Reading – Page 5 – Sassy Reviews

February 25, 2020

The Last War & Other Stories by Sambit Daspatnaik

Book: The Last War: & Other Stories

Author: Sambit Daspatnaik

Publisher: Evincepub Publishing

Format: Kindle

My Rating: 4/5

The Last War by the author Sambit Daspatnaik contains five different stories: THE LAST WAR between Pandavas and Kauravas, Genesis, THE HOLY TEMPLE OF EULA, Blink and RESURRECTION. All are different storylines and I like the holy temple of Eula and Blink the most.

The cover of the book is powerful and the story is really amazing. The plot of each story is well constructed. I was hooked to all the five stories till the end. The title and the cover of the book well matches with the content of the book.

All the five stories are very well covered and there is no confusion in any of the story. All the characters are well constructed. The language of the book is simple and clear thereby making it very easy to understand. This is a mind blowing book for science fiction lovers and mythology lovers. Read the book to know yourself about the Last War and will Sky God will help us?

February 24, 2020

Book Review: Love Unexpected by Ritu Kakar

Book: Love Unexpected

Author: Ritu Kakar

Publisher: Srishti Publishers & Distributors

Format: Kindle

My Rating: 4/5

Book Review:

Love Unexpected by the author Ritu Kakar is a love story. The protagonist of the story is a girl named Kaira who dreams to open her own Café Library. Kaira has to finalise a business deal from a publishing house regarding the availability of new books for her Cafe library. She met an entrepreneur Aveer and she fell in love with her in their first meeting.

Aveer found Kaira’s outspoken behavior as attractive and he wanted to know about her more. Read the story to know what happens to Kaira and Aveer ultimately. Will they live together happily ever after? Grab a copy to know yourself.

This is a one-time read. The story is quite normal and the language is also much easy. A good book for romantic genre readers. It can be finished in 1 sitting. There is nothing different in the story as I was expecting. The flow of the story is smooth.

About the Author:

Ritu Kakar has been an avid reader, brought up in Mumbai, married in Delhi. She loves reading all about romance, drama and emotional upheavals. The fireworks in her marriage keep her heart young, helping her creative juices for romantic tales constantly. Her teenage children keep her at pace with the world. She is surrounded with love, positivity and a supportive family, always encouraging her towards her dreams and passion of writing.

February 23, 2020

One Precious Moment by Ritu Kakar

Book: One Precious Moment

Author: Ritu Kakar

Publisher: Generic

Format: Kindle

My Rating: 4/5

One Precious Moment is a great story about love, relationship, grief, memories, etc. The protagonist of the story is Mira who fell in love with a guy Rahul Singh. Their relationship went smooth followed by a marriage. Initially they had a lovely and happy time. They often fight with each other like normal couples do. They disagree many time with each other on many things.

The language of the book is lucid. Therefore, it is very easy to understand. The whole story is about Mira reminiscing all her old memories, happy and lovely time that she spent with her husband Rahul. Read the story to know what happens that Mira got too sad later.

The plot of the book is well constructed. The narration style of the author is amazing. The characters of the story are well developed. The writing style is quite impressive. This is such a nice romantic fiction that one should read. A one-time read for romantic fiction lovers.

February 23, 2020

A Year Without Summer by Shreyan Laha

Book: A Year Without Summer

Author: Shreyan Laha

Publisher: Bigfoot Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Format: Kindle

My Rating: 4/5

Book Blurb:

The year 1816 experienced sudden downfall of temperatures. Kolkata had frozen to its lowest of -15 degree celcius. Widespread diseases were common. Sharat was no exception as he was forced to quit his Zamindar lifestyle after his parents died. On the other hand, in 2018, there was Niharika, living in the best of times – in a fairly modern society. She loved her life – her group of friends, her family and everything around her. Little did they know that something awaited them far away in a deserted civilisation 6 billion years into the future; in the planet Nocturne which was ravaged by compounds of a rare element called Barrenium. A Year Without Summer is a tale on how lives can intertwine with no restrictions in space time and dimensions.

Book Review:

A Year Without Summer is a science fiction by the author Shreyan Laha. The story deals with both history and an imagined future. The topic of the book a year without summer seems quite interesting to me. There are two protagonists in the story – Niharika and Sharat. Niharika and Sharat story begins in a different time frame and they landed on an unknown planet without a summer season. Little did they know that something big awaited them far away in a deserted civilization 6 billion years into the future.

I really liked the 1816 timeline story where Kolkata had frozen to its lowest of -15 degree celcius temperature. One could imagine how cold it must be. Author has used some words that are specific to our local culture. The translation of these words is also given at the end of the book.

The language of the book is lucid. The cover and the title is apt. Although the book is lengthy but it is well researched and a must read to enhance your knowledge. I would surely recommend this to the Science Fiction genre lovers.

February 16, 2020

Book Review: It Just Required One Step

Book: It Just Required One Step

Author: Saif Israr

Publisher: Evincepub Publishing

Format: Paperback

Rating: 4/5

It Just Required One Step is a wonderful story by the author Saif Israr. This story is based on student politics. The story begins from a train journey where the protagonist of the story Samar Qureshi was going from Lucknow to Allahabad. Samar had cracked the LFAT entrance exams for Hastings University to study law. In college, he met his old friend Girish, Sharma and Arun. He also met a B.E. student named Nupur Srivastav. Samar fell in love with her. Nupur, on the other hand was in love with someone else. Samar wanted to have Nupur on his side. So, he took help from union politics to win Nupur.

Samar was a simple guy with no interest in politics at all. He only focus on his career and Cricket. Soon, election campaigning started in the college and Samar found himself getting dragged in the student politics. He even had to do campaigning for the MP whom he didn’t liked at all.

