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  Starting off where it left, Katniss returns again with the calculations of loss, her revenge as a deranged hermit. After the Quarter Quell, we see a different Mockinjay facing her past and her present altogether while sacrificing her future for Peeta who hasn’t been since they had been taken away. All the districts have been in rebellion and when she walks through her district where everything has changed into ashes, a prominent thing evokes fear yet becomes one of the steps in taking the decision to become the ‘Mockingjay’. Placing a few conditions, the last condition she places is not received with criticism but rather a grin that captures all of them. The further accomplices of hers and different memories revoked by them sets out a poignant sense of survival and seriousness. But when Peeta is rescued by Gale and others, all he does it to grab Katniss’s throat! In the last instalment of Hunger Games, Susanne Collins explores more humanism, emotions, decisions and a pinch of...

  Wounded by a tragedy, tossed and tousled by a few people, Marianna finds herself amongst a group as she leads them as their internally broken psychotherapist. Entering the college she studied following a call, she comes to believe the fact that behind the walls of art and literature laid obsession and the need for something. The murders of whom she had met kept happening through a postcard which makes her run behind it for her cousin, Zoe. A few characters intrigue us and the most intriguing one was the cult head as they call, Edward Fosca who was a father figure to ‘The Maidens’ special group. With eyes burning in anger and finding clues to solve the puzzle, she ends up getting up a postcard herself. This horrific incident rewrites her perspectives on what she had seen and what she makes out of it now. Written by Alex Michaelides, The Maidens is indeed a mixture of mythology, psychology and life after a tragedy. Even though Marianna is involved in psychotherapy or group therapy,...

  ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ is a story which explores the beauty and authenticity of the North Carolina marsh and creature at its best which only adds to its thematic view and imaginative creation. It’s rich with the set and theme Delia Owens has chosen for a reason to justify unknown, prejudiced victims whose daily problems mount to a plethora of them.   Kya has no choice nor does she want to die when she is abandoned by all the people she loves. The choice was just a version of many signs of helplessness and confusion. At a few instances, she allows herself to drown and hide somewhere else. Its humane enough to hide from problems and situations. She chose to live a difficult situation and emerge as a phoenix but fails at a few points which is only fair enough. The writer’s brilliance comes out with a piece where we can relate and Delia Owens justifies it. Through the waters of prejudice and negativity, she rows her round boat according to her life as she starts finding wha...

  “Behind every living soul is a history of life which is inflicted by pain, love, determination, despair and the internal strife to escape!” Goat Days is a story Najeeb, a shepherd who was once a man with dreams of coming back home with enough to live along with his wife, Sainu and his unborn child. Yet, what remained ajar for him was the desolate air of Gulf and the job he was offered which drowned him into the depths he couldn’t see. Written by Benyamin, Goat Days is one of the best pieces of work he has produced, depicting Arab Life, harsh climate, realities and how different it is from the lovely-dovey phase of it. Juxtaposed with contradicting ideas and dreams, he travels with a companion only to meet his darkest destiny which he wasn’t expecting. After all, who expects his/her life to be pure tragedy once they reach the land they thought was flowing with milk and honey? Living as a shepherd, striving through the lashes of the leather belt, he grows into a slave with a mi...

  The sweet and wild fragrance of jasmine evokes memories of a good time just as Sameera Parvin explains her life to Javed who acts as our representative. As the hours pass, the freshness fades to gloom as she explains her life through the conjoined houses and her family. It is indeed tough but her baba with whom she shares a better relationship now, encourages her throughout the book until a tragic event occurs. Just like any foreigner is perceived in a country, she and her family face a setback during the Arabian Spring. She is between a sea and a devil with the sea being the Arabian Spring and the devils being her family who is acquainted with the royals. Being the quiet Radio Jockey contradicting to the quick-witted and intelligent one, she is hurled by different occurrences. Choices are tough for Sameera but once she retrieved herself back, the steps she took seemed to favour her happiness even though she was adamant and skeptical in the beginning. Benyamin’s Jasmine Days ...

  Behold! NSA’s TRANSLTR has encountered a code it can’t break! 13 hours and so on! The secret machine is breaking down! The disaster to their community and work is being run by a machine that can break foreign codes in seconds! It all starts with a mistake but it becomes a further mistake when professionalism and presence of mind turn to personal favours and revenge. Just a phone call away was one of the most intelligent cryptographers and assistant to Commander Trevor Strathmore, Susan Fletcher. When she was canoodling with her dreams and packing to celebrate her anniversary with her beloved, David Becker, the call surprises but shatters her even when the reason is unknown! Their hidden world was about to be exposed and free protection was given to everyone whose emails were encrypted by an agency not miles away. It was just a code away for the whole world to know their secret and create each other’s niche. The Digital Fortress is a techno-thriller that deals with facts and t...

  MayDay! It’s contagious and it’s spreading! Blood has started its journey from inside to outside. With teeth waiting to tear and suck, it’s indeed a different journey when a human meets Vampire. Starting from a different century when we thought monsters didn’t actually exist, Bram Stroker contradicts our belief! Canines protruding, blood-red and plump lips, voluptuous lips, the descriptions of Dracula and its castle is laden beautifully. When all these features are normalized in the beginning, it doesn’t turn horrifying until we start seeing things through Jonathan Harker who came to deal with the Devil! Escaping the clutches and reaching home through an acquaintance as a traumatized person, he takes a promise before marrying the love of his life, Mina Harker! The events that started elsewhere, were spreading through the vampire who comes in every form, starting from fog to a bat. When further discoveries were made by Dr. Van Heslieng and Dr. Jack, they realise that their pat...

