Grown-up pose by Sonia Lalli – Book Review

Synopsis

Adulting shouldn’t be this hard. Especially in your thirties. Having been pressured by her tight-knit community to get married at a young age to her first serious boyfriend, Anu Desai is now on her own again and feels like she is starting from the beginning.

But Anu doesn’t have time to start over. Telling her parents that she was separating from her husband was the hardest thing she’s ever done—and she’s still dealing with the fallout. She has her young daughter to support and when she invests all of her savings into running her own yoga studio, the feelings of irresponsibility send Anu reeling. She’ll be forced to look inside herself to learn what she truly wants.

My Review

We meet our protagonist of the story, Anusha Desai, a woman in her thirties. She is an Indian who lives in Canada. Anu comes from a closely Knit, tight and cultural family. She falls in love with Neil and marries him. Now she has a beautiful daughter, Kanika. When time passes, Anu realizes that she is not happy with her husband, so she decides to get a divorce.

Later on she finds Ryan, a white man whom she falls in love with but in the middle of the story she understands, he is not the one for her. Now Anu is alone and she is desperate to find her true love.

The story is witty and amazing. I love the setting and how the cultural differences have been brought out. The cultural differences in the two countries bring about different challenges into the life of Anu. But, I was a bit disappointed with the protagonist, because I felt that she tend to run away from problems, rather than discussing them. Anu herself has created such massive problems in her life. If only she discussed them openly with her mother, or her husband, things would have been better.

This aspect actually affected on my idea about the book. The story felt a little tedious, and going in the same direction. Except for that, the rest of the story was amazing and simply loved how it ended.

My Rating

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  3/5 Stars – Fair Enough

That is all for today folks. I hope you enjoyed this review. Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments below. Until the next post,

Stay safe! Stay Blessed!!

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Love after love by Ingrid Persaud – Book Review

Few days back, I completed another audio book, which definitely a five star read.

It is wonderful to see the author and the narrator both are Ingrid Persaud herself. Such a lovely book, so let’s just dive in.

Synopsis

Meet the Ramdin-Chetan family: forged through loneliness, broken by secrets, saved by love.

Irrepressible Betty Ramdin, her shy son Solo and their marvellous lodger, Mr Chetan, form an unconventional household, happy in their differences, as they build a home together. Home: the place where your navel string is buried, keeping these three safe from an increasingly dangerous world. Happy and loving they are, until the night when a glass of rum, a heart to heart and a terrible truth explodes the family unit, driving them apart.

Brave and brilliant, steeped in affection, Love After Love asks us to consider what happens at the very brink of human forgiveness, and offers hope to anyone who has loved and lost and has yet to find their way back.

My Review

The book was way different than what we get to read normally. That is why I called it as a five star read. There are three important characters in the story, namely Betty Ramdin, Her son Solo and their lodger Mr. Chetan. Each chapter of the book is devoted to these three characters.

Betty is a woman with one son, Solo. She had an abusive husband, and even though her husband is long dead, the past still haunts her. Betty’s only concern is her son. We see at the beginning of the novel, Solo is very shy and does not wish to interact with people much. Betty being young (at the beginning of the story), is suffering from loneliness. She gets involved in a few relationships, but they do not work out to her liking.

Enters Mr. Chetan to story and he becomes a lodger in the Ramdin household. But soon, we find out that he becomes a part of the family. He loves Solo like his own son, and they creates a deeper bond. (just like father and son) He falls in love with Betty but he tells her that he is gay. Understanding among them is very deep and with all these mismatches, they live a happy life, like a family.

Like any other family, they come into arguments, disputes and misunderstandings. With each of these having their own life to live, they go through rough patches in life. Finding love, heart-break, but with a lot going on, yet they stand for each other. Fate brings Mr. Chetan’s life to an end, which is the most difficult part to read. As readers, we feel the loss and the heartache of Betty and Solo.

The book is just amazing, and you are being carried out into Trinidad, into the Ramdin- Chetan household. You become a part of that life. I just love how she speaks about cooking and food. Some controversial ideas has been brought out by the book, in a simple manner.  The topic – Love after Love very well suits the story. We see how the characters find one love after the death of another. No character is left alone.

A lovely read with a deeper meaning, controversial ideas brought up in a subtle way. Highly recommend it. If you are listening to the audio book, Ingrid narrates it in a wonderful way. Great work from the author.

My Rating

  5/5 (Stars) Tremendous, I like it very much

 

That is for today folks. Do not forget to leave your thoughts and ideas on the comments below. Subscribe to my blog, to read more reviews.

Until the next post, Stay safe!

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The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella – Book Review

What will happen when a workaholic, city lawyer suddenly becomes a countryside housekeeper?? Yet another wonderful and witty rom-com by author, Sophie Kinsella. Just a spoiler, I am a huge fan of Kinsella’s work and I just love all her books.

I listened to the audio book from audible, which is narrated by Phoebe James.

Synopsis

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership.

Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer–and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope–and finds love–is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back?

My Review

As I mentioned earlier, I love Sophie Kinsella’s books. All this time I read her physical books, but this is the first time I listened to an audio book of her work. It was amazing! The narrator, Phoebe James was brilliant.

We meet our protagonist of the story, Samantha Sweeting, a workaholic, lawyer and city girl. She has nothing in mind but to deal with her work life. She is a brilliant and leading lawyer, who is more focused on building her career. She never makes mistakes. But one fine day, her life changes completely because of one mistake that happens. Her starts to change, when she runs away from the problem, into the countryside, where her new life begins. She learns that life has more meaning to it, rather than working round the clock. I totally admire the character of Samantha, for being strong and courageous.

Her new job as a housekeeper, opens her eyes to a new world and a new life, filled with meaningful living and meaningful relationships. I felt that the book carries a deeper meaning about life. Her personality grows and she learns to appreciate little things in life. Finally, she takes the best decision for her life, even though I wanted Samantha to still be a lawyer.

The audio book was wonderful to listen to. Had so much fun.

 

My Rating

(5/5 Stars) Tremendous, I like it very much

 

Do not forget to share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below. Until the next post stay home, stay safe!!

XOXOX