sharanyaaguha's reviews
57 reviews

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This book has a lot of mixed reviews! Even though it was written in 1951, it's still relatable to the teenager these days.It is a modern classic of the coming of age genre.
The books contains the story Holden Caulfield,17, being thrown out of this boarding school and his journey of three days in New York. Teenagers can relate to this book beacuse of the themes of rebelion, independence and one's identity; all of which is what we go through at some point of time. I also feel Holden is lonely and depressed which is pretty evident in quite a few chapters of the book.
This is an inspiring book in the sense that it tells us to have hope and remain true to ourselves. Overall, an inspiring and heartwarming story. 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 "Wuthering Heights" an equally loved and hated classics of all time. It follows the story of Heathcliff and his undying love and passion for Catherine. Heathcliff was adopted by Catherine's father, Mr. Earnshaw, as a child. Upon Earnshaw's death, he is bullied by Catherine's brother. He soon leaves his home assuming that his love for Catherine is one sided (which is not) only to come back later and revenge his suffering. While many may dislike Heathcliff for all the evils he has committed against the people around him, there's something about the torment he's suffering from, which is not having the only person who has ever shown any kindness to him, to himself. 

 "You said I killed you - haunt me, then!
Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you."

"He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same"

"I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free."

 "I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind."

"I hate him for himself, but despise him for the memories he revives."

 "If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger." 

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"Death On The Nile" by Agatha Christie is one of her books from the Detective Poirot Series. It follows the story of Linnet Ridgeway, the extremely rich and gorgeous girl on her honeymoon to Egypt with her best friend, Jacqueline De Bellefort's former fiance, Simon Doyle. Things take a turn when Jacqueline boards the se cruise as them and will not let them alone. Soon it is found out that Linnet is dead and she may have more than one enemy on the cruise with the motives of her murder. Poirot being in the same cruise starts solving the mystery of her death. A lot of twists, turns and death finally reveal her true murderer. Who is it? 

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

4.0

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book follows the story of Ganguli family for 35 years.

Ashoke and Ashmina Ganguli a married couple tied in arrange marriage move from Calcutta to Boston so that Ashoke can pursue a PhD in engineering. Away from the Bengali cultures and traditions, Ashima becomes homesick and tries to find friendship among the other Bengalis living around their area. Ashima soon becomes pregnant and according to the Bengali tradition Ashima's grandmother must name her son. But her letter never arrives, so Ashoke names their son "Gogol" after the Russian writer whose book saved his life during a train accident in India. Gogol and Sonali, his younger sister grow up in America. Their parents wants them to live a Bengali life but they are too consumed in the American culture, they barely remember their roots. They grow up and choose carrier paths that are not so "Indian". The story moves between Calcutta, Boston and New York City and perfectly captures the story of being caught between two highly different cultures with different traditions, ideologies and religional differences.

Being a Bengali myself, this book feels very personal. 

'The Namesake' was later made into a movie by the same name. Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli were played perfectly by Late actor Irrfan Khan and actress Tabu. The movie did a perfect justice to the book. 

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

5.0

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

4.0

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

4.0

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' is a historical fiction of a girl's rise to fame in Hollywood. Born Evelyn Elena Herrera in 1938, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, Hugo grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. Having experienced poverty, she lost her mother at a very young age and grew up with an ignorant father. She was beautiful in her teens and thus got to play roles in Hollywood. Soon she would go changing husbands to husbands to rise to fame but only a few know the real story behind her.  A heartbreaking story about love, loss and sacrifices, The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo is my most beautiful read of 2021.

Semi Detailed Plot : Evelyn is bisexual. She is and has been in love with her costar  Celia St. James her whole life. The community those days were not open to this and she feared she would loose her fame. Evelyn got married 7 times, a few times in love and the rest were an arrangement. The best "arrangement" being Harry Cameron, her producer and best friend who was gay. They decided to get married because Harry was in love with John. And John Braverman was married to Celia. The four of them lived together for long in the same street and spent their days with utmost happiness until when Evelyn decided to do a "bold" shoot for a movie without asking Celia. Things went downhill then and the story turned sadder. What followed was heartbreaks, tears and a couple of death.

"Because our whole is greater than the sum of our parts"

"I love you too much to let you live only for me"

"You're the only thing on this planet worth worshipping." 

Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 'Evidence of the Affair' by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a very quick read. About 86 pages long this book starts when a woman named Carrie Allsop finds out that her husband, Ken Allsop, has been cheating on her since the past 3 months. She writes a letter to David Mayer, the husband of Janet Mayer, the girl Ken has been cheating her with. In the heartbreaking exchange of letters done between the two they soon find comfort and friendship within each other. As they exchange more letters they find out there's more to reveal about the relationship of Ken and Janet.

Semi Detailed Plot : David finds it hard to believe that Janet is having an affair. He startts to look for evidences as more letters are exchanged between him and Carrie. When he's sure that what Carrie told her was true, he is heartbroken like Carrie. Soon, through the letters they find a friend in each other, because they were the only one in their whole world who would feel what exactly they were feeling.  Ken is unhappy in his relationship because Carrie couldnt bear him a child. Both of them pretend to live a healthy life with their spouse, and their spouses are unaware of the fact that they KNOW. Carrie and David start seeing each other weekly. Carrie confronts Ken soon enough and leaves him. The story ends with Carrie moving on with her life and giving birth to David's child.

What I didn't like? The ending, yes. It's beautiful but the fact that Carrie gave birth to David's child is the reason I gave 4 stars. The entire book focuses so much on the friendship of Carrie and David, just the child doesn't sit right. There could have been a better alternative ending.

 

"Is it corny to say my heart feels like an eternal December with no April in sight?"

"You are the second half of my heart, nowadays."