Scan barcode
sharanyaaguha's reviews
57 reviews
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Before The Coffee Gets Old - one of the most unique books I've read in a while.
A small cafe in a basement of a building in Tokyo, with no windows with an unique reputation to being able to take people back to their past.
Kazu, Kei and Nagare the 3 people who work in the cafe, and 4 different stories about people travelling back to their past. The rules however are pretty complicated :
- The only people you can meet while in the past are those who have visited the cafe.
- There is nothing you can do while in the past that will change the present.
- And you must return before the coffee goes cold.
- When you return to the past, you must drink the entire cup before the coffee goes cold.
- A person who has sat on the chair to travel through time once cannot do it a second time. Each person receives only a single chance.
With this being said, the book follows 4 short stories about 4 people travelling back to their past -
1. The Lovers - Garo has to leave for America in order to pursue his dream job and thus has to breakup with Fumiko. Their last conversation happens in the same cafe. Fumiko has a lot she has to say to Garo before he leaves, but is unable to.
2. Husband and Wife - Fustagi is suffering from Alzheimer and is forgetting about her wife, Kohtake. He wants to go back in time to give her a letter but doesn't has the courage to.
3. The Sisters - Hirai and Kumi, 2 sisters. Hirai had left her home 15 years back in order to pursue her dream and has left Kumi in charge of their family inn. Kumi, every month travels to Tokyo to convince Hirai to go back with her. On one such occassion Kumi perishes in a car accident and Hirai travels back in order to meet her sister one last time.
4. Mother and Child - A story about Kei and her daughter Miki. Kei is pregnant with Miki. Having suffered from a heart condition all her life she knows giving birth to Miki will be the last thing that she'll ever do for her. So she attempts to visit the future, to see Miki before she dies.
The book is crisp. The stories are short but the buildup is long. The shortness of the meeting with their respective people completely justifies the point that they have to return before the coffee gets cold. In very few words, the author has been able to potray 4 different stories so beautifully. 'Husband and Wife' and 'Mother and Child' are two stories that'll break you. Giving it a 4 star because I feel this book had the potential to become something more.
A small cafe in a basement of a building in Tokyo, with no windows with an unique reputation to being able to take people back to their past.
Kazu, Kei and Nagare the 3 people who work in the cafe, and 4 different stories about people travelling back to their past. The rules however are pretty complicated :
- The only people you can meet while in the past are those who have visited the cafe.
- There is nothing you can do while in the past that will change the present.
- And you must return before the coffee goes cold.
- When you return to the past, you must drink the entire cup before the coffee goes cold.
- A person who has sat on the chair to travel through time once cannot do it a second time. Each person receives only a single chance.
With this being said, the book follows 4 short stories about 4 people travelling back to their past -
1. The Lovers - Garo has to leave for America in order to pursue his dream job and thus has to breakup with Fumiko. Their last conversation happens in the same cafe. Fumiko has a lot she has to say to Garo before he leaves, but is unable to.
2. Husband and Wife - Fustagi is suffering from Alzheimer and is forgetting about her wife, Kohtake. He wants to go back in time to give her a letter but doesn't has the courage to.
3. The Sisters - Hirai and Kumi, 2 sisters. Hirai had left her home 15 years back in order to pursue her dream and has left Kumi in charge of their family inn. Kumi, every month travels to Tokyo to convince Hirai to go back with her. On one such occassion Kumi perishes in a car accident and Hirai travels back in order to meet her sister one last time.
4. Mother and Child - A story about Kei and her daughter Miki. Kei is pregnant with Miki. Having suffered from a heart condition all her life she knows giving birth to Miki will be the last thing that she'll ever do for her. So she attempts to visit the future, to see Miki before she dies.
The book is crisp. The stories are short but the buildup is long. The shortness of the meeting with their respective people completely justifies the point that they have to return before the coffee gets cold. In very few words, the author has been able to potray 4 different stories so beautifully. 'Husband and Wife' and 'Mother and Child' are two stories that'll break you. Giving it a 4 star because I feel this book had the potential to become something more.
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Everything Everything by Nikola Yoon is the story of Madeline who suffers from SCID. Her mother is a doctor; she lives in her house and hasn't gone out even once in the past 17 years. She befriends her new neighbour, Olly and they start chatting online. Eventually Madeline falls in love with him. They meet ocassionally in Madeleine's sunroom.
