Book Review: Let Love Be Weird

Author: Divyesh Mungra

About the Author: Dr. Divyesh Mungra is a contemporary Indian author, young lyricist and former scientist. He chose to attend the long pending call of his heart, ending his stint in Medicinal chemistry research and development after achieving PhD and post-PhD degrees. As a scientist, he has worked with some giant organizations such as Lupin Pharma and Nanjing University. He published ten scientific research papers in journals of international repute.
He also has credits of writing Lyrics for television shows – Om Shanti Om (Star Bharat Channel), Shakti (Colours Channel), Billu Ustaad (movie), Fiza-e-Ishq music album, 24 Carats Mithai Magic’s advertisement jingle song and many more.
He immersed himself in honing his creative side and now revels in it.

You can join him at-

Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorDivyeshMungra

Twitter: @DivyeshMungra

Instagram: @divyesh_mungra05

Blurb: Shama is desperate to gift a happy moment to her father, before his third heart attack.
She has kept her father’s words in her heart- “Make a life, my daughter, make a life.”
She uses her beauty as a weapon to climb the ladder of her life.
But, does she really understand her father’s words?
Siddharth is a self made boy, who believes in making his own path even if he has to manipulate the people around him. He gets involved in the dirty business of erotic audio stories. He records three unmistakably powerful short stories titled- lust, love and friendship.
He enters Shama’s life and starts making her the girl of his dreams. Is he able to change Shama’s way of looking at life?
Come, listen to Shama, to know whether she could gift that happy moment to her father?
On time? Or not?
Through a web of weird and unconventional ideas, is the blurred destination realized?

My Review: Let’s see, how the story goes in my perception, in the following points-

Title and book cover: Both are too good, they make a good combination with each other. The title of the story suits very well to the story and you’ll feel the worth of the title at the very end of the story.
Character development: Character are developed very nicely. I like the choice of Divyesh with the names of characters. Though Siddharth is a common name nowadays, but Shama, Ravin, Shardul, Padmini, these are the very rare and cute names. Siddharth’s character is the best creation of Divyesh. He’s a weird kind of boy, unable to understood by Shama and also by the readers, but the most lovable character at the end as because of him love been weird. I wish I could love chemistry as much as Siddharth loves it, but I’m happy I love maths 😅. Shama played her role very well as the leading female character of the story. She seems to take all the advantages of her beauty. I felt that Ravin’s character could be developed a lil more. I wanted him to be a lil possessive about Shama. Rest all the characters are good too.
Conversation: It’s the soul of the book. And Divyesh wrote very good conversations. I liked the teasing one.
Plot: Plot is quick, interesting. Though there was not any serious and big accident as the center of the story, but all the lil-lil incidents entertain the readers very well. There was a full semester in the book. Starting is beautiful, middle is interesting and entertaining and the ending is just heart touching. Totally unpredictable story. Students will like the story very much. And it will leave a long impact on readers mind.
Background: Today’s age is in the background, which makes the story a must read. There is no description of any special city there as the story revolves around the department of chemistry of a college.
Language and Narration: Language is smooth and narration style is perfect. The amazing part was that the whole story is written in Shama’s perception. That’s a very rare thing to be done by a male author and Divyesh did it very well.
Backlog: I found some/many grammatical/editing mistakes, which disappointed me.
Conclusion: A very new taste of love can be seen in the story. A worth read book.

Star Rating: 4/5

Book Link: Order your copy here- Let Love Be Weird .

Stay connected.

-Arti Manekar

Book Review: Strangers With Known Faces

Author: Gautam Dutta

Blurb: Rajat, Meenakshi, Sadaaf, Amol, and Shanaya are five University students with nothing in common- who should never have met in the first place. They meet after winning a lucky draw- the prize of which was to take part in a puzzle game. Though the game was engrossing, they were unable to solve the puzzle in the stipulated time. However, this lead to the beginning of a deep friendship between them. Their friendship blossomed. But ego and misunderstanding led to an acrimonious break up. They meet again- two decades later- when Shanaya is murdered, and the other four are suspects. The four soon realize that in spite of being estranged for so many years, there were unknown ties that bound them- ties of treachery, deceit, and subterfuge. Ties that have led them to come together in circumstances that no one could have foreseen. And the game that they had left incomplete two decades back has to be played yet again – on a much bigger canvas. Now they have to trust each other, clear their names, and get to the bottom of the mystery, which threatens not only their lives and relationships, but also the fabric of democratic India. As their travels and travails continue, they discover hitherto unknown facets of the people around them, as well as their own selves. Can they succeed in resolving the puzzle this time? Or is history doomed to repeat itself? As hidden aspects of the human personality are revealed, they realize that no one is what he or she appears to be. For the world comprises of ‘Strangers With Known Faces’.

