I expected more from this collection but this was rather underwhelming. It has metaphors quite commonly used which are usually tough for me to understand, especially in poetry.

The theme of the poems were good as they talked about memories of grandparents. But I didn't felt connected to these poems.

If you have a child aged between 3-8 years, I would definitely recommend this book. It is such a fun and short read for children. Anitha Balachandran has done an amazing job with all the illustrations.

This is a new children series where the main character is a Zebra named Zippy. Interesting name, uhh? There are a lot of other animals in the story - Chikki, Reebo, Rippy, Rollo, Deepu, Cheenu, Giri, Ela, Toto, and Jiya. I'll leave it this to you to guess the correct animal on the basis of the names. Just remember that the starting alphabet of each name represents each animal name :P

In the first book of the series, all the animals have been shown as doing their work separately. Then, in the end, Zippy tell them what we all do them together? This simple story teaches many things to children. It teaches them the value of unity and friendship. It teaches them how your work can reduce merely by involving with others and making a friend. Not only that, but you will enjoy it too.

As for the Anitha's illustrations, they are really pretty and would definitely attract the young children. Each character is colorful with a different appearance. The writer has made sure to include the diverse personality, interests, and skills of each of the character. This will introduce children to diversity and will make them learn to celebrate and embrace it.

Such a unique and fun book to read for your children.

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TW: Torture, Physical abuse, cultural erasure, kidnapping

Wow! What a book [b:Mirage|32768520|Mirage (Mirage, #1)|Somaiya Daud|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1521643356s/32768520.jpg|52481416] was. I never expected this to be so diverse and character-driven. This book has a thin line between fantasy and science-fiction. Though I won’t call it necessarily a fantasy book, there were sci-fi elements like droids and data packets and planets and moons. The overall setting of the book is Moroccan-inspired which definitely adds a charm to the story.

This story is about Amani who is living with her parents and two brothers on the moon called Cadiz. On the day of her coming of age celebration, when she got her daan and officially entered to adulthood, she was kidnapped by Vathek droids and was taken to the royal palace, the Ziyaana, on the planet of Andala. There she finds that she looks identical to the cruel princess Maram and she was brought there to took Maram’s place in public gatherings because her life was in danger.

WHAT I LIKED
=> I loved Amani’s character. She made an interesting lead. I love how she was inclined towards poetry and in difficult times it was the poetry passed to her that gave her courage and pushed forward. I really admired how well connected she was to her culture and wanted to preserve the remaining bits and traditions, which was destroyed by Vathek rule.
=> The cruel princess, Maram, was my favorite character in the story. She was an enchanting villain with an interesting and complex development. I love villains who are more than simply bad. I hated her in the beginning but soon she became my favorite of all.
=> I really loved how the relationship between Amani and Maram changed over the time. From enemies, they were turning to kind of friends and Amani felt as if she was a big sister to Maram. I really loved that transformation, though it was short-lived.
=> Idris was the fiance of Maram but soon he fell for Amani. I simply adored him. His arrangement with Maram was merely politically based and when he opens up with Amani about his childhood and earlier life, it was wonderful to read about his story. I can’t wait to read more about Idris and his part in the new world arrangement.
=> All the other side characters were intricate and well-developed. I really hated Nadine, adored Tala. I really liked that how every character took its own space in the story and yet they never overwhelmed me.
=> The world building was wonderful. [a:Somaiya Daud|15179415|Somaiya Daud|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1516594116p2/15179415.jpg] has crafted an amazing and horrifying world which you would definitely hate to live in. The planet and moon system and all have been created beautifully. But at the same time, the brutality of the Vathek empire has been depicted very well.
=> The book talks about the themes of colonialism and the erasure of native cultures. Andala had been invaded and occupied by cruel Vathek empire. This book also talks about the themes of love and loss, kindness, and friendship.
=> The writing was absolutely wonderful. [a:Somaiya Daud|15179415|Somaiya Daud|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1516594116p2/15179415.jpg]’s writing was flowy and stunning and it kept me hooked to the story till the end. I was never bored by her words or the way she explained the events.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
=> As I said earlier, the story is heavily character-oriented so it doesn’t have a lot of things going on in terms of plot if you compare it with other YA fantasies. But the world building is fantastic and if you are okay with character-driven stories this will definitely keep you entertained.
=> The writing was really beautiful, but in some places, the scenes were dragged. The dialogues were quite less and it was more of descriptions and exploring relationships. So it appears a little slow at times.
=> I think the addition of sci-fi elements felt unnecessary? It could simply have been a straight-up fantasy. But the droids and live feed and other things add nothing interesting to the story.

