Radio Silence- Alice Oseman

Ratings: 4⭐

Genre: Fiction; Young Adult

Number of Pages: 403

Format: Paperback

Publication date: February 25th, 2016

Publisher: HarperCollins

Radio Silence is the second Young Adult novel by Alice Oseman that received The Inky Rewards for Silver Inky in 2017.

Summary

Frances Janvier is a high-achieving teenager- the head girl of her school, who believes her future is all about scoring good grades, and getting into the top-most universities, and landing a job that gets her money. When she meets Aled Last, the shy, mysterious creator of a science-fiction audio drama podcast, Universe City- that happens to be her favorite, she realizes that sometimes there are other paths through life and learns to embrace her passion for art. Their friendship is pure and innocent, and no, they don’t fall in love with each other. Carys Last is Aled’s twin sister who has been missing for a few years now and Frances knows why. But she has to be really brave to admit that. A heartfelt story engaging with themes of identity, diversity, and the freedom to choose, Radio Silence is a tour de force by the most exciting writer of her generation.

Personal Reviews

I’ve read YA novels before that were actually over-hyped and honestly, I thought Radio Silence would be similar, but I was wrong- it is so much more. It is not just about high school romance but the actual teenage stuff. I cannot praise the author enough for the accurate representation of teenagers, academic pressure, fandom, and friendships. The themes are relatable and the characters are just adorable and stay with you for a long time after you’ve finished the book. The mention of mental health is crucial in the plot. The fact that we all go through a lot and we only “hope that someone is listening” when we want to talk about it. What I like the best is the friendship between Frances and Aled. Their love and care for each other are platonic and genuine and almost make you want to cry and crave for the same. I just feel that the dialogues are too simple and organic, which does sound legit as it is YA. The critique of the way the education system brainwashes teens into believing that if they don’t get good grades, they’re destined for failure and misery and the metaphors used in the Universe City podcast to express that is just incredible.

Overall, I just loved this book and would highly recommend it.

About the Author

Alice Oseman is an author/illustrator and was born in 1994 in Kent, England. She has written four YA contemporary novels about teenage disasters: SOLITAIRE, RADIO SILENCE, I WAS BORN FOR THIS and LOVELESS. She is also the creator of LGBTQ+ YA romance webcomic HEARTSTOPPER, which is now published in physical form by Hachette Children’s Books.

Alice’s first novel SOLITAIRE was published when she was nineteen. Her YA novels have been nominated for the YA Book Prize, the Inky Awards, and the Goodreads Choice Award, and HEARTSTOPPER has been optioned for TV. She can usually be found staring aimlessly at computer screens, questioning the meaninglessness of existence, or doing anything and everything to avoid getting an office job.

Dead People’s Town- Siddharth Nirwan

Ratings: 4.5⭐
Genre: Fiction; Zombie Horror
Number of Pages: 225
Format: Paperback
Publication date: 10th February 2021
Publisher: Locksley Hall Publishing

Dead People’s Town: The End begins Now is India’s first Zombie Horror, by the popular Indian Horror Writer, Dr. Siddharth Nirwan.

Summary

In the small, peaceful town of Raisingh Garh, at Lord Erwin Memorial Hospital, a terrible incident happens when an uncertified drug trial for a terminal disease goes grossly wrong. Dr. Hari, who still has hopes of bringing his daughter, Anjali, to health tries this drug, named Teluximab, on her along with the few other patients in the CCU. His daughter does get up from the bed, but not exactly like he would want her to. Patients on which the drugs are tried on are no more humans but aren’t totally “dead” either. They’ve become some ravaged, flesh-eating monsters who keep infecting others, adding them to their crew. The whole Hospital is centrally and digitally locked. Is there a way out? Will everyone inside the Hospital survive or they’ll all turn into those beasts? Will the infection be confined only to the walls of the Hospital, or the whole town will be traversed by the “un-dead”?

Personal Reviews

I was very hyped up about this book, way before the launch of the book as it is supposed to be the first of its kind in India- a Zombie horror, and it was totally worth the hype. The story takes the initial few chapters to pick up the pace but once it does, you won’t stop flipping the pages and would want to read it in one go. The characters are well developed, especially a few of them. I hope we’ll know more about the rest of the characters in the next books of the “Dead People’s Universe”. The book, in all, was a rollercoaster ride and I’d highly recommend this to everyone!

