Book review of ‘A Walk in the Rain’ by ‘Udai Yadla’

BLURB

Love is a poison that kills you. Love is an elixir that keeps you alive.

A story of an introvert, caught in a brawl,  who finds himself in the company of a well mannered, intelligent, courageous, full-of-self-pride yet a money monger prostitute on a long trip of vengeance. The trip will constantly take introvert Sunny to his beautiful past while taking prostitute Saloni to her ill-fated troubled past. Destiny brings them together for a purpose. A walk in the rain is an intricate tale of intense emotions that come out during the trip – full of action and thrill, twists and mysteries, love and redemption.

REVIEW

Attractive cover. Decent blurb. Good reviews on Amazon & Goodreads.

First Look : Passed

Prologue didn’t fit in much.

Climax and End gives this book an edge.

Interesting plot, good imagination. But a great work ruined by poor work of editing, proof reading.

OVERALL RATINGS : 3.5 / 5

Book review of ‘A walk in the rain’

D = Detailing to work.  Score : 3/5

The lead characters – Sunny and Saloni – are described in great detail. The book revolves around their past and covers minute details. The locations covered were not relatable and hence required better description.  However, the core of the book – Sunny’s relusive nature and Saloni’s troubled past are beautifully interwoven with emotions that gradually change over time.

R = Realistic weaving of the fiction.  Score : 4/5

The story was not set in relatable locations which weakened reader connect. Having said that, emotions were nicely weaved to add flavour of reality. The chats of a prostitute and young lad, humane side of people involved in prostitution, etc. potrayed dark side of our society.

O = Organized.  Score : 3.5/5

Poorly organized. The story has a timeline which goes unnoticed because of poor editing and structure. One can follow the sequence of events taking place in the story most of the times, but may lose track when Sunny suddenly drifts into past.

P = Plot and Characters. Score : 4.5/5

Plot kept me engaged inspite of no. of issues in the narration and editing. Strong character buildup of Sunny, Sandy and Saloni, simultaneous involvment of supporting characters -Pooja, Sam and Imran helped the plot in many ways.The plot had moments of crime and brawls, smart ideas, action sequences, strong climax and stronger end, aniticipated twist towards the end, etc. It’s a perfect bollywood match drapped in artistry.

S = Story Telling. Score = 3/5

OK narration with poor dialogue delivery and description. Monologues of Sunny did good enough to help a reader understand a reclusive’s mind. It is always difficult to potray an introvert in narration. Any book on love, romance or troubled past is expected to have good one liners that remain etched in the minds of readers for long. However, that did not happen with this book. One strong positive in story telling was the frequent transition from present to past and nostalgia involving some beautiful memories from childhood.

Overall,  better narration, lesser grammatical and spelling errors, and better dialogues could have made this book Udai Yadla’s masterpiece. What Udai Yadla missed was a good editor.

It’s a one time read for new readers.

Thank you Writersmelon for sending me this book.

 

 

 

 

Finding Juliet by Toffee

BLURB

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 an irresistible flirt, making his life more colourful. 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

REVIEW

Definitely a book to spend an evening with! ‘Finding Juliet’ is book for train journeys. Indeed I completed it during my train travel.

I believe youngsters will relate to Arjun and keep turning pages till they reach the end. Engrossing. Indeed, the writer pulled of a Durjoy Dutta in the initial chapters. It reminded me of ‘The Backbenchers’ series.

Finding Juliet by Toffee Book Review

DROPS FRAMEWORK FOR FICTION – Created by Smit Kothari D=Detailing to work R=Realistic weaving of the fiction O=Organized or structured story line P=Plot and Characters S=Story telling Book Review : Finding Juliet

D = Detailing to work.  Score : 3/5

Arjun turns from an ordinary guy to a cool, irresistible flirt. His conversion to flirt is described in great detail. The chapter ‘enlightenment’, based on Krish’s advice on women to Arjun, is beautifully written. The author’s choice of words tell us how he understands women psychology deeply. The core of the book – Arjun’s personality change and dilemma of love, lust and life – is discussed in great depth.

R = Realistic weaving of the fiction.  Score : 3.5/5

The story is set in Hyderabad and Bangalore mostly. Use of places like Charminar, Hussain Sagar lake, pubs, shopping and dining places fits well to the storyline. The bomb blasts also add an interesting element to the story. These small patches of real details add essence to this fiction drama. In fact every guy can relate to the lead character Arjun.

O = Organized.  Score : 4/5

Organized in 2 acts, the story gives us two different Arjun – the geek and the flirt. But we are what we are. A drastic change may temporarily be welcomed, but then you start missing your old self. The sequence of events and flow of emotions go well with the story. Anjali, Arjun’s childhood friend, stays through the entire plot and keeps returning at the right moments.

P = Plot and Characters. Score : 4/5

Friends, True Friends, Girlfriends, Crush, Mentor – Characters are lively. Amazing how these simple characters have weaved a story so real. Almost everyone has a true female friend, childhood friends, college friends and colleagues. Connect with each of these set of friends is different. One can totally relate these strong connections between the characters.

Distinctively, you also realize in the story how you lose friends with time – some gets filtered, some voluntarily leaves and some by circumstances. But true ones remain there, irrespective of time.

S = Story Telling. Score = 4.5/5

Dialogues, description, monologue and lyrics – so perfect that I would love to keep some of those in my Goodreads quote section. One can relate to every statement made on love, lust and life- as if taken from your heart and put in the book.

“Maybe there is some insane pleasure in self-destruction and hitting rock bottom because once you reach there, you can only go up.”

“Behind every person there lies a story which makes them what they are. Many a time, the story isn’t known to anybody.”

And some simple, touching lines

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.

All I can say is I completed this book in one go and it was great to spend an evening musing over this book.

Thank you writersmelon.com and Toffee for this book.