Overall, Mirage is a powerful own-voices Moroccan inspired SFF with a strong heroine and an enchanting villain. The world-building is brilliant with rich cultural descriptions and well-developed characters. The themes of love, loss, friendship, colonial oppression, and rebellion have been depicted wonderfully. If you love to read character driven stories and don’t mind if the story is a little slow, then you would definitely enjoy this.

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Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Trigger Warnings: Domestic abuse, Assault, Amnesia

I would like to start this review by saying that I am so happy that I got the chance to read a book from a fellow book blogger. Many of you must know Jennifer from Bound to Writing. She is an amazing person to talk to. As much I was excited to read this book, I was scared too. But I am happy that I enjoyed reading her book [b:Not Like Everyone Else|40043865|Not Like Everyone Else|Jennifer Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1525787687s/40043865.jpg|62046629] 🙂

The plot is the main attraction of this book. It will keep you hooked till the end. It creeped me a lot but at the same time, I was continuously thinking about the main killer.

[b:Not Like Everyone Else|40043865|Not Like Everyone Else|Jennifer Leigh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1525787687s/40043865.jpg|62046629] is a story about Ryan, our main character, who is suffering from dissociative amnesia but she doesn’t know this. She can’t remember if anything traumatic happens to her, the next day. She runs away from her abusive ex-boyfriend Corey and finds that she has gaps in her memory. With the help of an old college friend, Harper, she tries to make friends and went for a night-out in woods. But that night-out proved to be a disaster as one of their friends go missing and later everyone suspected that Ryan did something. However, Ryan doesn’t remember anything from that night and she tries to figure out the missing pieces.

This book can be considered mainly as a psychological thriller. Though the main PoV in the story is of Ryan, we get the another PoV too and that one is of the secret, cruel murderer. It was really interesting and creepy to read the lines from the murderer. Their thoughts were extremely sick and the author really made me feel like they were a maniac. They talked about killing the next person in the way that feels disgusting.

As much as the plot was good, there was a little lack of character development. I didn’t like the friendship of Ryan and Harper. Most of the times, it felt like it was imposed. Both of them chose each other just because they were alone that summer and wanted a friend to hang out with. Harper was moody sometimes and so was Ryan. I really wished the friendship to be strong.

Ryan character was really good to some extent. I could feel her frustration when no one was believing her because of her amnesia. Then comes Elliot in her life and I really loved that guy. He seems to trust Ryan unquestionably and even after hearing about the strange behavior he chose her. Their romance was definitely cute but at the same time, I am glad that it was not overdone. It was exactly in the amount needed in the story. Elliott’s character development was definitely the best in the book.

I felt bad for Ryan’s character as she went through an abusive relationship and that amnesia, about which she was not aware for most of the part. It seemed really difficult for her to move forward with all that. But I am glad that she chooses to move on.

The ending was really shocking. I was wrong in my guess of the murderer. However, I wanted to have a little more background on the killer as to what he did with the bodies but I guess it was for the best otherwise it would have been way creepier 😛

I had a problem with the genre of the book. I was confused throughout the book about the actual age of Ryan. The story definitely was more suitable for the new adult genre but I guess it was promoted as a young adult.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this psychological thriller and it kept me hooked until the end. Though a little lacking in characters development, it definitely is strong in the plot. It is a fast-read which makes it a perfect summer or beach read.