About the Author

Siddharth Nirwan is an ENT Surgeon and Assistant Professor at the SMS Medical College, Jaipur. Apart from the world of medicine, he has keen interest in filmmaking, travelling and of course, creative writing. He is the author of two bestselling Horror novels, THE LAST WITCH TRIAL and DEAD NEVER DIE, both of which are set in Rajasthan.

He’s a fan of witches and Old Monk! 😉

Angels & Demons- Dan Brown

Ratings: 4.5⭐
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller
Number of Pages: 620 pages
Format: Paperback
Publication date: May 2000
Publisher: Pocket Books; Corgi Books

Angels & Demons, the first book of the Robert Langdon Series, by Dan Brown, is a thrilling tale of a Modern-Day war between the age-old enemies- Science and Religion.
The Director of CERN, Maximilian Kohler, finds one of the top Physicists of the facility, Leonardo Vetra brutally killed in his quarters. The corpse had been branded by the perfect ambigram of the lost brotherhood of “Illuminati”, that makes him call the famous American Symbologist, Robert Langdon. Robert flies to CERN and meets Vittoria Vetra, daughter of Leonardo Vetra, reads the corpse and to everyone’s horror they find out that the antimatter they had created, has been stolen. The canister containing the drop of antimatter, which has been placed in Vatican City, the sworn enemy of Illuminati, has to be brought back to CERN in the next few hours, else it shall annihilate, causing mass-scale destruction, comparable to nuclear explosions.
Robert and Vittoria make their way to the Vatican, to find out four of the Cardinals, the Preferiti, have been abducted on the day of Conclave and has led everyone into a state of panic.
Robert and Vittoria, along with Commander Olivetti, Commander Rocher and other Swiss Guards keep looking for the Cardinals, following the Path of Illuminati, ‘cross Rome, hoping to find the canister on their way. Do they find the canister before midnight? What happens to the Cardinals? Who shall be elected as the Pope, the Holy leader of the Vatican?

“Nothing captures human interest more than human tragedy.”

Personal Reviews

Dan Brown’s works have been on my TBR for a long time now and I’m super glad I finally got all of them on my shelf! Angels and Demons perfect blend of Science and Religion, Faith and Proof, Fiction and Facts, hence, justifying its title. Dan Brown has curated a set of outstanding characters that’ll grip you to the story. I absolutely fell in love with the characters of Robert and Vittoria. The plot is really intriguing and the plot twists are so unbelievable that you won’t see it coming. The book is so fast-paced that you won’t even realize when you’ll be done with the 600 pages novel. I loved Angels & Demons and it’s highly recommended to everyone who hasn’t read this yet.

Sunset by the River- Sameer Saxena

Ratings: 4.5/5
Genre: Fiction; Romantic Thriller
Number of Pages: 174
Format: Kindle
Publication date: 29^th August 2020
Publisher: Flipping Pages

SUMMARY

Ayaan Vaidya, a young, ambitious techie works in a leading multinational company in Japan and lives a jovial life, but one fine day he gets a call that turns his world upside down and takes him back to his past. Few months back, he had met a girl Tripti Mehta through his best friend, Monisha. He starts to know her more, but couldn’t discover all her secrets. He proposes to her but is left heartbroken so he leaves for abroad to get over all of it. But now that he has got the call, where will it lead him to? What were those dark secrets of Tripti? What happens to the story of Ayaan and Tripti ultimately? To know the answers to all of these, grab a copy and start reading.

PERSONAL REVIEWS

Honestly, I’m just so glad that I got to know about the book and the author since its based on real life incidents. When I started reading it, it felt more like a normal romantic novel but 40% into it and it starts to get so thrilling that it makes you shift in your seat. The storyline is simple and yet very intriguing because of a sensitive topic it deals with- Mental Health.

Kudos to the author to have written and described about this topic so well, which is mostly avoided in the society. The story is woven around three main characters- Ayaan, Tripti and Monisha who are simply adorable. The language is very much lucid and the narration is fast and engaging. There are scenes which will give you literal chills and, in some instances, even tears. So, overall, it’s a highly recommended read!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailing from Jhumka city – Bareilly, Sameer Saxena is currently working as an Assistant Manager in UCO bank, posted in the hilly area of Uttrakhand. He has completed his graduation in Mechanical Engineering in 2013 after which he worked as a teaching associate for two years, before joining the bank.

