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Monday, April 21, 2014

DNF Reviews- Delhi Mostly Harmless by Elizabeth Chatterjee, Final Cut by Uday Gupt and Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover



Goodreads Summary: 

... Nobody who lives there, nobody at all, has much good to say about Delhi. Along with Milton Keynes, Detroit and Purgatory, Delhi is one of the worlds great unloved destinations.

So when Elizabeth Chatterjee makes her way from the cool hum of Oxford to the demented June heat of heat of Delhi to research her PhD, she find herself both baffled and curious about the je ne sais quoi of this city of graveyards and tombstones.

As flanur and sagacious resident, Liz takes us through the serpentine power structures, the idyll, the bullshit peeling layer after layer of the citys skin to reveal its aspirations, its insecurity, its charm and finally its urban dissonance.

Uncannily perceptive, predictive and hysterical, Delhi Mostly Harmless puts a firm finger on the electric pulse of Delhi

REVIEW: 

Could/ Did Not Finish the book. 

As crisp as the writing is and as interesting as it is to read about your own country from another person's point of view and as much as I would have liked to pick this book up and finish it off once and for all, I simply do not wish to continue with Delhi Mostly Harmless : One Womans Vision of the City. I've been reading it since more than a month now and even the most patient person's patience has a limit. I'm more than hundred percent sure that many people will really like the book but unfortunately, I'm not one of them. 

I'd like to thank Random House India for a providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 


RATING:  





Goodreads Summary: 

Six fast-paced, gripping short stories and a short novella, each with a Final Cut -- a surprising, unexpected and intriguing twist in the last paragraphs. In Hodsons Gold, a quest for the legacy of one of the most colourful characters of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 leads, via a poem in code and a coded poem, straight to a thoroughly startling address in Delhi. Two boys grow up, together after a fashion, in the 1990s and 2000s in Bishnupur, West Bengal and Kolkata, in Friends and their growing up years trigger an international sensation when revealed. Shooting for an improbable 4th Pulitzer Prize, a three-time winner arrives in Kolkatas Red Light district to discover, even more improbably, that It Happens Only in India. After setting up a roaringly successful business and after thirty-seven years, Will Reena? -- readers are asked, in the only short novella in the collection. It turns out, in The Last Supper, that the human models for a painting done over two hundred years ago in Kolkata were keepers of wholly unexpected secrets. On a Buddha Purnima day 2,000 years ago, the holiest day in the Buddhist calendar, a miracle occurs in Sarnath near Varanasi that should, by rights, have been recorded long ago in an immensely better book than this. And finally, in the story that lends its name to this book, magic, religion and celebrities combine in the Kolkata of 2011, to lead to a very different Final Cut.

REVIEW: 

This was actually my first DNF of the year. I read the first short story in the book and it couldn't hold my attention. I really wish I could give it a chance but I don't have the patience and a huge list of books to be read is making it difficult. 
I'd like to thank the publishing house for the book and my apologies for not finishing what I started especially since I asked for it myself.

RATING:  





Goodreads Summary: 

At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover, a passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance—and the enchanting music that inspires one young woman to put her life back together.

From the author of the New York Times bestsellers Slammed, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, This Girl, and Losing Hope, Maybe Someday is destined to become another bestseller and long-lasting fan favorite.

Includes a free original soundtrack by musician Griffin Peterson.

REVIEW: 

I. CANNOT. BELIEVE. THIS. 

I love Colleen Hoover. I love her books, her characters and her stories. But for some reason, the few emotions I felt towards this book were pity, irritation and annoyance and the worst part is, I don't even know why. It's unusual for me to give up on a book after crossing the 50% mark but I couldn't take this anymore. 
Too long chapters. Too little happening. I mean, come one. Get together and get it over with. Arg. I hate this. I really hate this and I feel so sad that one of my most favourite NA contemporary romance writers has disappointed me so much. Or maybe I've been expecting too much. Either way, I don't care. The protagonists can do what they want, it's none of my business anymore. 

Sorry, Colleen. 


RATING:  


5 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry you didn't like Maybe Someday as much as I did. :(

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    Replies
    1. I wish I had, but oh well... Maybe some other book, Glass.

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  2. It's always disappointing when a book or favourite author does not meet your expectations.

    The problem with authors like Colleen Hoover IMHO is that there is constant pressure for them to keep churning out new books, while their work is still popular and selling in massive numbers. Publishers don't always care about the quality of the story, they know it is the name on the front cover that will sell. It sucks, because if Hoover were to take her time, she probably could have come up with a more unique, well crafted book. She's certainly got enough talent.

    That's my rant, anyway.

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    Replies
    1. She's got a hell lot of talent and I kind of see what you mean and agree with it as well but that really doens't mean the inside of the book be all- if I may say- crap.

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  3. I know! I agree with you or else, I have no idea what I'll do. Hahaha! My trip was an amazing experience and just you wait till my exams get done next week. I do have a post or two planned. *smirks*

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