My View: I would like to give the review from the title name to the epilogue. I found the title very interesting that it simply attracts readers and creates mystery in reader’s mind. Story started in a mysterious way and just in few pages, you’ll feel like the title is very suitable for the story. Character development was fantastic. It was nice reading every character’s story in details. And the way the author linked every story was a good one. Narration was the best part of the story. Author did it in third person and he succeed in telling every story. Author used a language which will help readers in enhancing their vocabulary. Plot was interesting as many sub plots were there. The suspense was there till the last and that was really very impressive.

Backlogs-
1) I felt a lil bore of reading every characters story. I mean the story of every character was too lengthy. There could be written 5 books.
2) I really didn’t like the end part of the story. Author put all his efforts in developing the story but couldn’t end it in an effective way.
3) Book cover could be more interesting.

Conclusion: The story was able to hold the interest of readers with its interesting murder mystery.

Star Rating: 4/5

Book link: Get your book here- Strangers with Known Faces .

Book Review: The Coin

There’s no other side of the coin

Author: Sandeep Sharma

About The Author: Sandeep Sharma (25) has written four novels, titled ‘Hey Dad! Meet my mom’, ‘Algorithm of the future’, ‘Let The Game Begin’ and ‘Just A Few Lies’. He is currently working on his start-up venture named ‘Author Paradise’ that works for the benefit of Authors to provide them well-organized online & offline publicity. By education, he is a civil engineer who graduated from JSS Academy of Technical Education, Noida. He is very passionate about writing and has been writing short stories for his personal blog since 8 years. Some of those short stories, also are being adopted in conversion as short movies. He is an avid reader and loves to review books on his blog. He is a well-known reviewer in the literary world and has reviewed more than 300 books.

He can be connected through:

Email: authorsandeep@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sandeeplochansharma

Website: www.authorsandeep.com

Blurb: “Who likes Sudden death?” That’s the only question he used to ask before killing his prey. Random people are being abducted from the capital city, Delhi and are being killed mercilessly. Before killing, the murderer is reciting them a story, a story about a 9 year old child who saw the brutal side of the world at a very young age. All the stories are being recorded for the Police department to see. Raunak Upadhyay, the Police inspector who is handling the case, links the style of serial killing to the case he solved years ago. But the murderer of that case is in jail then who is following the footsteps? Does the murderer want to convey something? Whose story is being recited? Why the murderer is taking personal interest in Raunak? Is there any other side of this coin or both the faces are just the same?

Welcome to the Brutal world!

My Review: I was just so excited after watching the trailer of the book. And many thanks to Sandeep to give me the opportunity to read and review your book. The book cover and the title say that one will have the amazing read inside the book. As the cover of the book says There’s no other side of the coin, and hence I’m amazed how came Sandeep wrote both the side of the coin. I mean the description of both the main characters of the book is amazing. Raunak, being a police inspector, solves every case with all his mind and soul. This character is simply attractive. High quality intelligence of his is something very adorable. On the other hand Chandan, being a criminal, has done every crime in a way which can leave the police eyes open. Though, Chandan seems to be the criminal until you reach three fourth of the story, but there was someone else behind the curtains.
Sandeep penned the characters in a way that no reader will stop admiring him.
Story goes in a flow, that one can complete reading it just in one sitting, means the book will get glued to your hands until you complete it. You’ll be wanting to know that what will happen next. The incidents of the story are planned very smartly. At first you will get a lil confused about from where the story started, but later you will start linking all the incidents and at the same time you’ll start liking it. Many good things are there to be learnt, one such I would love to mention “Don’t make plans for anything you do. It hurts when the plan fails”.
Writing style of Sandeep is always liked by all his readers and as always it is the same with this book too.
I’m glad to read a mystery book.

Conclusion: There is a case being solved in a book not so lengthy. It is a book which will let your mind stuck on it’s pages by author’s words.

Star Rating: 5/5

Book link: You can order it from here: The Coin .

Stay connected.

-Arti Manekar

Book Review: The Last Chai

Bringing The Nation To A Halt

Author: Varun Tejwani

Blurb: The year is 2019. The world, as we know today, is not the same anymore.
Blatant threats of war by ‘world leaders’ is the new normal. Gone are the days when mobilizing armies at borders, or aiming missiles at adversaries, was a rare phenomenon.
With every nation or their allies possessing nuclear weapons, victory through conventional means is no longer possible, paving way for covert warfare to emerge as the preferred weapon.
New Delhi is an easy target and Doshi, the unassailable supremo of the regime, is on the ‘hit list’. The threat assessment being at an all time high, Ajay Kaamte, the director of SPG (Special Protection Group), is tasked with protecting the PM. Intelligence claims that the PM is susceptible to cyanide attacks and situation is grim, to say the least. Will Doshiji survive to serve another term or will he very soon be having his last chai?

My Review: When I read only the title of the book, I thought it may be some love story, but later when I saw the book cover, I came to know the actual meaning of the title and then I could say it’s a thriller. And being a chai lover, I decided to read the book, only by reading it’s title. Very brilliant book cover and title. They may create a conflict in your mind, but when you read the story, no conflict will left and you’ll be amazed. The book is a political thriller.

