Tag: Romance

Green Dot

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By Madeleine Gray

Hera is a 24 year old woman, who holds 3 degrees, probably because she doesn’t want to work. Maybe this is not the best way to describe Hera. Let me start again.

Hera is a 24 year old woman, who is trying hard to figure out what she wants out of life, her life. She has no interest in working, unlike her friends. And ends up pursuing more degrees to evade from it. She is a smart girl, who is self-aware. But she doesn’t get along the ways how the world works.

A Short Summary

She then decides, she still can’t pose studying and applies for a job. It is a content moderator job, in a newspaper firm. And she gets it. Her boss Alison, has been working for so long in the same job, that she has kind of become mechanical on how stuffs should work in the office. There is a clear divide in the office between the journalists and the content moderators. Hera doesn’t like any inch of this place or the job, but finds Mei Ling’s company in internal IM rather helpful in crossing each day.

She shares a close relationship with her dad. Her dad is one of the most pleasant characters the book has to offer. The three of them, along with Jude, their dog, have a warm home. Hera’s social circle works for hang outs, but she is most close to Soph and Sarah, among the women nothing stays a secret.

Hera meets Arthur in her office, who is a journalist and starts talking to him. Things develop between the two interestingly. Hera quickly becomes the other woman and the tone is set for the rest of the book.

It’s about….

Green Dot goes further along the lines of Hera’s love, adultery, confusion and self introspection.

Hera is left with a constant chaotic spiral. Throughout all this, she still has her friends and her dad caring for her and supporting her, irrespective of the bad decisions she ends up taking. How she tackles incessant disappointments and guilt, takes decisions – the role of her feelings in them and the consequent events lay down the trajectory of the story.

Green Dot is a very interesting read, if you like reading about the affairs, desolation and dry humor.

Personally, this is my first book of such a theme, and it left me wondering often. It gave me new perspectives of things I have never given a thought before. The coming of age story seems pretty normal in the first few chapters and goes on to become a heart-wrenching one.

Madeleine Gray has done a great job in creating an introspecting novel, with her attempt to nail down every sentence to perfection.

Rating: 4/5

Cleopatra and Frankenstein

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By Coco Mellors

This is a debut novel by the author.

I started of thinking if this is a romance novel. The story starts with the meet-cute and that is highly unlikely for a romantic novel. And hence this book is. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is more than romance, it is more than a relationship, but it dwells deeper into the aspects of life and the people it is embedded with.

Cleo is an art student from London, who lives in US and she might have to leave the country sooner and that’s when she meets Frank and they talk, flirt and like each other. Six months in, they get married. There is a constant doubt in the air whether they married for love or out of desperation. Frank is 40-something ad exec, while Cleo is trying to figure out an identity for herself.

The dynamics of their individual lives is already a lot, let alone the life they try to work out together. Cleo’s friendship with Quentin doesn’t make things easier. She had the longest friend in him. But, the perception of his life makes Quentin even more hard to work with. He tries to establish a status around Cleo, on how his friendship with Cleo will never be matched by any relationship of hers, be it her marriage.

It starts from a point where Quentin tries desperately to suppress his feelings to being immature about them. His hold on drugs and sabotaging relationships makes things go even more harder to restore to normalcy and adds on to Cleo’s plate. The uncertainty grappling both of them, makes their friendship go more incomprehensible.

Zoe, Frank’s sister tries to find her place in Frank’s life after his marriage to Cleo. She is studying and is monetarily dependent on Frank. Cleo wants to have a friendly relation with Zoe, for she feels Zoe can understand her more than any of the people in Frank’s circle because of their age as well as she knows how important is Zoe to Frank. Zoe and Cleo share a bond, but which the author fails to take it any further.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein’s side characters had a vivid life with too many details, but it misses when they just disappear as side characters. The author was trying to show how everyone in this world made sense but actually couldn’t make it to a point. Eleanor and a possible affair, completely drives the plot to a whole another path. I liked how Eleanor’s life was written in first person, it is hard to not like Eleanor. She is a simple 30-something woman who is still figuring out her life with her own set of obstacles.