** Thank you to the author for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

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Actual rating: 4.5 stars

⚠️Content & trigger warnings: Emotionally abusive parent, parental neglect, blackmail, leaking of personal information, threatening

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Full review on: Flipping Through the Pages

"Our houses may break, but our mothers won't. Instead, they form a human chain, hijabs and dupattas snapping in the metallic wind, saris shimmering in the afternoon sun. Between the machines and the broken stone, our mothers blaze like carnations scattered at the feet of smashed-up goddesses. Angry, unforgiving goddesses, the kind with skulls around their necks and corpses beneath their feet.
The kind that protect their children.
That protect their daughters."

You often come across books that surprise you. And A People’s History of Heaven was one such book for me.

- The story takes place in a fictional slum called Heaven in contemporary Bangalore, India, and revolves around five girls, on the verge of womanhood, and their mothers, who are left behind by their husbands. The story starts on the day when the local government sent bulldozers to demolish that slum.
- We have a graffiti artist (Banu), a transgender Christian convert (Joy), a blind dancer (Deepa), a migrant forced to be an adult before her age (Padma) and a queer daughter of a hijabi union leader (Rukhsana). But all these girls forge an unbreakable bond in spite of their circumstances and that’s what we discover in the story.
-You can see that we have so much diversity here in terms of characters.
- The slum life has been portrayed realistically. There is poverty for sure but there is hope too. Most of the husbands have left their wives.
- The author has done this wonderful sarcastic job of “then” and “now” Bangalore. I am living in this city and I can resonate with everything the author said. How this changed from a small village-like town to a megapolis city. How the engineers now rule the city filled with glass buildings.
- I loved the writing so much. I am not a huge fan of metaphors and poetic writing but this book was certainly an exception. The writing was lyrical and poetic and yet I was able to connect to it. There were so many beautiful lines in the book. Actually, it is the most highlighted book for me in recent times :D
- The author has chosen to tell the backstories of each character in between the current day events. Well, actually most of the book is backstory only. We are shown only two days in the present and in these two days, the author has given the backstory of every girl and her mother and grandmother. And then in past too, there are multiple timelines.
- There has been multiple themes explored. There are all diverse characters with varied religious beliefs and family backgrounds. We have varied gender identities and sexual orientations as well as physical disabilities. We have social issues like arranged marriages, forced sterilization and poverty.
- It speaks of mother-daughter relationships and I am a huge fan of this theme. These mothers and daughters, though don’t necessarily agree with each other always, but they are protective and fierce for each other.
- Then we have supportive friendships. There is unconditional love among them.
- And finally, we have the power of women. How women survive in this world which is otherwise so difficult for them, which has always thrown tough choices in their way. The power of women who can survive without a husband and the power of women who can stop the bulldozers from ruining their homes.
- If you love literary fiction, you should definitely pick this book.

This is a book about women, for women, written by a woman, which shouldn’t be missed. The story is atmospheric and beautiful. The author has written a novel with difficult but rather realistic aspects of Indian life. This is a story encapsulated with beautiful female characters and strong mother-daughter relationships. And for the (Indian)people who are still trying to find an Indian novel with the LGBTQ+ rep, well here it is.

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I loved the first book of the series, Harappa, last year and since then I was waiting for its sequel. I loved Harappa so I had high expectation for [b:PRALAY: The Great Deluge|37925572|PRALAY The Great Deluge|Vineet Bajpai|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516000892s/37925572.jpg|59641800] and I am glad that this book didn’t disappoint me. It was a great read.

+ Perfect sequel
This sequel was equally interesting and gripping as the first book. The book starts with a recap of the first book and pretty much summarises everything in just 3-4 pages. I don’t want to give spoilers for the first book, but the second book starts right off from where we left Vivasvan Pujari and Vidyut.

Similar to the first book, the plot goes in various timelines. Actually, I felt that there are more timelines going on simultaneously than the first book. The story starts from Harappa civilization of 1700 BCE and stretches to present day Banaras. In Harappa, Vivasvan Pujari is fighting through his last moments while his son Manu is on the journey of finding the Black temple. In the present day, Vidyut is still getting all the knowledge about his past and future from his great-grandfather, Dwarka Shashtri, and simultaneously fighting the demons.