One night, Madeline decides to go to Hawai with Olly. It's the last place where she and her family visited before her brother and father got killed in an accident. She knows she'll get sick but she just wants to live her life the way she wants - just for once. And so they go and spend couple of days together before Madeline gets sick. She is rushed to a hospital and later bought back to her home. A few weeks later, she recieves an email from the doctor who attended her in Hawai and she knows that this is the begining of the end.
I don't know if it's me but I knew the ending even before I read like 25% of the book. I knew what was going to happen and the ending was exactly the same as I predicted.
It's a sweet short story about falling in love and doing anything and everything for love :
Madeline - despite knowing she is sick, rushes out of the house to help Olly when she was being hit by his father. Latet she decides to run away to Hawai with Olly.
Madeleine's Mother - the one who never really recovered from the death of her husband and son, afraid that she'll lose her daughter too falsely diagnoses her of having SCID. She makes Madeline live 17 years of her life in a closed room not letting her experience anything of the outer world only so that she would never leave her.
LOVE MAKES YOU DO EVERYTHING.
One night, Madeline decides to go to Hawai with Olly. It's the last place where she and her family visited before her brother and father got killed in an accident. She knows she'll get sick but she just wants to live her life the way she wants - just for once. And so they go and spend couple of days together before Madeline gets sick. She is rushed to a hospital and later bought back to her home. A few weeks later, she recieves an email from the doctor who attended her in Hawai and she knows that this is the begining of the end.
I don't know if it's me but I knew the ending even before I read like 25% of the book. I knew what was going to happen and the ending was exactly the same as I predicted.
Madeline - despite knowing she is sick, rushes out of the house to help Olly when she was being hit by his father. Latet she decides to run away to Hawai with Olly.
Madeleine's Mother - the one who never really recovered from the death of her husband and son, afraid that she'll lose her daughter too falsely diagnoses her of having SCID. She makes Madeline live 17 years of her life in a closed room not letting her experience anything of the outer world only so that she would never leave her.
LOVE MAKES YOU DO EVERYTHING.
Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Two siblings Tanay and Anuja fall in love with their paying-guest and neither of them know about the other's love.
The story is divided into two parts :
The story is divided into two parts :
Part 1 - This is from Tanay's POV. They used to share the same room in the terrace. The guest has left suddenly without telling anyone, it seems like he has ran away. Tanay tries to remembers the memories left of him. The tone of the writing is repetitive, as if Tanay is trying to remember the same memories time and again so that he doesn't forget them.
Part 2 - This is from Anuja's POV. Anuja had ran away with him but after 6 months, he left Anuja too. She came back home, suffering from depression and her doctor advises her to maintain a journal. The entire second half is her journal entry from different dates as she remembers him and tries to figure out what went wrong.
The narration jumps from present to past and back to present. Both their stories are said in a haphazard manner which, in fact, provides a clearer view of the plot. The best part about this book is how without even naming the character (the paying-guest) an entire book was written about him.
My interpretation is how 2 different people deal over the loss of same person differently. While Anuja tries to get her life back together, Tanay is being increasingly consumed by guilt.
This line from the book :
Part 2 - This is from Anuja's POV. Anuja had ran away with him but after 6 months, he left Anuja too. She came back home, suffering from depression and her doctor advises her to maintain a journal. The entire second half is her journal entry from different dates as she remembers him and tries to figure out what went wrong.
The narration jumps from present to past and back to present. Both their stories are said in a haphazard manner which, in fact, provides a clearer view of the plot. The best part about this book is how without even naming the character (the paying-guest) an entire book was written about him.
My interpretation is how 2 different people deal over the loss of same person differently. While Anuja tries to get her life back together, Tanay is being increasingly consumed by guilt.
