Knotty Affairs by Chirag Bagadia

The Blurb:
A land of countless customs, few things in India get bigger than a big fat wedding. A marriage is a celebration which brings families and friends together. And the ceremony ends with the tradition of the bride leaving her parents' home and moving in with her husband. The groom always has a choice-he can either stay with his parents or stay separately. However, for the bride her 'home' is now a strange place.
Meet Aakash, a young dental intern, who falls in love with Kashish. However, what he doesn't know is that winning her heart was never going to be easy. Kashish is resolute-nothing, not even their budding romance, will come in the way of her devotion to her parents.
Cut to four years later. Akash has fallen in love with Aneri, the only daughter of her parents. However, his father is clearly miffed by this development, and enlists the help of a psychologist friend to help Aakash. Furthermore, his father is also not surprised at the couple's request of entering into a live-in relationship before the marriage. But is Aakash ready to challenge the existing customs for his love? Is he prepared to go to any lengths to see that his love does not shed another tear?
Take this tradition-defying journey with Aakash, Kashish and Aneri as they dare to delve deeper into the web of love and relationships. Warm up to their crazy antics which will leave you wondering-why can't this be my story?!

The Cover:
The title of book goes well with the cover. Anyone with the first glace would easily predict that the book revolves around marriage(s). But as they say - "Never judge a book by it's cover", there is more in store.

How Did I Like The Book:
"A daily soap opera" is the phrase which comes to my mind when I try to describe this book in words less than a sentence. In no way I want to take it to negative direction. Daily soaps are addictive at the end - arn't they. Yes, The story is actually apt for the base of some new TV series which could be enjoyed by all generations.

It's not a love story but a true family drama in all senses.. The writing and narration is smooth and writer was successful in gaining the interest just when I felt bored. There is a good mix of short twists and turns right till the very last page. The plot felt very much relatable and strike the right chord of current generation when it comes to align with their parents.

Being a girl whose own only brother is living abroad could relate to the whirlpool of various emotions portrayed in the story. I must mention that I and my husband have had the discussion of very much live-in relationship the novel is set around many times. Obviously, we expect the same amount or may be even more intense opposition from our parents if we ever need to get it in action.

Picture below extract:
"‘Dad just asked me yesterday why I am not ready to settle down with a family in Pune or Ahmedabad? What is wrong with settling abroad if the proposal is really good?"...

I was smiling while reading it as I have had similar discussion with my grandfather many years ago when I turned down the co called dream marriage proposals stating that I do not want to go and settle abroad forever away from my parents.

What I Did Not Like:
1. The two halves: I know it seems strange, but I had issues with both halves of the book. The first half seemed exactly similar to "Two States by Chetan Bhagat" while the second half felt a bit dragged along.
2. Character of Kinjal: Since it was a family drama, I would have love to read more about Kinjal and her bonding with Akash - her brother.

Guess what, I managed to sneak two one-lines among all the melodrama - a thing which is quite difficult to find in new Indian writings and when it is there, it's too much to take a note! Hope you noticed them in between my talks about the book. Here they go:

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Lady in Red: A Collection of Love poems by Shankar Kashyap

Blurb:

A collection of love poetry like no other. There are forty five poems composed in different formats to suit the mood of the poem - Sonnet, ballad, Ode, Villanelle and Tanka. or those interested in Persian poetry, there are many in the form of Ghazals and Rubaiyat too.



The cover:
The cover page I found a little average and could have been much more attractive and romantic.

About The Book:
As mentioned on the cover page, it is a collection of love poems. There are 45 short poems which includes sonnet, Tanka, Acrostics, Ode, Rubaiyat, Rondeau, Triolet, Minute poem, Ghazal and a few more. The title - “Lady In Red”, is based on one of the poems from the book.

The very fact that these are love poems attracted me to the book. The poems are mostly love struck and depict the feelings of man towards his lady love. The language and choice of words is very simple and that makes the rhyming lines easy to interpret.

Although I am all ears and eyes for love stories, at a certain point, I felt too much of it! The author did added a few poems about betrayal and lost love - but that came towards the end of book. Also, I could very easily spot repetition of thought process, phrases and comparisons all throughout the poems.

