Book Review : When Our Worlds Collide

Blurb View:

Image Courtesy: Amazon

Akriti has led a pretty much sheltered life.
Zayn has been shuttled from city to city when he was growing up.
She is comfortable watching her life from the sidelines.
He wants to feel rooted to a place he can call ‘home’.
They meet each other quite by chance.
And both seize the chance to be someone they both need in their lives:
For Zayn, it’s a ‘Partner-In-Crime’.
For Akriti, someone who just knows how to be there for her…
When their worlds collide,
It is not what either of them expected it to be.
Zayn has a steady girlfriend. And Akriti has a crush on him.
What happens these two become friends?
The biggest adventure of their lives? Or the road to heartbreak?
What happens when two completely different people collide?
Do they become friends? Or, is their friendship doomed from the start?
‘When Our Worlds Collide’ is the story of two twenty-three-year olds,
Who are finally growing up and finding their feet in the world.
A tale of friendship and love, crushes and betrayals, messes and second chances,
Marriage and divorce… and the elusive happily ever after!

Review:

Aniesha Brahma has been a steady writer of romance. I’ve read all her books now, this one even before its release! Romance for young adults doesn’t need to be cheesy and Aniesha is one of those rare YA writers in India whom you can trust not making it cheesy.

You begin with an interesting line in the preface –

‘It’s not always about the happy ending, sometimes it’s about the story.’

I loved it, as I believe in it. Happy endings have cliche to such an extent that people have stopped liking stories that don’t have one. But it’s the story that matters at the end, not the ‘happy ending.’

Continue reading →

Book Review : The Guitar Girl

Blurb View:

Image Courtesy: b00kr3vi3ws

Sixteen year old Rhea Shah never thought that she would find herself falling for her brother’s best friend, Joy Fernandez, when they come home from college. Because she never thought that the dork who used to go to school with them would suddenly reinvent himself in college.

The only people she’s able to talk to about her absurd crush, are her best friends, Sophie and Arjav. Both of whom at first encourage, and then almost blackmail, Rhea to confess her feelings, which leaves the poor girl more muddled than ever!

Plagued with upcoming Board Examinations along with her friends’ suggestions, Rhea finds it difficult to concentrate, because she’s fallen for Joy, hook, line and sinker. In an attempt to vent to her feelings, she begins a blog, where she publishes all her songs and poems, dedicated to Joy, keeping her identity a secret.

But things do not go quite how she planned when a certain blogger named J. Fern begins to read her blog, and wishes to work with her…

Will Rhea ever confess her feelings to Joy? And will Joy find out the real identity of The Guitar Girl?

Review:

How many times have you revisited childhood reading a book and felt familiar? Aniesha takes us to that precious time of our lives where each one of us has had crushes and infatuations, knowingly or otherwise, for people they know or just random strangers, at school or in their neighbourhood. We’ve all tried to ignore them, or fallen hopelessly in love, discussed them with our best friends or siblings, and hoped for more, some day.

The Guitar Girl is Rhea Shah, who has a pesky elder brother and his handsome college friend Joy Fernandez who she falls for when she’s sixteen. Yes, such things happen mostly at sixteen. Joy was a dorky senior in school who turned hot in college and stunned his best friend’s little sister. We also meet Rhea’s best friends – Sophie and Arjav – who turn a couple later. There are ample teen elements in the story, love, maths, economics, homework, study sessions and love again. Young love is tender and Aniesha explores it quite deftly.

Continue reading →

Author Interview : Aniesha Brahma

This one’s for all young readers and for the ones who love romance. Who doesn’t like to read a novel romance novel? A good debut is something to cherish for, especially when it comes from a (then) college student.

Image Courtesy: Google

Brief blurb:

Eight years ago, she was the teenager he would use to get out of boring parties. But now, he is stunned to see her grown up.

He decides to delay his marriage by getting into a false engagement with her. Then he falls in love with someone else and she forces him to move on. He comes back to her, but she’s determined not to take him back…

…Join Tanveer ‘Veer’ Bhattacharya and Larissa ‘Jasmine’ Chakraborty as they embark on a journey which questions relationships, friendships and makes one wonder… how long would it take for love to eventually find a way?

Here’s Aniesha Brahma, the author of The Secret Proposal live and candid for you. Read my review of the book here.

———————–

Conversation:

Image Courtesy: Author

Welcome, Aniesha. It’s a pleasure having you here for a little chat.

Thank you, Priyanka di. 🙂 I’ve been looking forward to this interview!

How does it feel being a published author at a not-so-ripe age of 22?

I signed the contract when I was 22. I turned 23 by the time the book hit the markets and it was a little overwhelming….all through my MA days, I wanted to be published before I passed out of University. I drove almost anyone who was close to me during those days up the wall…with my endless talk about the book. As for how I feel…it feels really good. But I know I still have miles to go.

What made you write about Tanveer and Larissa? Who are they in real life? Why did you particularly choose them for your book?

Tanveer is based partly on my friend’s childhood crush and mine too. They’re different people. We sat and swapped stories about childhood crushes…I was impressed she had a crush for eight long years and yet did nothing about it. My crush too provided the background for Tanveer…but his character was based on someone I’d seen from close quarters. Someone who has loved taking me for a ride on every single opportunity he got.

Continue reading →

Book Review : The Secret Proposal

Image Courtesy: Google

Blurb View:

Eight years ago, she was the teenager he would use to get out of boring parties. But now, he is stunned to see her grown up.

Would a grand gesture from him make her believe otherwise?

And how do you know that your knight in shining armour has been standing right next to you?

Join Tanveer ‘Veer’ Bhattacharya and Larissa ‘Jasmine’ Chakraborty as they embark on a journey which questions relationships, friendships and makes one wonder… how long would it take for love to eventually find a way?

Review:

To be very honest, what attracted me to this novel is definitely not the cover, which seemed pretty teenage at first look. Ah well, its a fairy tale, which then justifies the dreamy cover. What lured me was the unusual fusion of the protagonist names. Surely, very few people in my generation are called Tanveer Bhattacharya or Larissa Chakraborty. A quick look at the author bio revealed her student status and I was interested to know about the Veers and Jasmines of the second decade into this millennium.

The story begins interestingly as the blurb promises. Tanveer and Larissa meet after eight years and rediscover their so-called acquaintance. It is a complex story, then. Both the protagonists fall in and out of love with each other. The characterization is easy, though the situation might seem complex to some of the readers.

Continue reading →