#BookReview : Raavanputr Meghnad by Kevin Missal

This is the story of the greatest warrior in the Ramayana.
Meghnad was the perfect son of the tyrannical king — Raavan. Ever since his childhood, he was taught one thing: to be ruthless.
Honed by the greatest gurus, Meghnad grew up to be the conqueror of Amravati, the capital of the Devas.
He battled Lord Indra.
He defeated Lord Ram.
But then … he fell in love.
Her name was Prameela and she was a Naga princess. And she knew something that no one did: the truth behind Lady Sita’s abduction.
But this story is not about the Ramayana. This is about the greatest warrior of all time who learned the truth behind the war he was fighting …
And gave up.
The question is — what was that truth?
Bestselling author Kevin Missal brings to you an unforgettable saga about Raavan’s oldest son — the Prince of Lanka — Raavanputr Meghnad!!!

Raavanputr Meghnad is a mythological story by Kevin Missal published by Simon and Schuster India. The author is a 21 year old graduate from St. Stephen’s College, who has written four novels till now ranging from crime to mythology to horror. He is also the co-owner and co-founder of Kalamos Literary Services, which publishes and promotes fledgling writers to make a mark in the literary industry.

Indrajit or Meghnad as he is more famously known as was a fierce warrior, we know him as Ravana’s son who had left Lakshman unconscious and Hanuman had to bring a whole mountain to get Sanjeevani which  woke him up. This book aims to delve deeper into his story & bring out all the different aspects to his life & the surrounding story around him. Get this book here to read the full story,

Dealing with mythology is a tricky thing because major parts of it is already known to masses hence to make your story more interesting the author has to include something which the reader doesn’t know yet & that takes effort, luckily the author has done that in this book. The pacing of the book is constant & hence doesn’t bore you out though I believe some parts could’ve been omitted to make it a racy read. The whole premise was set with full attention to detailing. The language used is simple, the cover is breathtaking. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read more about different aspects of Ramayana. Pick it up!   

#BookReview : Royals by Emma Forrest

July, 1981. London. Shy, working-class Steven finds solace in beauty. Eighteen years old, he dreams of being a fashion designer. He's also gay, maybe – he hasn't decided yet. There's a lot Steven isn't sure about, like whether he hates himself or thinks he's amazing.
When he ends up in hospital after being brutally attacked by his father, he meets Jasmine, an heiress. Intoxicating, anarchic, fabulous Jasmine. Fuelled by their shared love of fashion, a friendship blossoms and soon, Steven finds himself swept into her hedonistic world, wholly beguiled. However, underneath the glitter and the frivolity, darkness lies.
Devastating, dazzling, queer and radical, Royals is a love story between unlikely friends from completely different worlds. It's about the power of art to transform lives and the power of families to destroy them. It's about working out who you are and what you want. It's a tale of giddy happiness, crushing lows and, ultimately, the fragility of lives lived too fast. 

Royals by Emma Forrest is a fiction based in 1981 & published by Bloomsbury Publishers. The author is a British-American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

The story revolves around Steven, an introvert teenager who is still confused whether he is gay or not living in London in 1981. The story is told from our protagonist’s PoV & that’s how we come to know how he lived with his family where once his abusive father beats him up on the day of Charles & Diana’s wedding celebration and as a result he ends up in hospital. There he gets to meet Jasmine who was there after a failed suicide attempt. From there their story starts. But where will it go? Get this book here to know,

Reading stories based in the 90s or before that especially with LGBTQ+ theme has always intrigued me hence I was quite excited to read this book. The plot progresses slowly & defines each character in detail, but since the book has been written from the protagonist’s point of view hence the story has been told accordingly. What I loved the most is the mixture of humor with teenage friendship & love and how well the roller coaster of emotions has been depicted. To sum it up, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking forward to a light read & want to go through the 80s era once again.

#BookBlitz : Love in Agartha by Sundari Venkatraman

Print Length: 213 pages

Publisher: Flaming Sun (Indie published)

Publication Date: January 2, 2020

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

Language: English

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

When Sanat Kumara usurps the job that Naavya Batra has been coveting for a long time, her instantaneous attraction towards him turns to intense dislike.

