Blood and Beloved: A collection of dark poetry from Hell by Krimson Ravyn

The Blurb says:

Blood and Beloved, India’s first Gothic horror poetry collection, includes abstract, horror, and Gothic themes such as darkness, psychological horrors, child-rape, death, etc. Each poem from the book showcases elements of melancholy, depression, mania, occult, a darker philosophy of life, and the like. With a vivid, dark imagery, the book aims at being a fusion of the horror and poetry genres. 

How I felt about the book:

The book has 45 poems all of which did full justice to the genre and theme. All the poems are short with few of them even served their purpose in 5 to 6 lines.

I think, writing horror is one of the most challenging task as there is a very thin line which makes it funny or scary. I must appreciate the sincere efforts of author for staying inside the lines.

There are some poems which really left me feeling shocked and thrilled with fear. May be because of the emotions it evokes in your heart, I could not read more than 3 to 4 poems in a go. Here are titles of some of the poems I like:

1. The Last Judgement
2. The worship – among the horror and darkness, I felt it showed a light and asks the reader to be the best version of yourself.
3. In The Labyrinth of The Lost Self – This was again a poem which led to finding oneself
4. The Doom of Eliana – This was scary
5. The Legend Of The Black Tower – I kept on saying “Poor child”
6. I Died Twice – This was probably the smallest but one of the best ones
7. The Lullaby Of The Doll – The best one! Meant to be read two ways – top to bottom and bottom to top. It sent chills down my spine as I read it bottom to top!

There were more notes which I took off the post as I hate spoilers.

The writing style is very Gothic and extremely dark which suits the theme of the book. At the same time, I think it could have been a little simple. I kept on opening my dictionary very often which caused a distraction.

Apart from the difficult vocabulary and some repeated phrases/messages in a few of poems, I think the horror or Gothic lovers should like this book. 

Once Upon a Reunion: A Romantic Suspense Novel by Nithya Sashi

The Blurb Says:

Have you ever sat late into the night, missing an ex, and going over hundreds of 'what-if' scenarios? 
Have you loved someone to the point of losing your mind? 
Like most Indian women who have loved, lost, and settled for an arranged marriage, Nirmala secretly pines for her ex-lover, Suresh, even as she leads a happy, mostly peaceful life with Sreenivas, her husband. 
Memories of her first love resurface occasionally, disturbing her present life. 
Unable to fully love Sreenivas with the insane intensity she had felt for Suresh, she is conflicted and lives in a parallel world, always tormented by the probability of a what-if!
It is at this time that her school friends plan a high school reunion, which her ex-lover, Suresh would also be attending. Nirmala sees this as an opportunity to bring a closure to that chapter of her life. But she is torn by the uncertainty and the upheaval this might cause. She fears that her meeting with her ex-boyfriend might ruthlessly tear apart the delicate fabric of her marriage. 

And at the reunion, her world turns on its head.
Suresh is found dead.
Was it suicide? If not, who was the murderer?
Nirmala is crippled by the shock. But blame quickly falls on her as the ex with a motive and before she realizes she is in the police net. 

How does she manage to escape? And what effect does this have on her marriage?

What I Felt About The Book:

“Once upon a Reunion: A Romantic Suspense Novel” as the title suggests is a love story with mystery involved and very obviously set up around a reunion which is generally organized by school or college alumni.

The author Nithya Sashi kept the language simple and urban. There are what’s app conversations, corporate lifestyle and daily issues which most of the current generation can relate to very easily.

The characterization for all the roles - lead as well as supporting is also very real. As some one wells said that nothing is perfect, author Nithya proved that right and added just the right amount of grey sides to all.

The title as suggests that it’s a suspense, there were small hints here and there right from the beginning. I would not say that I did not like anything, but honestly the boos was more than 50 percent done and the reunion had not begun. And then, it took may be even less time to wind up as the long wait it arrived. Revelation of suspense felt like just summarizing. I am sure of the author had given a few more pages and detailing of the final plot, t would have be so much better.

