Finding Juliet - Toffee Review

Book Cover Source: Goodreads

Hello Readers...

Few days back, I saw a post on the Instagram where it was written that "People don't fall in love anymore...they just find temporary attachment who can entertain them". This statement made me crazy and was seriously thinking over it for quite a long time. The book which we are reviewing today gave me the exact same feeling which I felt after reading that Instagram post. So lets begin with the review of today's book, Finding Juliet written by Toffee. Before beginning with the actual review, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Tushti Bhatia from Author Paradise for sending in the book for the review.

Lets quickly have a look at the synopsis and begin with our review.

"

Arjun is a sweet, simple guy who is so unlucky in love that he almost lets go of life. Enter his saviour Krish, who turns him into irresistible flirt, making his life more colorful.  But will he find true happiness or has he lost that opportunity?

Join Arjun as he tries to figure out women and discovers the meaning of love, lust and life...all in his journey of Finding Juliet.

"

The thing which excited me to pick up this book even before reading the synopsis was the cover and the title of the book. I must say, the cover of the book really looks good and goes really well with the theme of the book. Same goes with the title as well. I can't think of any better title that could properly summarize the entire concept of the book. Kudos to the author for selecting such a nice cover and really interesting title for the book.

The next thing I would like to mention is the content as well as the theme of the book itself. This book beautifully highlights the difference between Love, Lust and Life in general and how these three things function and behave in general. I am quite sure, many of us would have gone through a phase where we have infatuation in our teen years and we often misunderstand it as love and start chasing that infatuations so blindly that when the infatuation ceases, we get badly devastated and start lusting. Finding Juliet is a story of a boy who goes through this exact same phase which many of us surely would have gone through and understanding the basic difference between Love and Lust.

The USP of the book is the theme itself. Everyone reading this book can easily relate to the book as many of us have gone through such a feeling. The book is simple, crisp and to the point. Toffee has done really great job in formulating the concept and the content of the book. Kudos for that.

The next thing which I would like to talk about are the characters. The characters are really nice and feels genuine to me. They are definitely not shallow and I seriously liked some of the characters in the book. There are very few central characters in the story which makes it easy for the reader to stay with the story and have a good reading experience.

However, not everything is rosy about the book. I was slightly disappointed in terms of writing and narrating. The writing and the narration could have been a tad better in my frank opinion. The book has really nice beginning and end however it was struggling in the mid section. I started liking the book immediately after reading first few chapters and really enjoyed the first 100 pages of the book. The language used is quite casual and very simple to understand and I am quite sure you will have an instant connection with the story. However, later for some good 50 pages, nothing was quite happening with the story line. The plot was running on the same level with no twists happening. I feel that the author Toffee could have made this part slightly more interesting, as 50 pages out of  total 220 pages with no major plot twists happening can be a serious turn off for the readers.

Also in the exact same section in the mid, there were lots of details missing as many characters were being involved in the story and each of them have a simultaneous story line to be discussed. For eg. When Aditi and Arjun were having the central part in the story, I kept thinking about the Esha and Ruchika's character and their contribution to the story in that particular instant, as both these characters were still there in the plot sequence at that time. These are the minute details which I often look in any book and I felt those things were clearly missing.

But I must say, the author did really well in formulating the end of the book. I actually kind of knew what the end was going to be after reading some 120-130 pages but I really liked the way Toffee has conceptualized and written the end.

So to sum up, for me personally Finding Juliet is a decent book but surely could have been better. You will eventually enjoy reading this book if you are not too picky about the details like me. But yes this book does beautifully clarifies the difference between Love and Lust which the current generation often misinterprets. To rate this book, I would give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. If you are looking to buy this book, here are the links to the Amazon for the same.

Amazon India: Finding Juliet by Toffee

Amazon US: Finding Juliet by Toffee

So that's all for today's review. I hope you would have liked the review. If you do then do hit the like button and share the post among your fellow readers and if you don't then do let me know in the comment section below on your take on the book. If you haven't SUBSCRIBE to the blog yet then do SUBSCRIBE to get all the new posts right into your mail box. Before taking your leave, I would like to share a small poem which was there in the book which I really liked.

"I can see your face,

But I can't see you anymore.

I can look into your eyes,

But I can't read them anymore.

You hold my hand,

But I don't feel the love anymore.

You touch my body,

But you don't touch my soul anymore."

So until next time, this is me Sushant signing off. You guys have a great day.

CIAO.

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Review of Broken Jars, A Fistful Of Dreams

Book Cover Source: Goodreads

Hello Readers...