But soon, she's all in admiration for the man. When she finally decides to give herself to him, Sanat insists on telling Naavya something about her…

…something she has absolutely no memory of.

What does Sanat know about Naavya that she herself isn’t aware of? And what secrets are her cousins holding back from her?

Read this tale of fantasy which takes you to three different realms on the earth, to find out if Sanat Kumara is really what he appears to be on the surface. But what about Naavya? Will her love for Sanat hold up under the circumstances?

It would be great if you can add this book to your TBR

Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author with forty-plus titles to her credit, which have sold more than 1.5 lakh copies around the world. Her books consistently feature in the Top 100 Bestseller Lists on Amazon in both Romance and Asian Drama categories. Her latest romance novels have all been on the #1 Bestseller slot in Amazon India for over a month.

As a child, Sundari loved to read books with ‘lived happily ever after’ endings. They were all about good triumphing over evil. As a teenager, her favourite books were romance novels from Mills & Boon. She was fascinated by them, so much so that she began to visualise the stories set in India.

Sundari was forty when she began her writing journey, completing the first draft of her first novel in thirty-five days. She has not looked back since.

Click here to check out all the titles by the author...

You can stalk her @

      

        

Grab Your Copy From

This Tour is Hosted by 

Facebook | Website | Blog Tours | Twitter | Linkedin

We Promote So That You Can Write 

#BookReview : So Now You Know by Vivek Tejuja

The year was 1991. Vivek was eight. He realized he was gay. Only he didn't: he just figured that he wanted to be different. And that he was in love - for want of a better word - with Deepak, his best friend. Then Mast Kalandar released, with Anupam Kher playing Pinku, a stereotypical gay character. And Vivek realized he didn't want to be Pinku. So he tried to walk differently, gesticulate differently, and speak in as gruff a voice as he could - all to avoid being Pinku. Funny, poignant, heartwarming and heart-breaking all at once, this is a memoir of growing up gay in India in the 1990s, with Bollywood, books, and the Bombay sea for company.

So Now You Know is a memoir written by Vivek Tejuja & published by Harper Collins. The author has worked with books at Flipkart and now at Verve magazine, and writes regularly on books and the experience of reading, notably on his blog, The Hungry Reader.

I haven’t read many memoirs but when I came to know that Vivek was coming up with one I was immediately excited to read it. The book beautifully describes growing in the 90s realizing you’re gay, surviving through school & seeing movies where you see there is minimum representation whatsoever & even when there is, the said character is caricaturish. He wrote about every single experience of his in detail and how it shaped his life. If you haven’t yet realized why representation matters, this is probably the best Indian book you can read to understand this.

This is my last review of 2019 and I am glad that I am ending my year on such a great note. There very few Indian books out there which actually tells you how does it actually feel growing up knowing you’re gay & how the people around you makes you believe that it’s wrong or immoral. What does it do to the psyche of a child is an important question to ponder upon. Even though it’s a memoir but Vivek’s writing is fresh and it immediately makes a bond on a personal level with the reader. I can’t recommend this enough. Please read it.

#BookReview : Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar by Kochery C. Shibu

A Hydel project in the remote HImalayas- three people brought together by fate.
Nanda an engineer from Kerala at the dam construction site, hiding from his past, from the law, torn between the love for his dear ones, and the kalari code of revenge.
Khusru, a youth displaced from his native village in Kashmir, a gambit in the terror plot that threatens to blow up the dam, working as a labourer at the site.
Rekha, a kathak dancer at heart, a doctor by profession, arrives at the campsite as the consort of Khusru.
A village that accepts the dictates of modernity with a heavy heart, its population steeped in superstitions and religious beliefs.
All throng the campsite like moths to a flame, some escape untouched,successful;some miss a step and perish. each has a story to tell and a dream to realise. Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar is about the aspirations of these people, with their cares and worries woven to the site life. The fury of nature and hardships of project life have no mercy for the weak and no time for the dead.
Like an eternal spectator the Dhauladhar watches as men risk their lives and limb in the quest to fulfil their dreams.

Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar is a fiction written by Kochery C. Shibu. The author is a graduate from the National Defence Academy he has held several important posts in the Indian Navy & he has retired as a naval officer. Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar is his debut novel. The technical content of the novel, namely the setting up of a hydro-project is drawn from his experience in these projects since 2005, as are many of the characters inspired from those whom he encountered at the project site.

The plot is set up in Dhauladhar, Himachal Pradesh where three of our main characters Khusru, Rekha & Nanda meet. With a plan to blow up the dam by terrorists, what will be the role of each one of our main characters is what the whole story is about. With deep character building by the author, we come to know about each one of the characters. And as the story progresses you will stay hooked to know more about what happens next.

The author’s experience with hydro projects has proved to be extremely useful for including details that only he could write about. The suspenseful backdrop along with three extremely diverse characters with intense life histories is what made this book riveting. The language is simple though in some places a bit technical but even with that, it’s a breezy read. Shouldn’t miss.

#BookReview : Small is Big - Volume 3 by Rafaa Dalvi

After the success of two volumes of Small is Big, Rafaa Dalvi is back with Small is Big – Volume 3, a final collection of 100 micro tales and the best part is that there’s a story for everyone, including YOU!
Are you interested in unconventional storytelling? How about a story where the beginning, middle and the end are on the same page? A narrative that makes you frown on page 1, nod in agreement on page 2 and chuckle on page 3?

Small is Big – Volume 3 is a collection of micro tales written by Rafaa Dalvi. The author has already published numerous times, his stories can be read in the anthologies – Curtain Call (editor), Kaleidoscope, Myriad Tales, and many more. He has also written three volumes of ‘Small is Big’, which is a collection of 100 micro tales. He’s the recipient of Indian Bloggers League Booker Prize 2013.

This book is the third installment in the series of books containing several micro-tales. It’s a 107 pages book with 100 micro-tales covering different emotions which I believe is the best thing to do. While I have read micro tales before but these stories have a special kick to them which catches you by surprise. Most of the stories stay with you for a long time & makes you revisit them again and again. The author did an awesome job writing stunning diverse micro tales which I am sure everyone will love. A must read.

#BookReview : In The Realm Of Demons by Imran Kureshi

A roller-coaster fantasy horror story with Jinns, demons and nagins Mehran is a handsome young Rajput aristocrat – without a grand title, estate or any wealth. He lives with his widowed mother in a decaying mansion in Pakistan, Remembering his beautiful cousin boyer and his childhood in the glittering estate of his Nawab uncle in India. But hidden behind the grandeur of the old palace is a dreadful curse that strikes every heir to the nawabs line. Tragedy hits when, on a red moon night, a demon arrives and koyel falls victim to the terrifying curse.
Little does Mehran know that the curse will soon visit him and he will find himself in a world of demons, monsters and nagins.

In The Realm of Demons is a fantasy horror written by debut author Imran Kureshi & published by Juggernaut books. The author lives in Pakistan. He is a former employee of the Pakistan State Oil Company Limited and has been a freelance editor of books and PhD theses for over sixteen years. His collection of short stories set in rural Punjab, titled Billa Nayee and Other Tales, has been published by Oxford University Press.

The story revolves around Mehran who lives at the royal house of Hashtpur with his mother & some other family members. As the legend (curse) goes, the heir of Hashtpur is destined to die when the moon turns red. Everyone embraces themselves as the day comes but to their surprise instead of Mehran, Koyel his cousin gets taken away as per the curse. This makes our protagonist determined to go on a journey to unravel this curse & this journey is what makes Mehran meet his inner devils. Get this book right now to go on a roller coaster read!

Fantasy horror is quite a new genre for me and this book surely is a good introduction to this genre. All the characters develops quite well as the plot progresses with different twists and turns which won’t let you keep this book down. Unfortunately despite different unique plot points, it fell flat for me in certain chapters. The cover fits perfectly with the story, the language is easy too but I believe the title could’ve been a little bit better. Pick this up to get lost into a world of mystery & horror.