The canteen scenes described in the book are really great. It reminded me of my college days. The author has shown well that to what extent one can go for the power. Life gets really difficult for the students who get involved in politics. This is a great story that one shouldn’t miss to read at all.

February 15, 2020

Captain Khadoos by Arjun Hemmady

Book: Captain Khadoos

Author: Arjun Hemmady

Format: Paperback

Book Length: 156 pages

Publisher: TreeShade Books

My Rating: 4.5/5

Captain Khadoos by Arjun Hemmady is a great story about a man who deals with multiple things like his career, society, his father and his mental health as well. This novel has two themes. The first theme of the book is based on my favorite sports i.e. Cricket. Cricket is India’s de facto national sports and all Indians love Cricket a lot. The second theme of the book is about metal health i.e. depression.

I really like the way author has covered about depression in the story. In the case of depression, two concepts are involved i.e. awareness and acceptance. We have heard many celebrities talking about depression to make us aware about it. But still we are not ready to accept the people who suffer from depression. Some people think that depression is a disease but it is actually not a disease.

The protagonist of the story is Suraj Bhatkal. He was away from the game for two years. Will he captain the Indian Cricket Team? If yes, will he be able to win the victory trophy? Or will the strains of captaincy break him? Read the story to know the suspense yourself.

About the Author

A full-time Finance Professional, Arjun Hemmady has been interested in writing since an early age. He has written various articles on topics such as driving and sports and the current socio-political scenario in India. The next step in his literary journey was definitely then to write a novel. He published his first novel at the age of 26, titled “You Raise Me Up” in November 2015. When not working, Arjun likes to cook, read, drive and watch movies and sports.

February 15, 2020

Book Review: Curse Of Suspicion by Sujay Kantawala

Book: Curse of Suspicion

Author: Dr. Sujay Kantawala

Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd

Format: Paperback

Price: Rs 299

My Rating: 4/5

Duryodhan, a middle aged lawyer is the main character of this story. He had a doubt on his wife that she is cheating him. So, he wanted to kill his wife. He gave this job to a snake handler. The snake handler puts venomous snake in his wife’s bed. Since Duryodhan’s son knows how to communicate with the snakes, the cops arrested him.

The story involves suspicion. It also shows how a small suspicion can create a great drama or chaos in life. The language of the book is lucid thereby making it easy to understand. The narration style of the author is good. The plot of the book is great. I was able to relate it to the aspects of law. The court hearing descriptions and the lawyers arguing in the court are my favorite parts from the book. The execution of the story could be better. As per the story, Duryodhan’s son could communicate with snakes but it should have been more elaborated in the book. I would recommend this book to those who like to read fiction books.

February 15, 2020

Book Review: Fear of God by Vadhan

Book: Fear of God

Author: Vadhan

Publisher: TreeShade Books

Format: Paperback

My Rating: 4/5

Book Review:

Fear of God by the author Bommadevara Sai Chandravadhan who writes under the Pen Name, Vadhan is a great thriller to read. The story involves crime and corruption done by the politicians. So, the Central Bureau of Investigation started looking into the case. CBI wanted to stop more murders. So, an investigation team is formed. An ex-army man and a successful lawyer Abhimanyu Rao came under CBI radar. The story got so gripping from there.

The character of Jagan Jigyasi has really inspired me a lot. Jagan Jigyasi and his Special Crimes Division of the CBI have to do their best to put an end on these killings. There is so much twist in the story. The language of the book is lucid. The mind games FearOfGod plays with the CBI team makes it more interesting. This is a mind blowing story. It is an intense and nail-biting thriller. It involves so much suspense. Read this story to know the suspense yourself.

About the Author:

Bommadevara Sai Chandravadhan writes under the Pen Name, Vadhan, a moniker coined by his folks at home. Vadhan is a prolific reader. He turned to writing a few years ago. His first published book is Shatru, a prequel to his yet unpublished fantasy Series. His second book, Agniputr: When Agni First Spoke, took the reading community by a storm. Hailed as one of the best multi-genre thrillers by leading national newspapers, literary platforms, critics and top-end bloggers. Vadhan is a lawyer by qualification and manages regulatory risk practice in a very large multinational consulting firm.

February 8, 2020

Book Review: Secrets of the Seers – Book: 1 Veil of Shakti

Book: Secrets of the Seers – Book: 1 Veil of Shakti

Author: Tina Sadhwani

Publisher: Notion Press

Format: Kindle

My Rating: 4.5/5

Book Review:

Secrets of the Seers – Book: 1 Veil of Shakti is a story based on Ancient Indian Mythology. It describes about the rich heritage of ancient India with all its sages and Vedic architecture. An ordinary monk enrolled in the Aryavrats School of Yog i.e. a magical school. Here he has to learn to the divine force which can render him a keeper and master of the ancient powers. But these ancient powers are hidden behind a mysterious veil.

This is a great fiction work that will introduce you to the knowledge of sages, abodes of Shiva and Shakti, path of yog and the soul of Vedas. The story is quote fascinating. The book takes us to the mystical world of seers, monks, ancient scriptures and secrets. The language of the book is easy to understand but it has an enriching vocabulary that makes this a great book to read.

This book is definitely a masterpiece as it will introduce them to ancient Indian Mythology. This is a perfect book to read for the fantasy book lovers. An animation movie should be definitely made on this story.

About the Author:

Tina Sadhwani is a writer on Sanatan Dharm, Hinduism, Indian Philosophy and Vedic Culture. She is a passionate researcher of Eastern Dharma-Schools, Yogic Mysticism, Ancient Indian Mythology and Puranic Fantasy.

She has a Masters degree in Psychology, and has taught Indian and Transpersonal Psychology at Montfort College, Bangalore.