Sameer wrote short plays for college cultural fests which were played in various colleges. He was the mentor of his college club and actively participated in various college activities like anchoring, paper presentations and short plays.

He was often called by his faculties to write the speeches for them and from there

he has taken a step further to write his first novel, “Sunset by the River”, five years back.
Sameer is an active social media enthusiast and writes articles, blogs on wide range of topics.

THE BATTLE OF PANCHAVATI AND OTHER STORIES FROM INDIAN SCRIPTURES- DIVYA NARAIN UPADHYAY

Ratings: 4.5/5
Genre: Fiction; Mythology
Number of Pages: 131
Format: Kindle
Publication date: 17th May, 2019
Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd

The battle of Panchavati and other stories from Indian scriptures is a collection of seven mythological tales from the various legendary epics. The stories are a rendition of the timeless tales that we have grown up hearing from our parents and grandparents.

The seven classical tales are as follows:-

The Cosmic Dance- The Shiv Tandav
The Eighth Son- The birth of Krishna
The Battle of Panchavati (from where the book gets its title)- First fierce battle of Lord Rama when they were in exile in Panchavati
The Killing of Keechak- Assassination of Keechak by Bhim
Gangadhar- The story of Ganga Avataran
The curse of Draupadi- The story of disrobing of Draupadi
Gautama- The story of Prince Siddhartha to Mahatma Buddha

These stories are familiar to most of us but the narration is so engaging that even the modern readers will enjoy these ancient stories. I loved the little footnotes at the end of chapters for reference. I liked the first and the sixth chapter the most. I appreciate the author for the amazing wordcraft and picturesque storytelling. At some places, I felt the narration could be better but nevertheless it does not cease to grab your attention.

This is definitely worth a read and you should check it out once.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Divya Narain Upadhyaya is a medical doctor and a Plastic Surgeon by profession. He works in the
Department of Plastic Surgery, at King Georges’ Medical University, Lucknow, as an Associate
Professor. His fields of interest in medicine are cleft and craniofacial surgery and treating brachial
plexus injuries. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and has trained extensively in
craniofacial and maxillofacial surgery from the United States and Switzerland. He is an International
Fellow of the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeon and also an AO-CMF Fellow. His primary
literary interests lie in Indian scriptures, religion and Indian history. He has a blog on
dnu1blog.com where he writes about a variety of topics. This is his first book.

ENDURER: A RAPE STORY -KAPIL RAJ

Ratings: 4.5/5⭐
Genre: Fiction; Young Adult, Crime Thriller
Number of Pages: 177
Format: Kindle
Publication date: 17th September, 2018
Publisher: Write India Publishers

TRIGGER WARNING: Drugs, Violence, Sexual harassment, Incest

SUMMARY

Palak, a pretty, rich, college-going girl, who’s fun loving and loves to hangout with her squad feels she’s finally living the best life after some childhood tragedies. Little does she know that one of the just-for-fun-parties will turn her life upside down forever. She feels that the worst has happened to her only to find that there are women who are from a completely different background but have faced a fate no less miserable than her own.

The book is a blend of a heart wrenching tale of broken trust, relations, physical/sexual abuse, and of an inspiring one of standing up for your self, facing the worst and yet living with it and giving yourself and everyone else the gift of a genuine smile.

“We die to live or live to die; each moment of life is just another lie.”

PERSONAL REVIEWS

The reason I picked up this book was the title- I felt it’s something different and it didn’t let me down. The 177 pages book has so much in it that you might lose your sleep after reading this one.

The plot and the storyline is daunting and gives you goosebumps at some instances.
The narration is so absorbing that you simply cannot keep the book down till the end. The writing style is very unique and descriptive. The characters are very much life-like and you are legit gonna love and hate them. The story will get into your head and make you overthink a lot like it made me do.

Kudos to the author to have understood the social functioning and psychology of humans and put down the most intricate of emotions in the lines of the book.

I’ll recommend this book to everyone about 16 years of age if they’re looking for something to read in this genre.

TO YOU, WITH LOVE- SHRAVYA BHINDER

Ratings: 4/5⭐
Genre: Fiction; Romance
Number of Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Publication date: 10th August 2020
Publisher: Penguin India

To You, With Love, the second novel by the author of the best-selling book “Something I never told you” , Shravya Bhinder, is a gripping tale of young love.