Often times we look at the societal problems from one side and often ignore the other side of the coin. The book which we are reviewing today does exactly that. Broken Jars: A Fistful Of Dreams is a book written by five authors and highlight the problems which are prevailing in the society. Before beginning with the review, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dolly Koshy for sending the book for the review via goodreads.

So lets start with the review and quickly take a look at the synopsis of the book.

"

Dr. Meghna Goel is a renowned Psychiatrist with an unblemished track record of helping the troubled get back on to their feet. Up until now. This year she is about to face her biggest challenge in the form of seven individuals on the brink of self-destruction or worse.

Razia, a single mother hides a traumatic past. Ahmed is in prison for a heinous crime he has no regrets about. Jivan is burdened under the weight of the dual life he is forced to live. Satyananda, a self-styled Godman believes in justice, swift and cruel. Deepika seeks solace in drugs and sex. Shubham harbors thoughts of revenge and resentment towards a part of society he believes shouldn't exist. Sulochana withers away in silence carrying within  her a terrible secret.

Broken jars, a Fistful of Dreams is a coming together of five authors who weave parallel tale of love, betrayal, injustice and revenge. Issues that plague society are showcased with their inimitable style. The book also takes you on a journey around the metropolitan city Bangalore where the characters currently live and eight places in India where they were born and brought up.

Note: Best enjoyed with a cup of coffee or tea and an open mind.

"

When we grow up, we are often exposed to the bright and better sight of the society. We start having preconceived notions about the society in general and the way in which the society behaves. Anything which doesn't fit into our preconceived notions, we start feeling a sense of awkward demeanor towards that. We start stereotyping things and society in general. This book aims at demolishing these stereotypes and our preconceived notions bringing out the a very different aspect of the human nature in the limelight.

A very interesting about the book is that it is being written by five authors authors in an interesting fashion. The five authors are Amal Charles, Dolly Koshy, Merina Diana Moris, Pinaki Gosh and Shelley Das. All these authors are debut authors and all how done really well in conceptualizing and contemplating the entire story of the book. However, I did feel there was downside to this aspect as well.

The authors have portrayed and narrated the journey of seven people and their stories. For me frankly, it was very difficult to keep up with the details of each and every individual and this kind of wane my interest in the book slightly. I seriously wished that if the authors could have reduced the number of characters in the book it would have been a lot easier for the readers to stay with each and every characters story with confusion.

Also, the transitioning between the characters and there story was not that great as well. Don't get me wrong, the transitioning was not bad but it was also not interesting as well.The transitioning between the characters and their stories could have helped the readers by making it easy for the readers to keep up with the stories of the characters.

However, I must say that the narration and the writing of each of the authors was really nice and considering the fact that all these authors are debutante, they did an amazing job in this aspect.

The USP of the book is undoubtedly the theme of the book. This book touches very sensitive issues which are still prevailing in the society and we kind of keep a deaf year to them. All these sensitive issues are being smartly essayed and portrayed by each and every author of this book. Kudos to all the authors of the book for portrayed such content in such a smart way. To understand the gravity of the issues, it is very much essential that you read this book in a calm environment and have an open mind. So, if you are a person who easily gets offended when their believes are challenged, then this book is not for you.

That was all related to the content of the book. However, I wasn't much impressed with the aesthetic of the book. The book was written in very small font and I felt like I was straining my eyes in order to read the content of the book. The possible reason for this could be to condense the book in a smaller form factor. If written in a proper font, the book could easily be some 500-600 pages long, but right now that much long content is crushed into 280 pages long. Also, I felt that the verses which were written at the start of each and every chapter were misleading. I wished the author could have paid a little more attention to all these aspect which could have made reading this book a much more pleasurable experience.

So to sum up, this book has really interesting and have good content but it lack in some aspect. It was an OK sort of a book for me and surely a one time read. However, I do appreciate the effort and intention of each and every author of this book and approaching the societal problems in such a sensible way. So in case if you want to have a look at book for yourself, here are links to the Amazon from where you can get the copy of the book.

Amazon India: Broken Jars, A Fistful Of Dreams

So, that's it from today. If you have like the review, do hit the like button and share the review among your reading friends. If there are any suggestions for me to improve, do let me know in the comments section, I will really appreciate and in case you haven't SUBSCRIBE to the blog yet, then do SUBSCRIBE to get all the new content right into your mail box.

So until next time, this is me SUSHANT signing off. You guys have a great day.

CIAO.

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