Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020 ~ Nuraine Sadaf ~ 1 Comment

My dear girls, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.

I have been a silent observer of your marvelous life story. How much I adore each one of you, I feel I know you all oh-so immensely. For this, I thank Louisa May Alcott for bestowing upon the world this wonderful, sweet story.

Many moral lessons have been wrapped around each one of my little sisters. How splendidly you’ve all grown to become women of high praise and beauty.

Meg, a girl with many dreams settles with a man who loves her true and deep. You make a wise decision of choosing love over rich fantasies. Regardless, Meg, your two beautiful souls, Daisy and Demi, are worth more than all the riches of the world.

Jo, my love. You are a diamond in the rough. Your strong will, challenging nature, talent, wit, and kindness inspire all the women, one of them being me, to be better than they can ever be. How could you be lonely, when you are surrounded by us who love you so dearly, just the way you are.

Beth, a delicate beauty with a compassionate soul. How the hearts cried to see you in pain and misery. Yet sweet Beth calmed the crumbled hearts like a gentle autumn rain, like a little bird with its many soothing melodies.

Amy, a mischievous little girl grows up to be a charming beauty. How the worldly travels and experiences have turned you into a fine artistic lady. A keeper of Laurie’s heart, you have gotten the best of all, a lifetime of love, happiness, and memories.

Laurie, my sweet lad. You chose Jo for which I will always love you so. It hurt to see your heart break. Guess, it was all for the best. For eventually, you chose happiness and gave me hope that you would not end up being miserable and lonely. You and Amy were meant to be.

No matter the hardships, life has taught the March family, dearest Laurie, and the readers to find happiness in little things and to face difficulties with a smile. This book creates a wonderful imagery by taking you back into the good old world where life was simple and beautiful. The Little Women is about family, love, friendship, and togetherness. This book will always hold a special place in my heart.

Yours Lovingly!

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My Sister, the Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite

March 3, 2020April 14, 2020 ~ Nuraine Sadaf ~ 1 Comment

Crime|Dramedy|Unsettling|Family

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My Sister, the Serial Killer, is a story of two sisters, Korede and Ayoola. Ayoola kills and Korede protects. This pretty much sums up the entire story.

What makes it interesting to read is the unique narration by Oyinkan Braithwaite, where a dark theme is narrated with a comic element. Though a short novel, you cannot help but get involved with the characters.

Korede, the elder sister is a nurse by profession. She is reliable, hard-working, and fiercely protective of her younger sister. At the same time she is also resentful of her sister’s flawless beauty.

Ayoola is a carefree, happy-go-lucky soul who always gets what she wants and she is used to men falling in love with her beauty almost instantly. She is extremely close to her sister and shares all her secrets with Korede, including the murders of her boyfriends.

Every time, Ayoola kills a man, she summons her sister by saying, “Korede, I killed him.” As always, Korede goes running to save Ayoola and tries her best to clean up her mess. But, what happens when Korede’s long love interest, Tade, falls for Ayoola’s beauty too? Will she save her sister or Tade?

My Sister, the Serial Killer, is Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel. It is a dark comic fictional story which is easy to read and the story flows really well. At first, you feel the storyline does not progress beyond Ayoola’s beauty, how she is the favorite child, and Korede though being smart always feels worthless. But soon, the story picks up pace, a lot more characters come into the picture and the story evolves.

When Korede finds out that, “More than three murders makes you a serial killer”, she is clearly frightened and worried for her sister. Ayoola’s merry disposition after committing the crimes makes it all the more weird. Introducing another character in the story, Muhtar – a coma patient, who is Korede’s only source of comfort and companion with whom she shares all her secrets and thoughts.

My Sister, the Serial Killer, deals with crime, loyalty, love, an abusive father, and gender roles. This tale also has undertones of self-worth, dependency and frustration with Korede always feeling that she is a step behind Ayoola. It is about family-ties, where both the sisters feed off each other and are equally guilty of their crimes. Ayoola for committing them and Korede for hiding them. Like the author herself says, “They are two sides of the same coin.” This book is a quick, fun, and interesting read.

Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens

February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 ~ Nuraine Sadaf ~ 1 Comment

Heart-felt|Drama|Mystery|Feel Good

One morning, Kya wakes up and watches her mother walk out of the door and she knows life will never be the same again. Where the Crawdads Sing is a story of a young girl left alone in an isolated marshland and an intriguing murder mystery of Chase Andrews.

Catherine Danielle Clark, commonly known as Kya, is the main protagonist. This six-year old girl learns to survive alone in the marshland when her dysfunctional family abandons her at an early age. The murder investigation is of handsome Chase Andrews, who is a popular kid in the neighborhood and his association with Kya, ends up making her a prime suspect. It is typical for readers to feel pity for Kya, however, author Delia Owens’ beautiful narration conveys how every weakness contains within itself a strength.

This fictional novel is written by debut author Delia Owens whose extensive knowledge in nature, wildlife, birds, and of course marshlands creates a beautiful imagery. It makes the book all the more interesting to read as it takes you closer to nature and you can truly experience Kya’s adventures and her intense connection with the natural world.

