Book Review : Watch me disappear by Diane Vanaskie Mulligan

Title: Watch me disappear
Author: Diane Vanaskie Mulligan
ISBN: 9781478311287
Price: Rs171.30
Page:187
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Review copy @ RABT
Buy Watch me disappear from amazon.com



Summary:
This is a tale of Lizzie a senior who is struggling up with a life to start up in a new school...Her journey of learning that goes through twists and turns in company of some good friends and few and so good...

Review:
This is again a high school novel... An easy breezy read through Lizzie's life taking us through a cascade of events of high school..Lizzie hates to start all over again as a senior in a new school..With a highly ambitious father she is been on the run from school to school coping up with his peaking career...As the days progresses Lizzie enjoys her new life, her school, new friends, she even manages to make some friends online , her days becomes brighter as she is involved in more school events..Slowly and steadily Mulligan opens up to the learning process of life that begins in high school..Some lighter and sunnier times with a mix of  melancholy hard times, betrayal, friendship,...
The best part is Lizzie's character grows as the novel progress...From a shy girl to a girl with a go get it attitude she learns through making mistakes and correcting them...Maura Lizzie's neighbor was an interesting character with a shade of grey, while Missy, John and Paul were absolute delight ... Lizzie's relationship with her mother  had all rage of adrenaline with tonnes of love..
There were times when I stopped my reading to look back at my own school days (though it was quite different from this)...Mulligan's language is simple and easy to follow...
All in all Watch me Disappear goes for a delightful swift read...

About the author

Diane Vanaskie Mulligan began writing Watch Me Disappear during an after-school writing club she moderates for high school students. This is her first novel. She holds a BA in American Studies from Mount Holyoke College and a Master’s degree in teaching from Simmons College. When she isn’t teaching or writing, she’s the managing editor at The Worcester Review and the director of The Betty Curtis Worcester County Young Writers’ Conference You can also find her occasionally strumming her guitar and singing at various bars in central Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband.

Website: www.dvmulligan.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/DianeVMull

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DianeVMulligan

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/dmvanask

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/diane-mulligan/53/839/124

Other Buy links

·  Smashwords.

·  Createspace 

·  Kobo

·  Sony eBook Store

·  Diesel eBook Store

·  Barnes and Noble

Book Review: Arranged love by Parul A Mittal

Title: Arranged love
Author: Parul A Mittal
Publisher: Metro Reads
Price: Rs 150
Page: 256
ISBN:9780143418825
Genre: Chick lit/ Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Author


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Summary:
Suhaani's dream of living her dream vanishes into thing air, one fine morning when recession hits the United states....Back home in India she struggles through her life with a long distance relationship with loving parents wanting to get her married to someone of  their choice...As time pass she finds herself being attracted to Deep-her parent's choice but then what about Jay her half Indian boyfriend???

Review:
Chick-lit genre is slowly expanding its horizon through the country and Mittal has come up with an interesting pot pouri  through her latest novel..
Suhaani's life is a bliss with an independent  life as a master's student in the United States with a handsome boy friend and an alluring career ahead of her..Though she misses India somehow she has chosen to fit in the US penning down a future there...Going steady with her half Indian boy friend Jay she is not ready to open up with her family.. But Alas her parents are all set to bring her back home and marry her to someone of their choice..Their choice being Deepakan IITian ..From start their frequency seem to be antagonistic with each other..But funny twist of fate bestows upon her in the form of recession and she finds herself on the couch of her home with no job a long distant relationship and a freaked out attitude..With much pursuasion from her father she calls Deep for career advice and ends up in Deep's project to her utter astonishment... Worst to come she finds him quite interesting and a great guy to get along...Trying hard to cope up with Jay's western culture she suddenly questions her own choice on Jay...

Suhaani's  mother's farmville love was quite hilariously portrayed... FB forms a mention all through the book showcasing the everyday life of every Indian..For Suhaani FB status depicts her state of mind...But Suhaani's current issue is that she is working under the prospective groom to whom she is strangely aligned or attracted to...To put a full stop she decides to reject him with a poison dose of love to her astonishment he rejects her taking it all well...Read on to know what further happens in the Jay-Suhaani-Deep triangle..