Apart from these small hiccups, I feel that it’s a one time light read and definitely a great source to add those little sticky notes to your loved one!

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Scepters of Empyrea: A Journey to the Andromeda Galaxy by Vignesh Ravichandran

The Blurb Says:
Empyrea, an island in the Andromeda galaxy belonging to planet Vathura is serene. Everywhere your eyes turn, you will feast on the lovely birds singing their heart out in the lush green vegetation. Osiris Mysterio ruled the regions of Empyrea with his brother Tyrant Seth and with their children Pitheceus Babi, Kraity Wadjet, and Horus Mysterio.

5000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians were the only humans to receive the invitation to enter Empyrea. They gladly on-boarded into a Pegasus chariot and took their journey to Empyrea. Their journey is indescribable. Empyrea by itself was like a fairy-tale garden, an ocean of flowers and exotic trees.

As the Egyptians went further inside Empyrea, they saw its netherworld. They had mixed feelings when they saw the triangle shaped tombs and the bizarre headhunting people. Empyrea also had the blood-curdling creatures like the deadly dinosaurs, gigantic snakes, furious apes, ruthless rhino’s, massive mastodons and many other creepy creatures. This showed the power of the Empyrean Army and that no other army could survive their wrath.

The Emperor Osiris and the kings ruled Empyrea with powerful Scepters. With those powers, they were not only considered as kings but also worshipped as Lords. The Lords with the help of their scepter had the crucial power to transform themselves into giant creatures.

Egyptians while departing from Empyrea was gifted with a shortcut portal to earth and also with some people and creatures of Empyrea to build the Empramids in Egypt. Overwhelmed with happiness they took the shortcut door and returned to Egypt.

However, the happiness was short-lived in Empyrea. The Empire of Empyrea was betrayed for ruling earth avariciously. Somehow the Emperor of Empyrea locked the shortcut portal and asked the Egyptians to safeguard it. The Egyptians, on the other hand, failed to safeguard the portal. And some gangsters accidentally opened the shortcut door in 2017 A.D, entered Empyrea, and inadvertently got access to the Lord scepters.

So, now the Earthians were left with no choice but to battle against the merciless predators and headhunting people in their heroic journey. Their ultimate fate lied in an empire beyond imagination. They would take their stand against the powerful lords, who brutally led their people to war against planet Earth.

Did the gangsters protect the earth from danger, or left the other world to accomplish their tyrant rule on Earth? Explore the world of Empyrea to unravel the truth behind this mystery.



The Cover: A white ape humongous in size and a small but equally confident looking green man facing it with calm... To be honest, I did not pay attention to the cover until I entered the fantasy world and then obviously went back to it to refer and verify what I read and imagined. So yes, I do like the cover page. It does not spill any beans and is relevant with the theme.

How did I like the book:

In the minimum words possible, I would call this book as an absolute page turner. Treasure hunt, pyramids, life beyond pyramids, puzzles, Serpents, Dinosaurs, Gorillas, Mammoths, White magic, Dark Magic, modern day action, laughter, tears... Name an element of Hollywood movie and it's there.

I would not say that it was a perfect read - I noticed some typo's here and there mostly related to tenses (The author moved to and fro in present and past tenses a lot) which did break down the enthusiasm. Although a parts were a little predictable, but yet, there was a smooth blend of two worlds!!!

I could not stop laughing at the mention of Thunder god - Thor!!! Seriously, there was no need of taking a cue from Avengers! Then, who would ever imagine a call from bank for a credit card when you are fighting for your life!!!

The language of the book felt simple and easy to go along. I also liked the narration style - the fantasy world was all alive right in front of my eyes while reading it. Yes, It's a thick book and I did skimmed through a few pages - specially the war part, But I am still impressed and really liked it. The little illustrations also helped me relate to the imagination as a reader. Only if they were as in number as portrayed in the trailer! But then, I did admire the ones which were there.

Truly I am pleasantly surprised at the fact that it's Mr. Vignesh Ravichandran's debut novel. Would I recommend it to anyone? Definite yes to any fantasy lover.

PS: I wanted to give 3.5 stars (0.5 stars minus for the typos, grammatical errors), but then since I did enjoy it, I preferred to get the author an upper hand... :)

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