Yet Another Dream by Dharmendra Tolani: It's different (Book Review)

About the book:

Title: Yet another Dream

Published by: 

Published on: April 24th, 2015

Pages: 115

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 2.5/5

Blurb: He is from Sindh, sort of.
She is from Tibet, almost.

He is clueless.
She is determined.

He can't cry.
She can't stay put.

They meet.
She disappears - leaving behind a mess of contraceptives and lingerie.

Who will clean it up?

Welcome to Yet Another Dream. A story about a serial dreamer Kataaksh, who would sell anything to succeed. Be it condoms or voting machines. Along the way he meets Lhakpa. Is she a dream too? Or a nightmare? Find out in this labyrinth of dreams.

About the author

Dharmendra Tolani has spent 11 years in the wilderness called real
world after graduating from IIT Bombay in 2004. He counts the experience of
selling condoms online for a year as his best ever. He has also taught
in slums and engineering colleges. During this time he has also been
able to dupe MNCs and startups alike in hiring him as a programmer.

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My Review:

It is difficult to say right away if the book is a thriller, historical fiction, or suspense. It is in fragments all of these. It begins as the story of Kataaksh leaving his job for an uncertain future. He approaches his friend Varun and they try their hands on selling voting machines.
Thereafter he meets Lhakpa, and the story, as depicted in the blurb begins.

Lhakpa and Kataaksh make a good team, and the reader figures this out in no time. The story idea and plot is unique. It has never been discussed from this angle before, which is what makes this book important. Apart from lending a sense of significance to the plot, this also makes it an intelligent informed read. Lhakpa and Kataaksh are trying to figure out the logistics of selling condoms and related stuff online.
Their conversations are almost enlightened. The talk about everything taboo, but this only goes to explain how we are depriving ourselves of some choices just because of artificial societal constructs. Well, there are many thinking points in the book, too.
The book also contemplates the crooked histories of some communities, and their helplessness in the same.

The book could have been made more interesting though- there is scope of giving details, and more witty conversations- I can sense potential there.
The ending is reached after few twists, and that makes the whole reading worthy. The suspense and mystery crops up suddenly and the urgency that rises in the reader is matched by the pace of the story.

The reader is more aware after reading the book that he was before.

Links to the book:

Source of the review copy: Author himself

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Book Review: DeadAlive by Sandip Khade

About the book:

Title: DeadAlive

Published by: DreamHouse

Published on: May 12th, 2015

Pages: 176

Genre: Mystery 

Rating: 2.5/5
Blurb: When we read a novel, all the characters in it are suppose to be fictitious; and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, must be entirely coincidental, right? But what if one day you find a Novel and when you start reading it, you feel that you know the characters in it? You feel that you are familiar with the incidences in it. Will it be just a coincidence...?

About the author

Sandip has pursued Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Information Technology and currently working for IT firm in Mumbai.

He was born on October 30 1990, in Mumbai. His interest in writing reached to its peak during his engineering college days.

Apart from reading and writing, his interests are music, science fiction movies and he loves hanging out with friends.

He has keen interest in mystery /fiction genre. Though he is not a voracious reader, he is addicted to writing and cant spend a day without it.

Sandip can be contacted at sandpkhade@gmail.com

My Review:

The concept of the plot is unparalleled, and the blurb makes it clear: it is intriguing to see how the characters can be reproduced in real life, or to find out if it as actually the reverse.
So, with much interest I picked up the book, which is why in the first place I had agreed to review it. And the pace at which it begins really boasts of a potential in the whole plot. It eventually turns out to be a love story, a story about mental illness and other themes. the themes have been well-touched-upon, more could be done to bring an element of empathy with these. It was a great plot, even mysterious, lying on the border of horror even.

Only, the book could have been better at many places, grammar being the first of those issues. The general level of vocabulary and grammatical rules was less than decent, leaving a gargantuan scope for proof-reading. Second issue was that by the time we reached the second half of the novel, it lost a thread and the intrigue it held initially. Again, proof-reading would help synchronize the plot put together in a series of events, unfolding in a way that makes more sense to a reader.

Links to the book:

Source of the review copy: Author himself

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Book Review: Antique Discovery by Eileen Harris

About the book:

Title: Antique Discovery

Published by: WingsEPress

Published on: February 1, 2013   

Pages: 278

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 3/5

A vacation becomes complicated by murder, discovery, and friendship. Danger lurks in too many directions. Alicia and her friends will have to stay alive and sort through the clues carefully if they want to save an innocent friend and prevent the destruction of an historic treasure.

About the author

From living off the grid in the Arizona desert, Eileen has moved to the woods of
upstate New York. She has authored a standalone adventure novel called Desert
Shadow. She is also the author of Alicia Trent Series. The Black Cane : Dowager
Diaries Book 1 is her latest release.Find the author here: 

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My Review:

Yet again, this was an intriguing plot.
It starts off as Alicia, and her boyfriend Nick embarking on a vacation to the ranch. True to its title, they have an antique discovery to make

The plot, this time around was fairly predictable, partly because we knew Ali would definitely get embroiled in any distasteful event occurring, and partly because I found the ending the most obvious one. However, the author kept it gripping enough for us to surmise which of the alternative endings it is going to be.

Charm was conspicuous by its absence. I have read a couple of books and their descriptions of the ranch had my expectations high. Also, The conversations between Ali and Nick were more practical than romantic, despite the fact that they were spending more time together.

Again, the descriptions of the antiques had me. I could read those descriptions over and over again, and never get bored. To imagine those antiques in front of me was a surreal experience.

There were far too many characters for my liking, and I admit to being intimidated by them, but well, I was also more alert to observe who it could be.
Some hitherto unanswered questions are answered, much to my relief.
I felt that this book had an ending with the biggest cliffhanger, leaving me to read the next book in the series.

Links to the book:

                                         

Source of the review copy: B00kR3vi3w Tours @ http://b00kr3vi3wtours.blogspot.in

I thank DDS for having me on tour.

To get your book reviewed, read my review policy here. And then contact me here.

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