Each of the timelines is connected so well, that you won’t find any disruptions while reading. You would automatically turn up the pages to see the references and how the storyline is folding and is connected all together. Though I have to admit here that the book does get a little boring in the middle for a few pages when there was a lot of history, but soon it regains the twist and turns.

Along with the heavy plot, Vineet Bajpai has successfully incorporated other themes like love, betrayal, politics, science, Indian mythology and other facts.

+ Characters stood out
We saw Vivasvan Pujari at his highest glory in the first book. It shows how he changed after the betrayal and his whole transformation from Devta to Demon was something to look out for. I really liked those dark moments of his characters. In the first book, we saw only a little part of Vivasvan’s son Manu and I am glad that he was in the center of the story in the second book. His journey to the Black temple and meeting to the new people to save the humanity and all of those gory details were really interesting. We saw how much he was influenced by Matsya and this indirectly refers that what a devotion to God can do to a man.

Vidyut, same as the last book, was enchanting and smart. I really hated his moment with Naina though. I don’t know why it was important to incorporate into the story. Vidyut is now more ready and confident to fight with the present day demons and is willing to fight every fight by the side of his great-grandfather. The other side characters like Balvanta, Sonu etc. were written well as per their parts.

+ A large amount of research
I love how Vineet Bajpai does all this research. That was the main thing that stood out for me in the first book and it was in equally appealing in this part too. All those things about Harappa, Constantine, law, and order and other stuff just amazed me. It was often hard for me to distinguish between the fact and the fiction. The way in which all of those things have been written, make you believe that those facts are actually real. This series definitely intrigues me read more about the lost Harappan civilization.

I loved all the details about the dark magic and Tantric vidya which was later used in the story. In India, we have heard these stories about Aghoris and dark magic from our childhood, but to actually read about them was really terrifying. I don’t know if in reality the dark magic exists or not, but for even a little time, [a:Vineet Bajpai|4570096|Vineet Bajpai|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1496735675p2/4570096.jpg]’s writing will make you believe it.

Though I loved a lot of these descriptions, I do feel that a few of the context were really not necessary. As I mentioned earlier, the book gets little slow and boring in the middle. This is because of the whole extra information. The things like the history of BHU (Banaras Hindu University) and other places were not at all needed. Then there were so many pages explaining how the current world technologies and devices were already present in our mythology all those thousands of years back and are written in our scriptures, way before the western world discovered it. I don’t think that the mention of Indian mythology Gods was required here. That extra information only extended the length of the book.

+ The ending is full of surprises
That final scene of the book was definitely a surprise for me. I didn’t see it coming and I loved it. All that stuff that Vidyut and Dwarka Shastri fell into was something unbelievable. I hadn’t seen it coming. But the final scene from Vivasvan Pujari’s timeline felt somewhat disrupt. It could have been better.

Vineet Bajpai left me hanged for the second book after that fantastic ending in the first book and now he has left me hanging again for the third book, with that end.

+ Final Thoughts
Pralay is definitely darker and more intense than Harappa. I really enjoyed reading it overall, but there was definitely too much going on and sometimes it was hard to wrap up my mind around all those events. But still, it is a gripping sequel. [a:Vineet Bajpai|4570096|Vineet Bajpai|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1496735675p2/4570096.jpg] has done an incredible job of world building and writing. And that end was something to look out for. It was really a surprising end.

I can’t wait to see how this story concludes in the final book of the series Kashi: Secret of the Black Temple. This series is definitely a must-read for all the lovers of historical fiction. It is full of drama, action, and adventure and you won’t regret reading it.

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So, [b:A Room Away from the Wolves|18046369|A Room Away from the Wolves|Nova Ren Suma|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1521132181s/18046369.jpg|25326016] is like the most confusing book.. ever.. for me. I am still not sure about my feelings. Did I hate it? Did I enjoy this? I seriously don’t have a clear answer to both these questions. For half of the book, I was like “wait, what’s happening? It’s so confusing” and for the other half, I was like “I can’t put it down. I have to know what’s going to happen”.

