I liked this book. But that's about it. I was not impressed by the story at all.
I enjoyed anthropomorphism in the story but I don't feel anything special or wow factor. And I don't have much to say about it.

I have read this book around August but I never got to post anything about it. I'm not going to say much about the plot because it's all over the bookstagram community. I'm only going to state why I recommend this book.
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The main thing I noticed in this book is the dynamics of a marriage. Right from a simple quarrel to falling out of love, it deals with everything.
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Another thing I felt is how easy it is to compromise our happiness for the one we love. It can be love between a parent and a child or a husband and wife or between friends.
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The emotions were intense and the relationships are complicated. But here the characters set their differences aside and try to stand for their family even in difficult times because, at the end of the day, they are family whether they like it or not.
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I didn't bawl my eyes out while reading this book but it is a wonderful and touching read for me and I certainly got a few tips for myself as well. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to read about marriage and couples' dynamics.

Have you ever read a book where you read the first few pages and you have no idea how the story progresses?

Well, this is one such book. This book kind of shows magical realism where most of the part we are in between fantasy and reality.

To be honest, the first 100 pages of the book was confusing and I found myself skimming the pages. As you proceed with the story, like a puzzle everything falls into place.
The events of the book remind me of Nirbhaya. And the events are described just enough for us to understand without any explanations or violence.

This book shows how a person can be influenced easily by their company and I felt that the author tried to show the perspective of the convict.

But the thing is, whatever the circumstances may be a crime is a crime and no amount of justification and perspectives will be enough to validate what they did to Nirbhaya.
Also, I came to realise how many crimes happen in our cities. Whatever reasons we are giving ourselves, we are using it only to go through the day.

I'm going, to be honest here. I have read this book recently for Jcb literature long list reading challenge. And I'm totally unflattered.

This book reminded me of Ruchika's case and how the criminal escaped from the law by using loopholes. This book kinda has the same theme but I can't tolerate the protagonist Janaki at all.

Janaki is self-righteous and thinks whatever she does is right. Though I admired her courage to stand up for her friend, it was not impactful. Also, she's such a hypocrite.

And as the story progresses, I literally got frustrated with her behaviour. I liked Ajoba and his calm demeanour.
And I feel that the story is kind of rushed. The characters are not impactful. And the writing is just lazy. This is just a one time read for me.

This book is about a girl Shalini and her quest to find a person whom she has known from her childhood days. This story shows how she finds him as well as what happens once she finds that person.

This book has interlocking events of flashbacks as well as present events. The book was tiresome to read and I found myself skimming the paragraphs and skipping the pages to read more.
There's nothing wrong with the writing style and the setting of the story. But it is Shalini who irritates me in the whole book.
She starts a journey to find a man and I felt that the journey itself is irrelevant to the book. Because she never learns anything in the journey. She starts and ends this journey at the same point. There's no character growth at all.
I gave up on this book at one point and DNFed it. But later I picked it up again and finished this book. And I am sure that I will not read this again.
Apart from Shalini, I think the theme of the book is thought-provoking and it's worth to read one time.

This book is the last entry I read for #jcbliterature challenge. Also, this is the first Bengali translated story I have ever read.

This book talks about life inside the jail and stories behind them. Also, this book features a jailbreak organized by Naxal prisoners.
It was interesting to read this boom with a lot of stories and an exciting event. Though jailbreak doesn't play a major role in this book it is significant for the plot.
The background stories of each character were interesting. I especially liked 'Bandiswala' one. This book also gave an insight into working of the jail and what are the possible ways that a prison can corrupt a person.

Have you ever been in a situation where you are completely aware of your surroundings but you're confused as hell?

This book gave the same feeling. The prose was ridiculously well written but half of the time I don't know what's happening.

This book belongs to a genre of metafiction where anything can happen and the author has utilised it well in his story.

I love Lord Spider for his quirkiness. All the characters are well sketched and a delight to read. I particularly enjoyed the discussions between Lord Spider and JL Pillai. Though I enjoyed reading this book, I still couldn't grasp the whole idea of this book. Many times I found myself stop reading and I took frequent breaks in between. The prose was brilliant but tiresome to read as well.
Overall for those who like to read metafiction, this book will be a treat. But for me, I have to do a re-read to understand that the story itself. So I do think that however good it may be, this is not the book I would like to experiment or read.

Isn't it ironical that a thriller is not thrilling to read? The Patient by Steena Holmes is a psychological thriller but it is not thrilling to read. The protagonist is obsessed with Alice in the Wonderland and lives in a place that reminds her of those characters. She even reads that book to her patients as a part of therapy. It is kind of irritating to read after a few minutes. Where is the plot? And where is the plot twist? The plot twist is not a twist if the reader figures out at the start. But even then I kept reading page after page. I would say that is the plus of this book. Though it's not that thrilling, I would recommend it to thriller fans.

I don't know what has gotten to me nowadays. I am picking up books that are difficult to read. After reading the blurb, I thought I am looking ahead to a wonderful read. But I didn't enjoy this book at all. The writing was wonderful but I can't connect with the characters and their reason for doing things. But I read that this book was a therapeutic attempt of the author and I guess that it showed in the book. I don't have any good as well as bad to say about this book.