This line from the book :
"When I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, I discovered you’d turned your back on me and moved away."
probably explains both Tanay and Anuja's relationship with the guest throughout. It is unclear why the guest left Tanay first to run away with Anuja and after 6 months left her too.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Detailed Summary of The Plot : So after Lowen finds the manuscript this is what she discovers - Verity was obsessed with Jeremy. All she wanted was his love and attraction. She had the constant urge to "please" him. Everything was good, until she discovered that she was pregnant. It was when she realized that Jeremy loved someone more than her, and its their daughter(later twins - Chastin and Harper). She constantly wanted to not deliver the kids. She resented them and even before they were born she wanted to get rid of them. She even tried self abortion and in the process left Chastin with a scar. When they were born she somehow fell in love with Chastin but could never love Harper. She even dreamt that Harper killed Chastin and she immediately wanted to kill Harper in real life to save Chastin. She tried to gag Harper once but failed, they were only a few months old at that time. When the twins was three, they went for a sleepover at their friends house. Chastin had peanut allergy and both the friend and his family was aware. But that night Chastin and Harper snuck some snacks from the pantry which included nuts and Chastin hence died in her sleep due to the allergy. Verity and Jeremy were both devastated but Verity always blamed Harper for that. She thought Harper was the one who deliberately killed Chastin. Few months after her death, Verity becomes pregnant with Crew. When Crew was four years old, one day she took Harper and Crew to canoe in the lake and deliberately drowned Harper faking it as an accident. Later Crew told Jeremy how her mom told her to "hold his breath" before they fell into the water and Jeremy knew she had something to do with Harper's death. That's where the autobiography ends.
In the meantime she falls in love with Lowen and to her surprise Lowen reciprocated the feelings. Lowen suspects that Verity is faking her immobility and one day she sets up a camera and proves Jeremy that she's right. Jeremy, in anger, with Lowen kills Verity and fakes it as an accident as well.
7 months later Lowen is pregnant with Jeremy's child and has shifted to a new house with Crew. One day, they return to the old house and Lowen finds a letter for Jeremy by Verity hidden under one of the tiles in Verity's room. In the letter Verity says - that writing the manuscript of the autobiography was an writing exercise suggested by her publishers so that she gets into the character for her books(remember she was popular for writing in the villain's POV). Jeremy had found those pages immediately after she finished writing it which means he knew everything. He tried to choke and kill her failing which he faked her car accident like she had written in her autobiography while thinking of ways to kill Harper. Unfortunately or not Verity survives and she fakes being in a coma because she knows Jeremy will kill her.
Lowen destroys the letter and continues to live her life with Jeremy and Crew. Lowen doesn't believe the letter or rather she is confused to believe which version of Verity. The book ends with the sentence - "No matter which way I look at it, it’s clear that Verity was a master at manipulating the truth. The only question that remains is: Which truth was she manipulating?"
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I just finished reading this book and I have just one word for it - WOW!
I was skeptical about reading Colleen Hoover because the reviews about her books were really polarizing, but I decided to read her book and trust me I loved it.
The Plot : Verity is a well known author for writing a brilliant series. She had lost both her daughters in different accidents and recently met with a car accident that left her immobile. Her publishers need someone else to finish the rest of the books in the series. Jeremy, Verity's husband asks Lowen, a struggling writer to finish the books. Reluctant at first Lowen finally accepts the offer agreeing to write using her pseudo name Laura Chase. Lowen moves to Verity's house temporarily to go through her leftover notes that is when she discovers the manuscript of her autobiography. And the things written inside it is very very dark.
Honestly, I wouldn't have expected the ending. The way the story ended yet it didn't leaves the readers to interpret the climax their own way. The book is very dark at times where I wanted to throw the book away and never read the rest of the chapters but thank god I did otherwise I wouldn't have discovered this beauty.
Here's a quote I liked :
I was skeptical about reading Colleen Hoover because the reviews about her books were really polarizing, but I decided to read her book and trust me I loved it.
The Plot : Verity is a well known author for writing a brilliant series. She had lost both her daughters in different accidents and recently met with a car accident that left her immobile. Her publishers need someone else to finish the rest of the books in the series. Jeremy, Verity's husband asks Lowen, a struggling writer to finish the books. Reluctant at first Lowen finally accepts the offer agreeing to write using her pseudo name Laura Chase. Lowen moves to Verity's house temporarily to go through her leftover notes that is when she discovers the manuscript of her autobiography. And the things written inside it is very very dark.
Honestly, I wouldn't have expected the ending. The way the story ended yet it didn't leaves the readers to interpret the climax their own way. The book is very dark at times where I wanted to throw the book away and never read the rest of the chapters but thank god I did otherwise I wouldn't have discovered this beauty.
