fathima_ashab's Reviews (159)

Not an easy one to read, since it's politics?! Yeah, something different from what I usually read which isn't to say that it was hard to understand. (I hope you get what I mean) This is about military, spy and politics mainly, but the plot went deeper like hijacking, terrorist attack and stuffs like that to create a thrilling and dark atmosphere. Things like travelling back to the history of India Pakistan wars and Kashmir issues were interesting and got to learn few things from it.

The narration was good but it also made things little complicated to get what the author means in a couple of places. The characters were fine, and I want to say the writing was good but something felt off I don't know if it's the improper sentence formation or something else. Otherwise it was good and interesting book to read. Make sure to read only this book while reading it, multiple books may take up more headspace:)

The story starts with the birth of a prince in BCE (Before clearance existence) timeline and chasing of a man named Sebastian in the ACE (After clearance existence). And as it progresses, there were many events happening in both of the timelines and enough plot and twists to keep us engaged.

I really loved the past more than the present. It is because of the vague plot in the present timeline and it took almost the entire book to get to the point. Whereas, in the past it was all happening in an order. There was a murder, investigation, war and a proper open ending for a sequel to continue. I loved that and I am eager to know what will happen next. It was a good chunk of a book and I think, with some proper editing and cutting down the dialogues, it would be more interesting and won't feel like draining our energy with unnecessary conversations. I liked the character and the world building. The author has done them well. and the names were different and new which was great. But the fact that it had too many characters and switching between two timelines, made me confused at times. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book overall. A good historical fantasy you could read in the Indian fiction

This book, as it's title says, is the story of us as a society - Everything. The author has covered all the taboo topics and ethical stories under this short story collection.

They were really short and easy to flip through. You would know what's in there pretty much just by skimming through it - one of the reasons is that the writing was simple and quite felt like stories for children with moral message at the end.

Perfect for light reading as what we are craving at this moment. A thought provoking read and definitely something that brings a change to the reader after it ends.

This is my first book by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. Their other two co-authored books are still on my wishlist but I am so glad that I picked this up right away. Usually thrillers have a way of leaving me with 'not enough' feeling at the end of the book and hence I was surprised when I closed this book and had a feeling of having read a good thriller.

It had a perfect pace - a page turner you could say, different POVs ( although it kind of confused me a little while wrapping up, it was still awesome), Reliable protagonist (which is really important to me in thrillers) & simple writing.

Prose doesn't work well with this genre hence this simple yet attractive writing made me turn the page quick and get absorbed into the story right away. I guess this is going to be one of my favourites this year. It was really good and I highly recommend it.

Doctors were held high as God once due to the doctor-patients relationship bond and the trust they had on each other. but in recent times, you could see so many mistakes and practicing in a medical world like it's a business is a common scene. This also has an equal and opposite side to it on the patients part where they file complain against doctors and hospitals just to escape from paying the fees. So these two authors have come forward to collect the stories of doctors and patients to make us understand that there are still doctors out there who put all their efforts and sacrifice their personal lives for us and there are still patients out there who hold the doctors in respectable position and talk high of them from their own experiences. It took them two years to compile it all and get to the publisher. And of course it's a non-fiction, you could have understood it by now.
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The flow of the writing was so smooth inspite of polyphonic narration. some of the stories were beautiful and somewhere really heart breaking. It contained all the emotions from happiness, sadness to pain and loss. It's an eye opener and I think, should be read by everyone. I especially loved their introduction part on why they wanted to do this. They have taken a genuine effort to come with this. and the stories were authentic too. It was just too empathetic and awesome. Worth reading it. and I would definitely recommend.

Nothing I say would give a whole picture of this book. It was a literary fiction or at least that's what I thought until the last few pages of the book. I guess it would have been a full 5 star read if the author has managed to give a sense of a thriller in the beginning or in-betweens. But at certain angle, this approach is what made it a non- clichéd (if that's a word) thriller. It was actually so good and unexpected. I DIDN'T SEE IT COMING AT ALL I SWEAR! and omg! I loved it. It starts with a struggling author trying to write a diary surrounding the death of his father and the love of his life. But it went deeper than that by unraveling memories and dissecting the characters around him. Friendship, memories and death were the common theme. TO SAY THAT I LOVED THE WRITING OR THE THOUGHTS BEHIND THE WRITING WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. Trust me it was really so captivating and triggering my own memories. I would absolutely recommend it. Just pick it up if literary fiction or thriller is your choice of interest.

4.6

This book has total of 10 short stories mostly based on love and relationships through a high school lover who finds death in the arms of the woman he loved before 30 years, a girl who gets molested but get her way through it all, workers who get cheated by a fraudulent couple, extra martial affair of a married man and woman, and their history going long back to childhood, relatives fight over property after a renowned actor dies from old age, and many more like this. It was an interesting read with simple writing and complicated characters. Each of the stories were unique and I enjoyed it overall. Pick it up if you want something light and easy to read through in a couple of hours.

Does it sound crazy to say, I could taste every name in this book when pronounced, almost like a honey on the pancake? Ifeoma - Obiora - Kambili - Jaja - Amaka - Amadi. A poetry in itself. I am at loss of words to express how they felt in my tongue without romanticising them. Chimamanda itself has a beautiful name but her characters' were so unique and perfect.

Okay enough of me swooning over names, now coming to the story, it was heart wrenching and left me drained of energy. Each character had their own voice and different level of emotions or I should say a certain air of aura to them that made me love them more than the story itself. Of them all, aunty Ifeoma's character was the one that hit home and I almost cried at the innocence of her heart. People like her should be preserved at all costs.

I had such a beautiful experience reading this book and I can't recommend it enough. This is a kind of a story that will not only let you grasp the content for it is but also makes you question your own privilege and choices laid out before you. This is a story of family and culture above all. Definitely something that is worth reading by everyone.

We love Stories. Stories that bridge us together. Stories that will empower and guide us through. Stories that will shake you and later shape you. This book is one such story scattered throughout the pages in the form of free verses. Poetry doesn't have to rhyme and if you would like to contradict, pick this book up and know for yourself. This isn't about happily ever after but about accepting the present and learn to fight with it if asked for. Ah, I loved the way it unfolded certain topics as I read through. There are many poems I liked which I will definitely go back for. And oh, how can I even describe the illustrations! Omg! They were so good. Each page is filled with henna drawings and doodles that goes really well with the theme and make it look so good. I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. Nobody would miss to have a beauty like this on their shelf.

First thing first, please don't read the blurb and go into this book. If you do, I am sure you will be disappointed. The blurb and first few chapters gave me so much hope for mystery/thriller kind of vibes and I was so much hooked to the book. From the title, you can get the idea that 'Mina' is the protoganist and she had done something terrible that has flipped her life upside down. Hold on. It was more like 'What Mina's circumstances did to her mind' than 'What Mina did'.

Now let me tell you, this is a story of a woman named Mina who is suffering PTSD after her mother's death and that gets intensified when she comes to visit her place in Bangalore from USA to sell her house inherited from her parents. This deals with family, friendship, depression, suicide and bonding of love in different circumstances. The author has dealt with depression so beautifully and deeply. It's a good book but as I mentioned earlier you might get different expectations from the title, cover and blurb and that can lead you to disappointment. It's kind of a Danielle Steel style of a story. It's a good book and I would recommend it but go into it with little expectations.