Apart from the never ending beginning and flying speed mystery solution, I quite liked the story. It was not a typical love story for me, but yes, a decent one time read.

Kalam: Kuch Ulte Panne by J. Alchem

About The Author: J. Alchem has proudly taken many award home which includes - Amazon Pen to Phblish Award, The Best Author of the year award 2017-2018, StoryMirror and Superhero storyteller award.Clearly he has been making Indian authors proud. Head on to his website to know more - J. Alchem.

About the Book:

The Blurb Says: मैं पहली बार छह: महीने पहले मिला था उस से. अख़बार डालने आता था वो हर दिन. फिर एक इतवार के रोज़ वो अख़बार के साथ साथ एक कहानी भी ले आया. मुझे सुनाने को. सुनते सुनते पता चला की वो कुछ पन्ने थे, जिन्हें वो उलटा पढ़ रहा था. एक कहानी में पिरो कर. एक कहानी जिसमें वक़्त पीछे की ओर भाग रहा था.

What I Felt About The Book:

“Kalam: Kuch Ulte Panne” - I am not sure if the readers or the author is going to like it, but the truth is that I picked this book by mistake. I liked the title and as many times I do, I did not not notice that it’s a Hindi book! 

But all is well that ends well - I was glad that the lines were not the typical ones we used them dread and had to pronounce carefully!

Coming to the story line, it’s not something readers would expect but they are going to enjoy every bit of it. The description about respected former president Dr. Abdul Kalam kept me smiling and nodding all the time. It had a unique mystery around the lines which kept me hooked.

There were some errors in the “matras” and grammar which I was so relieved that the author gradually thought upon and conveyed that he would get them corrected. Now, I did not intend to keep this section, but guys, this paragraph is only here because I truly liked the attitude Mr. Alchem has displayed. Kudos to you dear. I am sure the readers are going to get many more wonderful stories.

Luckily, I picked up the book even if it was by chance, It was a thoughtful and story reminded me of old stories I used to read in Hindi newspapers during my school days. It was a one time read, but a very thoughtful and good one.

The Ring o’ Bells Mystery by Enid Blyton

I found this little book with rusty pages in one of my cupboards. I picked it up out of curiosity and thought of being traveling back to childhood. And then, there was no stopping till it was finished.

It’s a mystery thriller meant for kids. The story goes as below:

When Roger, Diana and Snubby go to stay at Ring O’Bells village, their old friend Barney hitchhikes over with his monkey, Miranda, to join them. Barney has nowhere to stay so he decides to sleep in deserted Ring O’Bells Hall. Bit eerie things happen - bells start to ring, strange noises are heard in a secret passage, and there are some unfriendly strangers about. 

Something very mysterious is going on and the friends mean to find out what...

Now, I totally read it with a kid’s mind. There is a secret passage, a village and people resembling children’s favorite bed time story - “Little Red Riding Hood”. Last but not the least, there are dogs! The description of dogs doing everything they could possibly do to show off and to gain attention of is just hilarious. I was smiling really-really wide as I could so relate that to the Labrador – Skipper at one of my cousin’s house. He is always picking up shoes or anything he can possibly get his mouth on while we are at their place to make sure that we do not indulge too much in our conversations and forget pampering him. To sum up this paragraph, there is something for everyone who reads it. 

The plot is just perfect for the age group “Ring O’Bells Mystery” is targeted for. Although it is obviously a little predictable for an adult, I totally put that aside as I thoroughly enjoyed reading it all.

All the characters and the language also very good which kept me engaged and not wanting to put it down till the end. If I had the luxury of sleeping through the day, I would have sat all night up to finish and reach to the end of truly adventurous journey.

I am all praises for this and recalled the "Famous Five" series! There are more books for sure, coming up in my book shelf soon to accompany it! I am waiting for my kids to grow up to the right age to introduce it to them.