Here's a quote I liked :
He laughs. “What do I smell like?”
- “Petrichor.”
Detailed Summary of The Plot : So after Lowen finds the manuscript this is what she discovers - Verity was obsessed with Jeremy. All she wanted was his love and attraction. She had the constant urge to "please" him. Everything was good, until she discovered that she was pregnant. It was when she realized that Jeremy loved someone more than her, and its their daughter(later twins - Chastin and Harper). She constantly wanted to not deliver the kids. She resented them and even before they were born she wanted to get rid of them. She even tried self abortion and in the process left Chastin with a scar. When they were born she somehow fell in love with Chastin but could never love Harper. She even dreamt that Harper killed Chastin and she immediately wanted to kill Harper in real life to save Chastin. She tried to gag Harper once but failed, they were only a few months old at that time. When the twins was three, they went for a sleepover at their friends house. Chastin had peanut allergy and both the friend and his family was aware. But that night Chastin and Harper snuck some snacks from the pantry which included nuts and Chastin hence died in her sleep due to the allergy. Verity and Jeremy were both devastated but Verity always blamed Harper for that. She thought Harper was the one who deliberately killed Chastin. Few months after her death, Verity becomes pregnant with Crew. When Crew was four years old, one day she took Harper and Crew to canoe in the lake and deliberately drowned Harper faking it as an accident. Later Crew told Jeremy how her mom told her to "hold his breath" before they fell into the water and Jeremy knew she had something to do with Harper's death. That's where the autobiography ends.
In the meantime she falls in love with Lowen and to her surprise Lowen reciprocated the feelings. Lowen suspects that Verity is faking her immobility and one day she sets up a camera and proves Jeremy that she's right. Jeremy, in anger, with Lowen kills Verity and fakes it as an accident as well.
7 months later Lowen is pregnant with Jeremy's child and has shifted to a new house with Crew. One day, they return to the old house and Lowen finds a letter for Jeremy by Verity hidden under one of the tiles in Verity's room. In the letter Verity says - that writing the manuscript of the autobiography was an writing exercise suggested by her publishers so that she gets into the character for her books(remember she was popular for writing in the villain's POV). Jeremy had found those pages immediately after she finished writing it which means he knew everything. He tried to choke and kill her failing which he faked her car accident like she had written in her autobiography while thinking of ways to kill Harper. Unfortunately or not Verity survives and she fakes being in a coma because she knows Jeremy will kill her.
Lowen destroys the letter and continues to live her life with Jeremy and Crew. Lowen doesn't believe the letter or rather she is confused to believe which version of Verity. The book ends with the sentence - "No matter which way I look at it, it’s clear that Verity was a master at manipulating the truth. The only question that remains is: Which truth was she manipulating?"
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
One thing about the book is that it is extremely slow. But the cute banter between Aaron and Catalina makes up for it. It's very funny too. I had a huge smile on my whole face throughout the book and then it gets a bit *steamy* (no i did not reread the chapters, just saying :p ). This book had me laughing in the first few chapters, the way they fought with each other *muahh*, too cute.
I live for cute novels like this, romance being my favourite topic to read about and this book is just purrfect. I can see myself re reading this book in a couple of months just to get the ✨feel✨ of it.
And also when Aaron said “With how every single time you laugh, I want to throw you over my shoulder and run somewhere I can covet that sound just for myself” I lost every leftover bit of my fucking sanity.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Catalina Martin desperately needs a "boyfriend" for her sister's wedding and the last thing she wants to hear is Aaron Blackford volunteering for this. Yes, the Aaron Blackford, the guy Catalina hates so much. Out of options, they strike a deal with each other - Catalina would bid for Aaron in his charity event and in return Aaron would be her date to her sister's wedding. Everything is fine when they go to Spain for the wedding but uhum Aaron teases Catalina way to often and he is definitely not pretending to like her because *coughs* he already does.
One thing about the book is that it is extremely slow. But the cute banter between Aaron and Catalina makes up for it. It's very funny too. I had a huge smile on my whole face throughout the book and then it gets a bit *steamy* (no i did not reread the chapters, just saying :p ). This book had me laughing in the first few chapters, the way they fought with each other *muahh*, too cute.
