Together Forever To Never by Satish Goyal

The Blurb:
No one can love like you… if I lose you, I will be left with nothing’ So says Sariyanka, a girl from a small town, madly in love with Samar. Having lost true love once before, Samar too believes that Sariyanka is his other half whom Zeus, the Greek God had separated from him.. In a chance conversation with his friend Mayank, Samar discovers some shocking truths. As the story unravels, a series of events follow that forever change the meaning of love for Samar. Is Sariyanka the one Samar calls his ‘other half’? Will Samar get the love that he always longed for? This highly anticipated novel by Satish Goyal is an emotional roller coaster that bravely explores the highs and lows of love. It’s a story of love – unshaken and unquestioned; yet unfulfilled and unrequited. A saga of deceit served on a platter of lies. About the author: Satish Goyal is a finance professional and works at a US multinational company. Since his days at the university, he had dreamed of writing on subjects close to his heart, but had put those dreams on hold to focus on his family and career. He finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with his first novel ‘Together Forever To Never”. Satish believes that success cannot be measured in terms of wealth or titles. The true measure of success is happiness that one is able to achieve in life. Satish is now writing his second book, “The Coaster Series”.


The Book
Title of the book actually gives enough hint on what’s in store and goes well with the cover page. I also liked the blurb which generates right amount of curiosity. The author managed to pump up the desire of reader to continue reader till it finds the reason of incident mentioned right in the beginning of the book.

The language is very simple and reader can make good progress in a short span of time without skimming through pages.

About the book, usage of good vocabulary is quite prominent from the very beginning. At the same time, it is simple enough to not let the reader refer a dictionary every now and then.

Another thing I liked was - There were a letters here and there! Any one who reads me does not need an introduction to my fascination about them.

Samar, lead character is portrayed as an ideal partner a girl would look for - faithful, hardcore romantic, responsible, innocent, successful, supporting... I am falling short of adjectives.

The story moves really fast but then suddenly goes on slow motion in second part.

There is a section in the book where preaching of life are mentioned. Again, it’s my personal choice that I am not into self help reads and tend to skim through these sections.

There were few sequences which I felt were repeated and felt already read in same book with different language.

Romance is my favorite genre but at the same time, book failed to make me fall in love. Overall, it is a decent one time read very much relevant to present times. The era and behavioral pattern we see nowadays has been existing in society ever since but then it’s now that we have become open and started talking about.

Answer in 10 seconds: What’s the best thing someone has ever done for you?

                                                             

The Sameness in a Consistent Change by Sujay Malik

The Blurb Says:

The wheel of time is a fascinating force. Sometimes it seems to only crawl along, while at other times it simply hustles. And when you tend to look behind, you expect that most puzzles would fall in place. But do they eventually?

Ramanuj, a village boy is confused about most things. He shares a strange rapport with his father, who, despite financial issues doesn’t stall his education. But Ramanuj has no idea what to do with himself.

Then one day things change and change permanently. There is no looking back from this bend; there cannot be. He meets Mr. Shrirangpure, through a chance meeting in a hospital through his daughter Pallavi. Something prompts him to appear more ambitious than he would like to have been.

Impoverished and submissive, he manages to rise above the shackles with time, even though everything is still stuck to his past. But now he cannot get back. He doesn’t want to. Until a revelation, prompts him to go back to his roots again. To the same tree, with which he shares a bond; to the drain water, with which he has shared many a memory; and to the same surrounding, which formed his core once.

This is a story of a boy who tried to end his life once. He loved as well and tried to rise to a level to become worthy of it. A boy, whose journey is all about mostly looking back.

‘The Sameness in a Consistent Change’ is a story of this interesting journey. A journey, devoid of a destination, perhaps. But the fun, sometimes, lies only in the journey.

How I Felt About the Book:

The Cover:

I kind of found the cover page quite creative after reading the book and understanding the context. But then, if I would pick it up in a book store? I am finding it difficult to answer it, so I would say may be.

The Book:

“The Sameness In A Consistent Change” is a short story and can be well finished in 1 single sitting. I however, took a few days to finish it – Yes, I belong to slow reading club.

Coming to the book, it was a simple story with almost no twists and turns. The author – Sujay Malik has used few complex words out of his vocabulary, which made me feel that I might need a dictionary! But at the same time, they are blended the lines and story line which did not make me go back to the dictionary every now and then.

I found the story line and characters quite average. Little more details about the characters other than Ramanuj might have made the book more interesting.

At the same time, there were few instances which could emotionally connect. For example, below extract where one could easily relate to being able to share the successes with your parents:

“when he achieved his dream of becoming something in his life after clearing the coveted Civil Services Exam, his was sapped of all energy and excitement. He was thankful but restrained. The Ramanuj of old would have reacted differently. But this was not the Ramanuj of old. He wanted to go to meet his father. It was not possible. He wanted to go to meet Mr. Shrirangpure.”

It was a one time read for me and before I finish, here are a few lines I highlighted.

He was no less a bird, who had come back to his nest in the evening. The evening of his life!

Life went on and he fell behind trying to leap ahead.

Written in so simple words yet so powerful!

Truths are good. But most falsities are better.

The sound of silence is beautiful.”

Catch Me If You Can by Rafaa Dalvi

The Blurb:

What happens when the world's best detective realizes that his prodigy has become a wanted global con artist? Prepare for a wild cat-and-mouse chase around the world.

What I Felt About The Book

Catch Me If You Can is a really really short  book - just 18 pages. The author used very simple language and started with a comic incident.

I so wish I could write more good lines in addition to above. I so hate to write a review I would not like to read for myself! But then, I cannot be dis-honest in my own blog.

The blurb says that it’s a cat and mouse chase which again fell flat. Honestly, sometimes, I have found comedy TV shoes more gripping and comical at the same time. The only time I smiled was in there beginning section where the making of one of the main characters is described.

Considering it was a short story, I still felt that a few more lines or paragraphs on the character building could have been better. The book just began and ended when the I began to gain interest.

A grammatical mistake is the biggest turn down in any book. While everyone is bound to make mistakes, including myself on this very blog, but still- an error -  that too in such little book!

In between everything, I managed to highlight 1 line - which earned a star from me :P

If history has taught us anything, it's that you either eat or get eaten up."

I felt it was very hurried attempt! Honestly, it could have been a good story and a nice read if more time, words and twists were given to it.