Ravi

Sycamore Row

Sycamore Row | John Grisham | Book Review

PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 People say that John Grisham can write only legal thrillers and so cannot be considered a legend. If you are a Grisham fan and have read even a few of his books, you’ll realise that this statement is baloney. Sticking to a single …

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End of Story Arjun Shekhar

End of Story? | Arjun Shekhar | Book Review

PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3/5 There are few books which leave you with mixed feelings when you finish reading them. There are times when you love the story and cannot have enough of it, and then there are times when you just want to put the book down …

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Age of Hiblisk

Age of Hiblisk | Sumukh Naik | Book Review

PLOT: 3/5 CHARACTERS: 3.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 3/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3/5 Fantasy is probably the most arduous of all the genres for an author to write because he/she does not have the luxury of using an already existing place/location. The entire world, entire geography, entire landscapes have to be built from scratch, and in …

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True Grit

True Grit | Bear Grylls | Book Review

SUBJECT: 4/5 RESEARCH: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 3/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 “You can’t become a decent horseman until you fall off and get up again, a good number of times. There’s life in a nutshell.” The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the word survival is ‘Bear Grylls’. He is a renowned survival …

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The Storm in my Mind

The Storm in My Mind | Ayaan Basu | Book Review

PLOT: 2/5 CHARACTERS: 2.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 2.5/5 CLIMAX: 2/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 2.5/5 There are many people who hate Chetan Bhagat, his books and his style of writing. I would not go as far as saying that I’m a fan but I definitely respect the man. He broke the traditional norms of writing and created a …

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Love & Death in the Middle Kingdom

Love & Death in the Middle Kingdom | Nalini Rajan | Book Review

PLOT: 2.5/5 CHARACTERS: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 3/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 2.5/5 I live around 10 km away from Hampi, the seat of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is my regular haunting place and I’ve been there a trillion times. I am aware of its history and am quite acquainted with the significance behind each of …

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I Refused to Bribe

I Refused to Bribe | Gireesh Sharma | Book Review

PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 2.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3/5 “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are right.” –      The Bible Have you ever given a bribe, no matter however small? I have; to cops, to municipal clerks, to revenue …

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Black List

Black List | Brad Thor | Book Review

PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 Edward Snowden was in the news recently for disclosing top-secret US surveillance programs to the media. These expose, which gave accounts of the extent to which the federal agencies eavesdropped on private conversations and social interactions, came as a shock to the US …

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English Bites

English Bites | Manish Gupta | Book Review

SUBJECT: 4/5 RELEVANCE: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 English is the world’s local language. As of 2012, 1.4 billion people used English, either as a primary or as a secondary language. This number is only increasing every year. Its rise to prominence and its future outlook are subject to debate and better left …

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The Kill Room

The Kill Room | Jeffery Deaver | Book Review

PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 CLIMAX: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 What is the most important thing you look for in a thriller or action novel? My first pick is always the protagonist. I tend to judge thriller novels depending on the characterisation of the hero. The next in the list are a fast …

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The competent authority

The Competent Authority | Shovon Chowdhury | Book Review

PLOT: 3/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5 A satire is almost always an interesting read. Masterly crafted words burn every significant thing to the ground; it defies authority and authority is made the subject of its pun. Critics and intellectuals thoroughly enjoy it but it fails to capture the imagination …

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