read. I completed reading it within a few hours. The plot is much like a Bollywood movie. However, the message conveyed in the story is really amazing. If you are someone who loves romance novels, this book is for ...

'Inside the Heart of Hope' by Rishabh Puri  tells us a wonderful tale of hopefulness. The story makes us believe firmly in the idea that no matter how big problems come in our path, we should not lose hope and proceed dauntlessly. One can absolutely achieve success if he has hope and faith in God, and of course, in himself. The protagonist, Rick, is suffering from  a heart condition known as Aortic Valve Stenosis and Hyperlipidemia. As a result of this 'illness', he is sympathized by all the people around him and cannot live a 'normal life'. His girlfriend Amy abandons him when she comes to know of his condition. He becomes disheartened and loses the will to live. His best friend, Jacob, tries his best to cheer him up.  The story of his life takes a turn when he comes across an air hostess, Lisa.  Will Rick and Lisa have a future together? Will he be able to overcome his problems and lead a successful life? To know more, you have to read give this ...

'Something I Never Told You' is a short and sweet love story. The plot is very simple and to some extent clichéd as well. The protagonist Raunak, who is head over heels in love with Adira. He has deep feelings for her but failed to express his love for her. His love is left unrequited as it is unexpressed. The whole story goes on about how much he loves Adira but is unable to confess his love. I found this a bit boring. It was the repetition of the same 'one-sided love saga', where the protagonist is hopelessly in love with an extremely beautiful girl who seems to be way out of his league. The guy still struggles with his deep feelings but cannot express. The author has developed each the characters really well. Each of them has a unique personality. They might seem to be relatable to some people. The sequence of the story is another aspect in which the author has done a commendable job. The narrative was quite easy and simple. However, there were a few gramma...

Journey Across The Street -Madhusudhan R. "When you travel, you don't fear the unknown. You become a part of it. You don't meet a million people. You meet yourself, in million forms." She had once said. I had fallen for a gypsy heart. We were complete opposites. She was a secret traveller, I was a dreamer.  She was filled with experiences, I was filled with stories. Though we lived across the street, we spoke to each other after 14 long years of awkward silence. Everything had changed. She was a well kept secret. Everything about her was a missing piece of beautiful puzzle she had turned into. But the Universe had other things to offer before I could bring all the pieces together. After all that only one question remained, WHERE IS RHEA? 'Journey Across The Street' by Madhusudhan R.  is a romantic story with a touch of thrill in the plot. The story is beautifully narrated and the turn of events are ...

Nicola Yoon, a Jamaican-American author, pens a beautiful and deeply moving love story, 'The Sun Is Also A Star'. This is her second book after 'Everything Everything'. The novel is fast paced, has a unique narrative and is a perfect blend of science, philosophy, and emotions. The main theme on focus is the adversities faced by the illegal immigrants in the United States of America. The whole story takes place during a single day in the New York City. 'The Sun Is Also A Star'  is a contemporary novel spun around the lives of the protagonists, Natasha Kingsley and Daniel Jae Ho Bae. Natasha is a 17 year old Jamaican-American girl, who, as we see in the story, has to leave the US. Because of her father's DUI, they only have 12 hours left in the States before being deported to Jamaica. Daniel, on the other hand, is a Korean-American guy who wants to be a poet, but due to parental pressure has to get admission in the Yale and pursue medicine as a car...