Talking about the characters, Ajay Kaamate, a ruthless officer, who can not bear a single mistake in his work. He’s devoted for his nation. This is the character, you’ll like at first, but later you’ll get confused, because with the progressive story, his behavior becomes complex and questionable.

Poorvi Aacharya, a bold and courageous lady, whom I didn’t like at first but later she changes her perspective and changes herself to a totally different lady. This is what I liked the most. One thing about her which I must mention is that she’s a reporter who can go to any depth in search of truth.

Doshiji, the PM plays important role in the story.

Many other characters are there, with a good description, but may not completely involved in the story much.

Politics is sometimes my area of interest, and for the book is a political thriller, it drew my attention fully. The description is so well that many scenes can be felt as reality. After few chapters, it was a bit boring, but later with the progress, the story again drew my interest and left me nail biting. Perfectly plotted story which revolves around Ajay and Doshiji. Doshiji is the PM, who is murdered by poisoning.

Narration of the story is so impressive and I liked that there was every detail related to political world. Language is error free and to the grammar.

Conclusion: Something to proud that I read a book other than love story and that too such brilliant work.

Star Rating: 5/5

Link: Get your copy here The Last Chai .

Stay connected.

-Arti Manekar

सत्य

मैं नहीं केवल ढ़ाई अक्षरों से
मिलकर बना एक शब्द हूँ,
तुझमें, उसमें और धरा के
कण-कण में उपलब्ध हूँ।
मेरे होने के लिए तू
किंचित भी नहीं आवश्यक है,
धरा पर तेरे स्वत्व को किंतु
केवल मेरी ही टेक है।
प्रेम, भक्ति, मित्रता
हर रिश्ते का आधार मैं।
मुझे अपना ले, नाम होगा;
तेरे चरित्र में सुधार मैं।
सद्गुणों का मित्र मैं,
मिथ्या का विरोध हूँ,
मैं पतन के मार्ग का
एकमात्र अवरोध हूँ।
कभी दलीलों में, कागजों में,
कभी स्वार्थ सिद्धि की बातों में,
मिथ्या आवरण डाले कई मुझपर
मैं प्रकाश हूँ, कभी छुपा नहीं।
भीड़ का मैं हिस्सा नहीं,
सुर्खियों का किस्सा नहीं,
खूब चोटें खाईं मैंने किंतु,
घून-सा मैं कभी पिसा नहीं।
कभी साथ माँगो तुम मेरा
जीव्हा से तुम्हारे हटू नहीं।
मैं नहीं हूँ मीठा तनिक भी
मेरा परिणाम किंतु कटु नहीं।
मुझे उपेक्षित रखकर
है संभव तुम्हारी जीत नहीं।
कठिन सहारा है मेरा किंतु
मैं परेशान हूँ, पराजित नहीं।
अस्तित्व मेरा यूँ भ्रामक है,
मैं विराव भी, मैं निरव हूँ।
मैं नहीं नश्वर, निरव्यय मैं,
मैं ‘सत्य’, मैं ही शिव हूँ।
-आरती मानेकर

मुझसे अनजान नहीं था…

वो भूले थे आज मुझे इबादत में, सजदे में,
जिनके लबों पर कभी दूसरा नाम नहीं था।

मैं देखती रही राह, वो ना आए मेरी गली में,
शायद उन्हें मुझसे आज कोई काम नहीं था।

मुझे तोहफ़ा तो मिल जाता, उनकी हाजिरी में;
मेरी खुशियों का इतना तो बड़ा दाम नहीं था।

वो हिचकिचाए होंगे, दिल की दौलत लुटाने में,
लगता है, टीक सके; ऐसा उनका ईमान नहीं था।

चर्चे थे हमारी मोहब्बत के, उनके शहर में
इस बात का तो मुझे कोई गुमान नहीं था।

शायद हुए थे वो मशगुल, मुझको आजमाने में
क्या मेरा प्यार उनकी जागिर, उनका सामान नहीं था?

ताउम्र के लिए मांगा है, मैंने उनको दुआ में
उनका दिल मेरे सीने का सिर्फ मेहमान नहीं था।

है फर्ज कि साथ दे दूँ, उनके हरेक फैसले में
मैं अव्वल हूँ कि हार जाऊँ, कोई इम्तिहान नहीं था।

खताएँ खूब गिनवाईं मेरी, कल उन्होंने वकालत में;
मोहब्बत खोने के डर से दिल शायद परेशान नहीं था।

मोहब्बत खून-सी रोई, तमाशबीनों की महफ़िल में
क्या मेरी तरह यार मेरा, एक इंसान नहीं था?

क्या इल्ज़ाम लगें मुझपर, नहीं इंसाफ अदालत में
मेरा किरदार शहर में, कभी इतना बदनाम नहीं था।

मिली सजा अजनबी को, मोहब्बत की उस शहर में,
कोई शख्स जिस शहर में मुझसे अनजान नहीं था।

-आरती मानेकर