SUMMARY

Sahil Malhotra, a 25 y/o “brat” , coming from a Nouveau Riche family, is a careless, carefree soul who is scared of responsibilities. On the contrary, Ayra Sharma, is a shy, reserved, highly optimistic and independent girl. They had been friends since school days but had lost contact until he sees her again. Sahil is extremely attracted to Ayra because of all her qualities and falls in love with her. But soon Ayra discloses some bitter secrets about her past which nevertheless does not hamper their relationship. They soon get married but destiny has designed something completely different for their future.

If love is meant to be… Read the book to find out.

PERSONAL REVIEWS

I don’t really read romance but I thought this one is worth it. The plot is simple and sweet. The storyline might remind you of some Bollywood movies as we always look upto them when we think ‘romance’ but the narration is unique and engaging which makes it different.

I totally loved the characters- of the protagonists, Sahil and Ayra, Sahil’s parents (who have been described as understanding and loving all throughout the story which is pretty much relatable) and Sahil’s friends Bhanu and Pathak (who are a cute couple and I liked the hint of LGBTQ theme).

The reason why I don’t pick up romance books is they make me cry a lot. The climax of the book is a tearjerker and I don’t want to ruin it with spoilers. If you’re a romance lover, this is a MUST READ for you.

SAKHTI- THE CHOSEN HEXAD (BOOK 1)- VIGNESH SV

Ratings: 4/5⭐
Genre: Mythological Fiction
Number of Pages: 219
Format: Kindle
Published in: 2020

Sakhti, the chosen hexad is the first part of the mythological series by the multi-talented author, Vignesh SV.

SUMMARY

Sakthi, the young lady and fierce warrior, daughter of Devaguna, the leader of the Thevas tribe, lived in Narumanam. She was an exceptionally strong fighter, probably the first female one (story being based around 16000 BCE). She was prophesied by the Oracle to be one of the Hexad who will save the world from the greater evil. Oblivious to this, Sakthi continued to love, serve and protect her tribe but she has to leave soon to fulfill her destiny. She’s guided and trained by The Three Kings (Thirumurtis) – Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma for her battle with the Asuras.What happens in the end? Read the book to find out.

PERSONAL REVIEWS

I love Mythological Fictions a lot and the blurb really intrigued me so I picked this book up. The story is good and the plot is strong. I liked the characters pretty much since they’re all known to us- their behaviour, their powers, weapons and everything else. I am guessing the author might be a tad bit inspired from the Shiva trilogy by Amish.
Although, the story is good but I feel the narration could have been better and there could have been more use of dialogues. At a few places, the narration was so bland that it almost felt monotonous. However, it was only the storyline that kept me hooked till the end and makes me wonder what the next book holds.

THE HOUR OF LIFE- DHRUTHIK SHANKAR

Ratings: 4/5⭐
Genre: Fiction
Number of Pages: 95
Format: Kindle
Publication date: 1st August 2020
Publisher: Flipping Pages

“We spend today thinking about tomorrow; we keep learning from our past mistakes to plan a future. What if we realize there is no tomorrow?”

SUMMARY

A man named Aryan who’s a struggling writer, meets a popular publisher, Alina and they fall in love with each other. They have a baby girl named Jeeva but unfortunately they get separated. It is fourteen years later, when Jeeva is on her death bed that Aryan meets his daughter for the first time when she’s in ICU. He gets to spend just ONE hour with her.Jeeva’s life has always been about her mother and on meeting her father for the first time, she asks him many questions brimming with innocence and curiosity. In that one hour, Aryan tells Jeeva everything he can about “life” and hence we get the title of the book : “The Hour Of Life”.

PERSONAL REVIEWS

This book is a really short read but is close to my heart because of the father-daughter relationship which has been so vividly described; how a father wants to instill all he knows into their child, does everything for their best and wants them to be safe and happy always. The book is nothing like I’ve read before for it has aunique concept. The daughter, Jeeva asks multiple questions and the father, Aryan replies to all of them patiently by reciting a poem or a short story.I feel the dialogues and the scenarios could have been a bit more exaggerated and dramatic but have been kept short and simple. I like the curious nature of 14 y/o Jeeva and the struggles of parenting that have been shown. Concludingly, I liked the book and will recommend it!