Sometimes, it felt like Coco really liked the side characters and she went on talking about them and suddenly gets reminded of whom the book is about and returns back to them. But it is hard to not fall in love with them, so who am I to blame !

The plot was too short, too chaotic to give them a space to fill. It encompasses on relationship, marriage, friendships sometimes complicated, trauma and separation. But it was a whole less soup with many ingredients. They were flavorful, yes, but could have had much more as well.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an interesting read, you can take up your cup of coffee and enjoy the drama it has to unfold. Would have loved it more, if for less sway.

Rating: 4/5

Adelaide

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By Genevieve Wheeler

Before delving into the review of this book, I would like to take a moment to applaud myself for reading a romance novel, well something close to the genre after being slapped by a book I didn’t like of the same genre.

I am just feeling good about myself that, even though I decided maybe romance books are not my cup of tea, and I would only end up enjoying non fiction or maybe thriller books, I still was open to books that are not in my comfort zone. And sometimes, as they say when you step out of your comfort zone is when you realize the true beauty the world has to offer.

Adelaide was one such beauty the literary world has to offer. It is primarily about Adelaide Williams’ relationship with Rory Hughes, but also makes sure the readers are told enough about the characters, to understand the decisions and the reactions when something occurs. It is a no surprise book, as for me, it doesn’t make us feel dumb, it won’t let us wonder, what is going on!

The narrative is not exactly linear, but in glimpses we get to understand the past of the protagonist. Adelaide, true to its name, concentrates on Adelaide, her understanding of the relationship, while also providing an overhead narration of Rory’s behavior, so the reader can take a chill backseat and witness the drama that unfolds.

But, the book does a very good job in having the readers’ hand at the edge of the page to immediately turn without wasting a millisecond to know what happens next.

You have to love fiercely, and unselfishly, and with intention. It’s the only way.

Mental Health

The book begins with the chapter that stresses on mental health, the events of Adelaide’s life and how she handles it, how hard she strives to establish an ounce of stability is very thought provoking.

Life is not a pond. It doesn’t come with cute little water birds and lilies, but it’s an ocean that comprises of huge whales, sharks and deep sea currents. But it sure does house cute jellyfish or oysters.

Adelaide has her ups and downs, she feels each of them very strongly. At twenty-six, she moves to another continent from her home and pursues her masters. Life has a lot for her in shelves. When she gets to unravel them, she is sure surprised and shocked; delighted and depressed; surfs through and gets stuck, sometimes, of course.

Closing Thoughts

I don’t want to give a label to this book, giving a clear picture of what to expect. I don’t believe in labeling stuffs when it makes me feel something and makes me question even further. I often feel labeling might make it look like it is tangible. But, when we are unable to make up our mind about what is that I feel, we get to feel even deeper.

Adelaide made me feel deeper. In a very easy to read narrative, Genevieve did a great job in writing a heart-felt novel.

LOVE ONLY COMES IN WHOLE

Sometimes it’s the very less combination of simple words that provokes something within us to empathize with the world.

Rating: 4.5

Image credits: https://genevieveewheeler.files.wordpress.com/

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

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Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is not a review article. It contains spoilers, and this article is focused on my thoughts on the plot and the characters. So, if you are here looking if you should read this book, I would say, go for it, if you like good writing, dramatical romance and elegant, hubris and well-defined characters. Please don’t read this further if you haven’t already read the book or if you don’t want to read any spoilers.

Evelyn Hugo

She is one sophisticated woman. She is strong, courageous, gentle, kind woman, who has meticulously planned her life. On the other hand, she could have been nurtured, helped, accompanied, rather than left all alone. To figure out the world on your own, without any hints and help from anyone is a lot for anyone, let alone a woman in 60’s, whose dreams are too big.

She is lucky that she has a leverage with her beautiful and perfect face, along with a body that men long to bed with and women long to get for themselves, if you describe the world where sexuality is black and white. Since it is not, Evelyn was a dream to everyone who wanted to share their bed with her.

This is how she enters the world, nothing but her beauty. She is not a booksmart girl or a conservative girl. All she had was the urge and the fire in herself to achieve what she wanted and what her mother longer for, before she left the world, leaving young Evelyn Herrera behind. Her personality shaped by her childhood is so nuance and deep.