  ‘We are the product of our choices but the last wrong decision don’t need to define your life ahead. When the former part plays through the book, the latter is what is contradictory. The last wrong, perhaps, his right decision is the one which turned him into a successful entrepreneur.   Referring himself as a ‘half-baked product’ and a person from the Dark side of the World, he doesn’t restrain himself from the light. Working through his tattered clothes, Balram serves tea, breaks coal and does all local job until he realizes it wasn’t enough. Jumping to a driving job, he pleads and makes his way to his enemy’s house. Treating him as a family man and being paid well, it all tumbles down until his masters betray him. Even though the act itself turned useless, that one act was the bulb for Balram to escape the cage. Foraging and cheating his masters, he makes his own money until he realizes his position and the luxuries he had flaunt to his family. Gnawing on the steel ba...

  It starts off like a whisper of sounds telling the reader, or rather reminding the reader to be careful of Rachel. The delusional and alcoholic character stays as a rotten flower who has been caught up in a labyrinth of her own. Cheated by her husband, caught in a web of lies, unable to conceive, divorced by her husband, being a terminated employee, her ex-husband, new wife and their child in their same house were a long list of what she had lost through the last two years. These plethora of reasons made her stomach turn and her fingers itch when alcohol was denied. But some things of her routine didn’t change due to her best friend who was concerned about her. Travelling like she used to, walking around the streets, her routine goes off like any other work day, when she had a job. Her only relief was the train which carried her back and forth, showing the greenery and scenery. Peeping into a happy person’s life would be a great job if one didn’t have and with a sadistic life li...

  Silence is the best ditty but when silence is the mystery to hide an answer, no ever theory proves to be the same! It has been six years since Alicia murdered the love of her life, Gabriel. Some voices say that she has been victimized, other voices curse her for killing such a sweet and innocent husband. One of the voice who believed that the former was true was her ardent fan and a psychotherapist, Theo Faber. With six years of silence daunting a few, the news became less sensational and now, most of them don’t care to the mental patient, Alicia. Applying to The Grove was Theo’s inner call for Alicia to find out what prompted the victim or what happened. The credit goes to his curious mind and her last painting which reveals so many important things. When Theo gets practical, he gets her to sit face-t-face only to receive silence. No sounds were blocking the psychotherapist, except his own point of views. Yet the tried and tested failure came to life when Alicia attacked her p...

  Exploring life through teenage until she comes out of the vortex is what Preeti Shenoy’s book is all about. It’s a teenage story most of the Indian society including parents and students can relate to. Taking care of the cliché, the author puts into certain nuances which highlights the story. Starting from an era dated back to when there were no phones, the excitement to reach a phone and talk to a friend indeed revives memories of certain times.  Moving on was difficult but if the central character was given a choice, she would ‘shrug’ it off. The fear of getting caught, the mission, excitement, the love, the death etc. is what defines the book till she feels that something has changed in her. From her culmination, she decelerated to suicide, not once or twice but beyond that. Maybe, the shrug had a deeper effect when she wasn’t ready to sort it out with herself. She didn’t realise that every time she left it alone, it created a bigger hole which was scary and amusing to ...

  Catching Fire indeed freezes our brain, raises our adrenaline and makes us sweat, justifying its title as we get burnt by the pages of the book. The Hunger Games is over, the winners have been perched high and they have returned back to their new normal. A new normal where they are being watched through close surveillance by President Snow himself. The coy smell of blood and roses fills Katniss’ nose and she is bound to believe that nothing is over! In fact, the accolades and prizes for winning The Hunger Games had been already given: a position to train the next competitors, their new house along Haymitch’s lane, a victor’s pride tour! But was everything given away when the new duo emerged as the victors instead of One? No! Was everything given away when they started the revolution by their victory in several districts? No! Did they think everything was over when places were blown and people were restrained? No! What awaited them was the Quarter Quell! Well, with the symbol of t...

Wait till the acid pours down and mixes with the blood! You’ve got only 15 minutes on the clock! Run, rush, do it, otherwise you may finally run out! The last 15 minutes of a Grandmaster starts a chase, a hunt! A hunt that informs, retrieves memories and haunts the facts in childhood stories. The charade of a famous symbolist, Robert Langdown and agent Sophie Neveu starts within a few seconds of escape! Nothing more is seen to the police eyes as they hunt the estranged the people! Nothing is seen more clear to the normal human eye yet for the eyes of Sophie Neveu and Robert Langdown, those simple words turns into codes! It goes on and on until a few pages to understand their similarities and contradictions, faults and rights, choices and life! They keep on deciphering the mind-shattering secrets and the codes until they meet deception at their own doors. In the ochre painted background, Robert Brown reveal different persona, each having a different motive and each debunking the truth...

  “God does not test us to see whether we pass or not. In all tests, God wants to bring forth our best and manifest the beauties of our soul.” Prisoner of Tehran is a beautiful memoir of a Christian girl, Marina Nemat who runs us through her horrific memories of Evin. Unsurprisingly, she keeps us thrilled, horrified and expectant even when she wrote the manuscript that burned her from inside. First of all, Was she a rebel? Was she someone who had to be arrested? Only authorities of Evin could answer. Even if they answered, Marina Nemat or most probably, we ourselves would land ourselves in Evin for questioning them. Her childhood flew by her days watching the Caspian sea, allowing herself to indulge in the sea that gifted her beautiful memories. Through her early years, she navigates, reads, learns, cleans, spends time with her grandmother, and falls in love before losing a few rivets that she held close. As the last nail, she gets arrested for suspicion which turns into brutal t...