Book Review: Breaking up the shackles by Gunjesh Bond

Breaking up the shackles

Author: Gunjesh Bond

Publisher: Frog books (Leadstart Publications)

Rating: 3/5

Summary

‘If your religion promotes killing non-believers, beating women, punishing rape victims, or selling your daughters as wives at 12… you’re not praying to the God above, you’re praying to the one below.’ ‘Breaking up the shackles’ is a story about four friends who decide to celebrate the arrival of a new car in their group. The fun is spoiled when one of the friends, Verma, is abducted by the family of the girl with whom he was in love with. 

The plot moves forward with the remaining friends trying to search for their missing mate and figuring out a way to get out from the mess.  But this is not all. The author tries to highlight the social issue of ‘honor killing’ and describe its consequences as well.

Overall, a good book!

 My opinion

If it does not involve walking on the fire, it is not love. ‘Breaking up the shackles’ is a story that forces the readers to put on their thinking caps and ponder- is honor killing the only way to restore the lost pride of the parents? Although the book gives no solution for the same, it takes the readers through the journey of people who come under the grip of this social evil and are on the verge of turning into a basket case.

The character sketch has been done right but lacks depth. The cover of the book is catchy and resembles more to a horror genre. However, the title could have been better- something related to the plot. The proofreading is good, font/style/quality is good.

Good effort done by the author.

Drawbacks

The title of the book is misleading because what one can predict after reading it is that the plot describes about the strategies to overcome and fight the social evil but there is no such thing.

Buy this book at:

Link: Amazon India 

Book Review: From where I see by Ajay Yadav

From where I see

Author: Ajay Yadav

Publisher: Lifi Publications

Rating: 4/5

Summary

‘From where I see’ is an enthralling compilation of opinions, facts and perspectives. The book revolves around Ajay, the protagonist, whose close friend ‘Shruti’ commits suicide. There are many possible causes but does the police succeed in finding the real/ root cause? The plot of this novella not only deals with the emotional turmoil faced by the victim of circumstances but also throws light on the fact that logical thinking and reasoning has become dead as a dodo. The author has tried to unveil the underlying truth about religion and its role in our life.

The book unravels the path to the Utopian world, where people have the power to think rationally and to decide what is right and what is wrong. This book is subversive and can lead to a conflict of perceptions. It depends on what opinion you hold about the topics being touched upon and how do you see/ accept change.

Grab a copy of ‘From where I see’ if you have the audacity to accept the truth and embrace change!

My opinion

Not everything can be blamed on the society because society is ‘us’. ‘From where I see’ evokes the rational thinking in the reader and forces the reader to think out of the box and analyse the real reason behind a lot many things. The cover of the book is appropriate and it clearly explains that the plot of the novella has something to do with different perceptions. The blurb is catchy. The language is lucid and the dialogs are expressive.

The author has done a commendable job in sketching the characters. However, the book contains drawn-out monologues which are boring. The author has presented strong and confident viewpoints which can, at times, change the perception of the reader too.

Overall, this is a great book that cannot be finished in just one go. It calls for patience and wit to understand and ponder on each and every issue that has been taken into account.

Drawbacks

The major drawback in this book is the use of drawn-out monologues that distract the reader.

Buy this book at:

Amazon India

(First published in IWW)

How important are the 'Book Reviews' for sales?

Evaluation of work and the critique of the same is one of the essential components of the production cycle of literature. Since it is a well-known fact that books help in transferring literature and information, book reviewing is an essential component of literary progress. With writing becoming the cash cow for every other individual, the race of getting your book included in the list of ‘bestsellers’ is on. And it is this reason which has enabled the art of book reviewing become crucial.

What is the latest book that you read? Was it recently bought or long time back? Did you like the book? Did you give your reviews about the same? I bet nine out of ten times the answer to the last question is a big no. It is the general human tendency to showcase the negative feedback/ criticism on social media than to praise what is good. It is more like too may chiefs, not enough Indians. There is so much criticism but seldom is any positive feedback seen.

The business of book reviewing has almost cornered the market and there are many reasons why this has happened:

• There are different strokes for different folks and the reviews can help the reader decide what to add and what not to add to the reading shelf

• Online shopping is one such thing that causes a stir. Nowadays people prefer everything online, right from shopping, selecting, studying to payments, bookings and what not! This is the reason why the publishing companies offer more widespread online distribution as compared to the offline market. Gone are the days when people used to spend at least an hour in a library or a bookstore. Hence, if the purchasing has to be done online, it is important to get as many reviews as possible

• Advertisements are important. They are the medium that helps name, fame and opulence fall into your lap. But they come with a price. None of the advertisement companies agrees to sell your ad unless there is a certain count of positive reviews on the retailer site

• The more the number of reviews, the more likely it becomes for the book to be listed among the top choices or the top few suggested reads

• Word of mouth can help in transforming a book from being arcane to being the bestseller

• The readers might not always know about all the books and here the role of retail sites comes into play. The section on Amazon, ‘you might also enjoy’ or ‘other features in this category’ contains the list of books that have higher sales or higher number of reviews. Both ways the sale graph of the book goes higher.

So, yes, it is true that book reviews impact the book sales and that too more than any promotional activity or sponsors. People like to follow the lead. And in this case, the lead of a good book invites for a number of copies to be printed and overall success of the author.