The growth of Kya’s character and the murder investigation gives this book a powerful and engrossing storyline. Your heart goes out to Kya when she waits in vain for her family to return. During times of loneliness and trouble Kya always relies on nature, her seagulls, and birds for companionship and solace. Then, Tate comes in the form of hope, who remains by Kya’s side as a friend, a great support, a mentor and a companion. When Kya gets a little confident, she meets Chase Andrews and tries to explore the other side of the world, until the unthinkable happens. This book takes you on a journey of emotions, there is sadness, fear, joy, pride, passion, love, hope, and peace. It is a wonderful tale of a “Marsh Girl”, a murder and nature’s secrets.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a fantastic piece of work and it is difficult to put down the book once you get into its world. I wanted to remain in it and did not want the story to end. All the hype about this novel is true, it is a must-read!

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

January 6, 2020January 12, 2020 ~ Nuraine Sadaf ~ 2 Comments

#BookReview

The book Asymmetry by the new author Lisa Halliday evoked many mixed emotions. I couldn’t say I really liked the book neither can I say that it was terrible.

The book started off really well with Mary-Alice, a young editor, sitting at a park bench beside a supposedly popular writer. His identity is hidden for the first ten pages. However, when the “famous writer” Ezra Blazer’s name is thrown randomly in the middle of the story, it makes you wonder why was his identity hidden if he was going to be introduced so lamely.

The absurd relation between the aged writer, Ezra and Mary-Alice can sometimes be uncomfortable to read when the author writes so crassly about their intimate moments like when Alice asks Ezra over a phone call if he wants to meet for a “Fucky Fuck?”. Some parts in the book just lack refinement, there is a paragraph on farts, a random woman retching in the subway, and many such weird inclusions that are absolutely unnecessary.

Asymmetry includes three parts: Folly, Madness, and Ezra Blazer’s Desert Island Discs.

Folly is mostly about the confused relation between Ezra and Alice. Madness gives an insight about the Iraq war and the daily struggles of Iraqis. The last part in the book is an elaborate interview of Ezra Blazer who discusses his personal life, his experiences and interests.

There are certain extracts in the book which are interesting to read and well-written. However, the book is extremely abstract, it lacks character development and makes it hard for the readers to connect with the story. Also, the exhaustive details about the unimportant characters in the book makes it very tedious to read.

The concept of including the difficult circumstances of Iraq, the war, and the determined efforts and hopes of Iraqis to achieve peace was interesting to read but somewhere the story again loses it’s impact when the author switches back and forth from the past to the present to the memories of the characters, and to the detailed unnecessary descriptions. I was hoping till the end that there would be some kind of an obvious link between the three parts of the book and that the characters, Mary-Alice, Ezra, and Mr. Jafaari would somehow get connected but the story just ended and left me disappointed. The author’s attempt of writing about justice, power, and geography turned out to be more of a mess and confusion.

*If you have read the book, Asymmetry and liked it and can give me an insight about something that I could have possibly missed in appreciating the book, then please comment below and share your thoughts. I would love to know what you think about the book.

The Stormlight Archive – Fangirl Alert!

November 24, 2019January 12, 2020 ~ Nuraine Sadaf ~ Leave a comment

#BookReview

I held the third book of The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson and my hands trembled.

It has been a storming journey these past few months with The Way of Kings and The Words of Radiance. A significant part of me now belongs in the realm of the Shattered Plains with Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Szeth, and Jasnah Kholin. There hasn’t been an idle moment in my regular life because even when I am not reading the books, I am thinking about Shardblades, Highstorms, Chasms, Sprens, Parshendi, and of course Kaladin! Sometimes absent-mindedly when I feel low on energy I take in a deep breath hoping I could suck in some stormlight to come alive.

What can we say about Sanderson’s mastery on Worldbuilding, this imaginary world is tremendous and fantastic. It seems more real to me than my everyday life! Yeah, like summoning a Shardblade in ten seconds, feeling overjoyed when Kaladin learns the Lashings and runs with the winds, or learning how highstorms can infuse dun spheres with stormlight, did not sound surprising to me they are totally believable, and of course the concepts blew my mind.

The personalities of the protagonists are so charismatic and powerful that no amount of praise or superlatives can do them justice. At times when I am sad or in pain, I remember the struggles of Kaladin and I instantly feel better. I seek him for strength and hope. I am a beginner at sketching but every time I sit down to sketch, I feel like Shallan. I would like to believe we have similar personalities, you see! When I come across dishonorable, immoral and sinful humans, I feel hopeful thinking honor might be dead but we still have Dalinar around. I might sound crazy, but this is the kind of influence the characters have upon me. I absolutely love them and adore them. They are mine – Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth, Dalinar, and Jasnah Kholin! ALL MINE, extra love for Kaladin tho.

Now, that I am proceeding on to the next book of the series, I experience an unexplainable fear and hesitation to start. I know that I will not be disappointed by the author but as a reader I hope I continue to be at my imaginary best to thoroughly be consumed by the third book of The Stormlight Archive – The Oathbringer!

I must be truly Stormblessed to have found this epic work of art, a real masterpiece! Thank you Brandon Sanderson! *_*

“Life before Death

Strength before Weakness

Journey before Destination”