Taylor didn’t let readers to dwell on her foundation a lot. She made that very short and let Evelyn speak for herself when she describes how her life turned out to be and what were the various impacts of her origin throughout the journey, with an amazing set of words. Bare with me, for all through this article, I am going to speak highly of Taylor’s writing, because it was a book tough enough, to leave it alone, once I had started reading. It’s been so long since I was hooked to a book in this way. I don’t like romance books in general. Though this book is categorized in romance, it is clearly more than that. The impactful story narration by Evelyn leaves you mesmerized with the words and her life.

For me, there are many places where I have felt sad by the world’s structure, mostly by the people inhabiting it.

I’m just saying it’s not so great being loved for something you didn’t do.

Why didn’t Evelyn have friends?

I know Harry was her best friend. But, isn’t it sad to think that the only one friendship she could have was with a homosexual man? Since Evelyn found herself attracted to men and a woman, she labelled herself bisexual after all the years. Why was no one just friends with Evelyn, why did everyone of them had a huge desire for her body over her heart. There is other way of looking, yes, that Evelyn somehow valued herself with the same metric, that she is valuable only because of her beauty and attractiveness. But it was all when she was young and wanted to etch her name in Hollywood. She also learned acting to mark herself; she didn’t bet only her beauty. She did all for her job, which would get her fame. Later during the Vivant photoshoot, we could clearly understand that, it was because of her that she was there and not totally because of her beauty and her body.

When she was starting a family with Harry or after that, why could no one see her for her and not who she was, and just the image that she established for her work and fame. This is fiction, but it is highly likely that an attractive woman could go about her life without having one true friendship without any desire involved. In plain simple words, I was longing for a straight man to be her best friend, to know her completely, to whom she could share all that she was hiding her whole life, without having to sleep with each other.

Don’t get me wrong, Harry is wonderful. He is an amazing friend to Evelyn. Even when he lost the love of his life, he got up, to get his friend the Oscar she has longed for right from the beginning of her career. It’s very hard to be up and about for others when the ship you are in has sunk so deeper, that all you can now see is the darkness around, and somehow you want to find solace in the same, because there is purely nothing under the sunlight that can possibly excite you anymore.

All is fair in love and war.

Yes, life is not fair to anyone and of course, Evelyn is no exception. She got the fame and the money which she wanted when she was 15 and under false pretenses married her first husband. So, yes she didn’t play by the rules of being fair. But when Don Adler hits her and there is a consensus that women, even when they were sort of high in the ladder of the society can’t talk about it to anyone or out the person who did that, is very painful and annoying to take in.

Is it even fair to hit the person when they are in love with that person. It can be labelled as a behavioral pattern that the individual has to address. But, how does a heart heal from the bruises, when it has only been red with the roses that bloomed once. Is it really fair in love? It is tough, it is very tough to be locked up in that situation. Evelyn had to create a name for herself before going separate ways and she has to stay locked up for a while. Even when she finally could not bear with it, and went free, she was partly locked up in a life that others created for her. She got the house and the money which is not a rock-bottom from which she made here before. But, why has she got to struggle? It’s not fair, is it? And it is painful to witness that.

The Evelyn Hugo

After all that she has gone through, losing her best friend and her lover, later her daughter. To live the last days of life, without loved ones’, she was still the courageous Evelyn Hugo. No matter how many times the tabloids name her sexpot, the way she paid less attention to it as time proceeded, creates a longing if and only if, everyone realizes it soon enough. There is not much to gain from a scandal than a few gossips that last for a chit-chat but it creates a loss of lives, true and genuine lives to be led on the same earth as the people who enjoy the scandal.

The notion of false narrative and narrow-mindedness sickens the soul when it knows all this is meaningless when it comes to the D-day.

Why the mankind (I wonder why we have this word to indicate human race, though?!), let me correct, the humans have to care so much about glamor, beauty, fame and gossips, if it ends up hurting people, rather than rejoicing everyone involved. Why are the pillars so high, that once it is reached, it should feel as if a level has been unlocked and why the onlookers should astonish the sheer act of reaching the hill top. Why is it a hill?