I live for cute novels like this, romance being my favourite topic to read about and this book is just purrfect. I can see myself re reading this book in a couple of months just to get the ✨feel✨ of it.
And also when Aaron said “With how every single time you laugh, I want to throw you over my shoulder and run somewhere I can covet that sound just for myself” I lost every leftover bit of my fucking sanity.
“Everything that had happened hurt me, left a scar, but it didn’t break me.”
You are worth walking through a fucking fire. Don’t you see that?”
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I remember the first time I read this book I was in Class 8, that is almost 8 years ago. The books starts with Mariam hearing the word "Harami" for the first time when she was 5. Well, I was 14 when I first saw "harami" in the first line of the book and thus it had my instant attention. I borrowed the book from a friend after she finished reading, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.
The book follows the story of Mariam and Laila. Mariam lives in Herat, a small city in Afghanistan with her mother and her distant father, Jalil. Upon her mother's death she is sent to Jalil's house where she is forcefully married to Rasheed. Rasheed treats her decently, but after her first miscarriage he abuses Mariam, both physically and emotionally.
Laila, a teenage girl in love with Tariq, her childhood friend, lives in the same street as Mariam's. When war reaches Kabul and Laila decides to flee Afghanistan with her parents, a rocket lands on their house killing everyone except Laila. Laila is then bought to Mariam's house where she later marries Rasheed upon learning about Tariq's death and being pregnant with his child.
But this is where the most interesting part of story begins, the relationship between Mariam & Laila and Rasheed's manipulative ways.
This is one of those stories that stays with you for a long time. Khaled Hosseini right then and there became one of my most favourite authors. This is also the first time I cried reading a book because I grew up reading only happy tales :D
The book follows the story of Mariam and Laila. Mariam lives in Herat, a small city in Afghanistan with her mother and her distant father, Jalil. Upon her mother's death she is sent to Jalil's house where she is forcefully married to Rasheed. Rasheed treats her decently, but after her first miscarriage he abuses Mariam, both physically and emotionally.
Laila, a teenage girl in love with Tariq, her childhood friend, lives in the same street as Mariam's. When war reaches Kabul and Laila decides to flee Afghanistan with her parents, a rocket lands on their house killing everyone except Laila. Laila is then bought to Mariam's house where she later marries Rasheed upon learning about Tariq's death and being pregnant with his child.
But this is where the most interesting part of story begins, the relationship between Mariam & Laila and Rasheed's manipulative ways.
This is one of those stories that stays with you for a long time. Khaled Hosseini right then and there became one of my most favourite authors. This is also the first time I cried reading a book because I grew up reading only happy tales :D
No Guns At My Son's Funeral by Paro Anand
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
"No! There will be no guns. There will be no guns at my son's funeral."
A mother attending his own son's funeral screams.
Aftab loves his motherland Kashmir but he witnesses a lot of bloodshed and violence. He is soon manipulated by Akram, leader of a terrorist group to join the group. Akram misleads Aftab by telling him that this will be a fight of freedom and liberation and showed him the dream of making Kashmir peaceful.
Aftab's mother loves him but he notices that he is manipulated by someone and suggests Aftab to stop going there but Aftab is too lost in his visions and ignores her.
The heartbreaking story portrays Kashmir's situation and how leaders misuse the kid's innocence and tell them stories about freedom. Unaware and a young age these kids believe they are joining freedom groups, but join terrorist gangs instead. What can their fate be instead of dying for the wrong cause?
A mother attending his own son's funeral screams.
Aftab loves his motherland Kashmir but he witnesses a lot of bloodshed and violence. He is soon manipulated by Akram, leader of a terrorist group to join the group. Akram misleads Aftab by telling him that this will be a fight of freedom and liberation and showed him the dream of making Kashmir peaceful.
Aftab's mother loves him but he notices that he is manipulated by someone and suggests Aftab to stop going there but Aftab is too lost in his visions and ignores her.
The heartbreaking story portrays Kashmir's situation and how leaders misuse the kid's innocence and tell them stories about freedom. Unaware and a young age these kids believe they are joining freedom groups, but join terrorist gangs instead. What can their fate be instead of dying for the wrong cause?