Though the protagonist was Suhaani , I was in awe with Tanu di...In her thirties she believed in true love while  having successful career and a strong sense honesty... When she reunited with Champ or Rohan sir it was high cheers moment for me..On the other hand Neha her best buddy is all vivacious and highly flirty creating lively aura all around...Though Suhaani's dilemna  was well done I couldn't stop myself from being irritated with the lack of sensibility while dealing with Deep's emotions...Though she grows up as the novel progresses, her benchmark of honesty is something I couldn't handle on...Suhaani's mother comes through as a charmer with her Fb love and a fondness on its application, while her father and she shares a wonderful father daughter equation...

Overall I loved the whole treatment of the plot with Hinglish slang, love for Rafi, Gibran...The company of  iTrot.com has all extremes of characters with every hue and colour painting very different perspective on love and relationship...This book is a sure scorer on lively read..

Book Review: Breathe by Elena Dillon : Blog Tour

Title: Breathe
Author: Elena Dillon
Pages: 166
Price: Rs 161.31
Genre:Y A/ Suspense
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Review copy @ Bewitching book tours

Buy Breathe from amazon.com



Summary:
All Jasmine wanted was a normal life but with her dotting older sister's death by a serial killer life never seemed to be peaceful, In order to over come the pressure her family moves to a small town....It's been two years after the fatal incident, Jasmine now sixteen is trying to come in terms to what had happened struggling to help her mother and her younger siblings like her loving Daisy used to be..Will new friends and a dream boy help her heal or is there still someone stalking her all set to take this from her??

Review:
A light hearted read,  mix of YA romance with a dash of suspense here and there with a serial killer on the run..Jasmine Rourke's older sister Daisy was murdered two years ago by a serial killer who is still not caught..The family moves to a whole new place trying to get on with life ..With her sister's death, her life is turned upside down, but slowly things start to find a  track to normalcy...She slowly starts to smile and laugh in girly company...Life looks promising with the most popular guy being interested in her..But all through this her haunting past is in the back of her mind, but somehow feels that someone is following her, she gets freaky calls, texts and flowers..Her boldness during her sister's death has got her wrong attention all over..Pity and the look of sadness is the last thing she wants but her truth when exposed would end up in a situation where her life would bleak to somber forever...

Dillon has crafted the novel flawlessly, the language is simple that keeps the readers interested from page one..The teenage crush, infatuation, girly pep talk were enjoyable...I loved the sibling frequency that jasmine share with her younger twins..


"We had an understanding. Lily was pretty much off limits. She was too sensitive, so it was no fun to spar with her. He, of course, would still give her a hard time, but he was her twin and knew her limits far better than anyone. Caedan and I, we enjoyed our little battles. We gave no quarter and took no prisoners. We loved to find ways to torture each other. Punk’d had been our favorite show, and before Daisy died we had come up with some elaborate ways to get each other. It made my mother crazy, but in many ways it made us closer. No one else really understood it. At the end of a good battle, Caedan and I would always end up laughing together like a couple of hyenas."


The mystery and the suspense is also soft like the jasmine fragrant deeply alluring and curious to learn...Easton's affection to Jasmine his concern and care that helps her face her inner most fear was something I loved reading...Death is so uncertain that when it hits it devastates a family forever this part was heartrendingly portrayed through simple incidents like her mother's empty look ,her overwhelming reactions to the sibling arguments, lily becomes hypersensitive while Caedan and Jasmine end up displaying the angrier side are all good ones...  But its important to move on in spite the odds...This book is apt for a light read with deep essence...

About the author

Elena lives and writes in a suburb North of Los Angeles.  She has never lived anywhere besides California which is probably a good thing since she hates being cold and is terrified to drive in the snow. She loves being a wife and a mother to her three kids and three dogs, although really the bulldog is the fourth child who has never matured beyond the toddler stage.

A self-proclaimed nerd, she has been writing since she was a child. She has only recently, however, come out of the closet about this to her family and friends.  They now understand better, but not completely, why she talks about characters in stories as if they are real people.

http://www.twitter.com/ElenaDillon

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http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16153090-breathe

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6581148.Elena_Dillon

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Jaipur Literature festival

I have been away from my blog for quite sometime.. I told myself that procrastination will only  lead to death of something wonderful that I managed to create over the past few months..I have tonnes of book news to be shared, though my work had kept me super busy for all these time I know there is no excuse for being away from something I have started to enjoy so much..Over a period of time my blog and blogging has become a part of my life , though I am still mastering the art of expressing my views , I see a a good journey ahead of me...New year has been good for me.. I love anything that takes me to books and reading.. Book festival, author talk, reading club list of book gains my interest no matter what...So breaking the self imposed exile, here I go with some news happening ..What better way of set go!!!