This was my first read by [a:Nova Ren Suma|2741432|Nova Ren Suma|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1315521193p2/2741432.jpg] so I was not sure what to expect from her writing. I am still confused if I understood the book completely. The whole time while reading it, I was asking questions like why it’s happening, what actually happened etc. but still I was hooked on reading it and finished it in just 3 days (which is quite fast for me). I just wanted to finish the book so that I can get all the answers which kept me guessing throughout the stories. I have to confess that [a:Nova Ren Suma|2741432|Nova Ren Suma|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1315521193p2/2741432.jpg]'s writing is magical. She can keep the reader hooked till the end, doesn’t matter where the story is going or if it is making any sense to you.

WHAT I LIKED
=> I loved the overall weird atmosphere that this book created. For the kind of story, this book was portraying it was perfect. The mysterious atmosphere makes you want to keep going. Everything seems kind of relaxing and a backdrop story. While reading you would feel that something is not right but you won’t be able to figure it out 😀
=> I loved Bina’s character. She is troublesome and creates chaos everywhere she goes. She was unreliable but you will get attached to her. I loved how she wanted to re-live the life her mother lived while staying in Catherine house.
=> One unique aspect of the story is that almost every character in the book is female! Can you imagine a book with no male character of importance and no romance? Well, giving the type of story, I would have been more pissed if the romance was included. But not having a romance aspect certainly felt fresh.
=> I loved the complicated mother-daughter relationship. Though her mother loved Bina, she was also trying to adjust in her current family for her survival.
=> Monet’s character was well-done. She was fit to her role exactly. She was always mysterious and remained so till the end. No matter how much Bina tried to get closer to her, she always kept a mysterious distance.
=> As I said earlier, I loved the writing style of the author. I think it was amazing. It kept me hooked till the end and maintained the mystery throughout the book.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
=> My biggest problem was that there were a bunch of loose ends left in this book. There were a lot of things which remained unexplained even when the book ended. Not knowing the things was definitely annoying.
=> There were many characters in the book. As in characters, I mean the girls living in Catherine house. I often forget their names and was so confused who was who and living on which floor.
=> The title didn’t make any sense to me, not till now. There are no wolves in the story, not a single one and I am not sure if ‘wolves’ meant something else here. But the cover and the title definitely mislead the reader.


All in all, this book is suitable for a particular group of readers, in my opinion. The writing and atmosphere keep you hooked till the end but having so many unanswered questions definitely confuses you and make you annoyed. This book is definitely hard to put down but the mystical aspect could’ve been done better. If you like ghost stories and unreliable narrator, you may enjoy this book.

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Content & trigger warnings (as mentioned on author's website): Child slavery, indentured servitude, blood, death (on and off the page), murder, guns, knives, drinking, gambling, dismemberment (off the page), swearing, minor drug use
Representation:Demisexual POC (Indian) MC, Bisexual POC (East Asian) MC, POC cast throughout, side Ace character, side trans character, side f/f relationship

This story is about Amaya aka Silverfish, who is only a few days away from getting free from the debtor ship she works on to pay off her family’s debt. But when a man falls in the water, she saves him from drowning and in turn increases her days on the ship. That event unfolds many secrets of her life and ultimately set her on a path of revenge. But she never expected to meet Cayo, the son of the man she vowed to destroy.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES

This was my first ever read by [a:Lang Leav|7012565|Lang Leav|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1386062549p2/7012565.jpg]. I had heard great things about her poetry and always wanted to read her work. I would say I wasn't disappointed at all. Her poems were really beautiful. This book is actually mix of prose and poetry. Her writing style will keep you engaged. This was really fast-paced, even the proses didn’t take much time to read. She switches flawlessly between the two mediums.

There were many poems that I really liked 🙂 The underlying theme of this poetry collection is that of love and loss. It talks about self-discovery and empowerment. But actually, Leav built this collection on a theme of the sea and water.

If you are a Lang Leav’s fan then you should definitely read this one. And if you want to read her for the first time, then this book is good to start with. Okay, I think I can’t resist to share one of the poems:

My Life
I will celebrate this life of mine, with or without you, The
moon does not need the sun to tell her she is already whole.

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