These are some of the questions that rose in my mind, after reading the book.

There are a quite a lot of thoughts, which I have not mentioned here. If possible, let me write another one.

I don’t want to give this a rating, it has made me think a lot on many things, a mere number would not signify anything I feel.

I don’t expect anyone else to feel the same about this book, it was purely my thoughts on this book. It may or may not be ground breaking for you. But, happy to know what you feel.

Featured image courtesy: www.simonandschuster.com

Book Lovers

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By EMILY HENRY

I haven’t read much of romance novels. But the title of this book makes it very hard to turn away though this is not my usual genre.

Emily points out all of the cliches portrayed by the romance novels, through Nora Stephens, the protagonist and narrator of the story, and tries to put forth a different perspective.

Nora is a career oriented woman, whose boyfriend broke up with her recently, for a woman he met in a small town, which he visited for reasons of business. Nora is a literary agent, and she loves her job. She thinks, the big city lads visit a small town and falls-in-love romances are what’s happening in her life right now, but she is the woman whom the man leaves.

This perspective was very repetitive, but it was quite refreshing that someone acknowledges there is not only a bed of roses, after all in the genre of romance.

Nora meets Charlie Lastra, the editor who refuses to work with once in a lifetime, her client’s work. Charlie and Nora cross each other in their first meet. But, less would they know, their interaction would not cease.

Libby, sister of Nora, who is pregnant with her third child, wants a getaway from all the responsibilities and the stress for a while, especially when she needs to tend to her three children soon. She is an ardent fan of once in a lifetime. She plans a vacation to the sunshine falls, described in her favorite book, with her sister along with a list of experiences that are to be undergone very seriously to have all of the small-town vacation/novel vibe.

Nora misses her sister so much. After their mother’s demise, things have changed certainly, though none of them quite explicitly states it. So, she agrees to the trip, though it doesn’t throw a least bit of excitement upon her.

She bumps across Charlie in the small town, who later confesses that he hails from the town and is here now in order to take upon his family business, since his mother’s hands are full in helping his father after his illness.

Nora and Charlie hit it off, but it is not a smooth ride. They have their own responsibilities and hurdles and each of them are not sure, if their lives would pave way to stay together.

This book is all about the journey of the two souls, with it’s usual chirpiness. It was a pleasant, relaxing read.

Rating: 3.5/5

Featured Image credits: bookbub

ALL RHODES LEAD HERE

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BY MARIANA ZAPATA

It truly was an amazing journey for Aurora as well as me. When Aurora De La Torre breaks up with her popular boyfriend Kaden, she goes back to finding and doing things for herself and for her mom. The things which would have made her mom so proud.

The book tore me up at a particular instant.

Mariana justified every word of her writing. It feels like I had travelled with Aurora all along, all through her breakup, her return to her hometown, her hikes and her discoveries on so many good and bad stuffs.

I can literally quote everything in this book and admire Mariana for bringing them up. But I am biased and I am just going to quote one of my favorite set of words.

I think I’m more scared of the people I care about dying than I am of myself.

It takes a lot of heart to go on and take up a new life, after believing someone was going to be always by the side and they won’t be anymore. Incase of Aurora, it was a whopping fourteen years. The enormous heartbreaks she had to go through to accept what was happening and the courage with which she went through all the mess they made up with her parting can never be truly expressed.

With all the bits and pieces she had, aiming to have something for herself in her thirties, with a good heart, Aurora was truly a light in the dark sky. And there are many more warm sources of light in the same sky we live under is a warm feeling that the book leaves you with. Be it, Rhodes, Amos, Clara, Jackie, Mr. Nez, Walter and I am pretty sure I am not even listing all the names.

I was hesitant about this book, since it was kind of bigger than the books I usually read. And now, I am glad I did and it will always have a special place in my heart.

All Rhodes Lead here had an account of everything, resiliency after a break up, coping with grief, parenting and all the unjustifiable regrets we have of life.

It takes you to the world slowly that you can sit back relaxedly and allow it do the wonders. I would recommend reading this book even if you are not a fan of this genre (romance, fiction)

My rating: 4.9/5

Featured Image courtesy: https://ebooksduck.com/