Jaipur Literature festival is believed to be a the grand extravaganza in Asia-Pacific as far as the literary front is considered..It is held every year in Jaipur (India). And of course there are loads of books, readings, talks, debates, workshops and of course Cricket (Drool ) oh yea I am talking here, nothing is complete in this country without Cricket ..The picturesque  Diggi palace (Heritage hotel) in Jaipur is one among the venue..This literary festival is in its sixth year attracting international authors and writing...I only wish that I could participate at least the coming year...My interest grew many folds when I got to know that William Darymple is one among the directors of the festival along with Namita Gokhale, the festival is produced by Sanjoy K.Roy , Seuli Sethi and Teamwork Productions...Some important points are:

Dates: 24 January- 28 January 2013 

Venue: Though there multiple venues Diggi Palace is one among..

What else?? Just show up, oh yea there is no entry fee.. for more details regarding the talks and the latest news click here..

Good day everyone!!!!!

Book Review: Honeysuckle love by S. Walden : Blog tour

Title:Honeysuckle love
Author:S. Walden
Publisher:Penny Press
Page: 337
Price:Rs 217.38
Genre:New adult
Source:Review copy @ RABT

Buy Honeysuckle love from amazon.com
Buy Honeysuckle love from smashwords



Summary:
Clara Greenwich is too young to take on the sole responsibility of caring for herself and her younger sister. She’s just sixteen. She should be focused on school, hanging out with friends, falling in love. Instead, she’s working to pay off the mound of bills her mother left behind when she vanished at the start of the school year. Left alone with her ten-year-old sister, Beatrice, Clara discovers that she is now the parent, the provider, and the responsibilities grow to be more than she can handle.

Review:
One big chunk of my heart melted away for Clara and her younger sister Beatrice..Beatrice the vivacious know it all, innocently sweet ten year old  with her naughty , outright talks made me smile, while sixteen year Clara  the polar end of Beatrice gained my respect.. She is calm, willingly invisible, with low self esteem and confidence, yet steps into the shoe of a parent and all  in charge of the house with a mounting unpaid bill that their mother left with one fine morning,  in addition to her own life to be settled.. She works through all her free time to make ends meet.. Even Beatrice does her share of contribution to keep them afloat..Little did Clara believed that one day she would find friendship let alone love..Still she manages them all, much to the dismay and surprise to her own shy self..Evan is every girl's fantasy in the school, but Evan is strangely attracted to her...Dealing with her responsibility to bring up her younger sister rendering parental love, discipline and care and love was wonderfully done by Walden..Beatrice has a way of finding a special place in the readers heart ... Living without gas and electricity, girls find pleasure in every day smiles and sheer contentment through their hard earned money..When other kids in the block are busy making merry they are busy living to get through every single day on free food in school and their neighbor's love and care..Some bad decisions that make Clara her regret..Enduring love, growing up, hard times, depression,passion a right mix of all these makes this book an enjoyable treat...Evan comes across as a guy with sense and sensibility coming handy every time they need him helping them in every small away...  But what really put me off was their mother's attitude towards the kids, how can she just walk away from her children without a word or warning...Walden has captured the human emotions too well and all characters stand tall all along...

About author

S. Walden used to teach English before making the easy decision to become a full-time writer.

Easy because once she completed a full-time graduate program, there weren't any teaching jobs

anyway! She lives in Georgia with her very supportive husband who does not read fiction and

has a difficult time understanding why her characters must have personality flaws. She is wary of

small children, so she has two Westies instead. Her dreams include getting through her next big

writing project (a three-part series) and owning and operating a beachside inn on the Gulf Coast.

Her husband's dreams for her include getting her Ph.D. so that he can tell people he's married to

a doctor.

She loves her fans and loves to hear from them. Email her at swaldenauthor@hotmail.com and

follow her blog at http://swaldenauthor.blogspot.com where you can get up-to-date information

on her current projects.

Blog: http://swaldenauthor.blogspot.com
email: swaldenauthor@hotmail.com
twitter: swaldenauthor