Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

Chosen Ones [Chosen Ones #1] By Veronica Roth  Released Year: 2020 Page Count: 417 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Science Fiction, Magic, Fantasy, Young Adult, Dystopian Future, 2024-read.  Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 I liked the way the story unraveled - how she has presented the unfurl - through a series of news articles, experts of scientific articles etc. I felt that she could have written some parts of the book better - like for the initial 100 pages where it was young adult stuff, I deeply wanted to DNF this. But since the author is a very successful and well revered writer, I took a chance with her. The more the story unraveled, the more I got hooked.  The Dark One is a villain who attracts destruction and death like a magnet. He is a time and multiverse traveler with special magical abilities. A prophecy made against him is that every universe where he appears will have an equally powerful Chosen One who will bring an end to him,thus saving their earth/un...

 The Golden Compass (Northern Lights)  [His Dark Materials #1] By Philip Pullman  Released Year : 1995 Page Count: 400 pages  Medium Used : Paperback  Genre : Science Fiction, Fantasy, Multiverse, 2024-read.  Rating : 4/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I started really liking this book - as it was nearing the end and all the conundrums began to fall in place. I liked the concept of a binding(sort of like a half soul relationship)between a human and an animal which reflects their inner nature. It seemed very sacred and precious. At times, I was shocked at the  cruelty directed towards children in this story. How can someone do those things and sleep peacefully? How can they not be bothered even if they justify it with some theological/good-evil justifications ?   While this book forms a base work for what's to come .. that is, a journey from one universe into another and subsequent adventures .. through the aide of northern lights or the aurora borealis .. the cent...

 Pompeii  By Robert Harris  Published Year : 2003 [Hutchinson]  Page Count : 394 pages  Medium Used : Paperback  Genre : Historical Fiction, Italy, Volcanic Eruption, 2024-read.  Rating : 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic. Very engaging read. In 79AD, several deaths have resulted when an unsuspected volcanic eruption took place in Italy. The mountain is mount Vesuvius and the nearby cities and towns were swept away by high velocity rain of pumice stones and the following fire stream. Thousands of people have died. Several monuments lay in ruin at the end of the eruption. These are historical facts. The author has remained loyal to the facts and the descriptions of how the event must have taken place, how certain people might have reacted and either escaped by chance or perished unluckily are fictional creations of his brilliant mind. I enjoyed reading this story very much .   Nothing felt - not even the fire wave - overdone. I would like to check out some ...

 Caliban's War  By James S.A.Covey  Published Year :  Page Count: 550 pages  Medium used: Kindle PW  Genre : Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fantasy, Aliens, 2024-read.  Rating : 1/5  I am sure if I continue this any further, my headache wouldn't cure. I am having a hard time trying to trudge through the mess this book is. I wondered if the authors are the same who have given us the Leviathan Wakes. I guess no because this book is just awful. For a lack of better word, shitty. Avasarala is a character that is just so bad and so blown of proportion that everytime she opened her mouth, I imagined black goo flowing out.  I must say I can go no further with this one. I am DnFing it. I am usually very wary when I make a book pick up so that I read it fully and not leave off in the middle. But this one is over the top boring and frankly confusing. Not worth the read. 

 The Goldfinch  By Donna Tartt  Winner of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014 Release Year: 2013 Page Count: 900 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Coming-of-age, Contemporary, Drama, 2024-read.  Rating : 5/5  A compulsive page turner. I was reading so fast and the writing is so vivid, it felt like flying through time and space. I felt the book is a tad too long and at places, too descriptive which could have been shortened. But nonetheless, a very worthy read. I could pick one and very important message out of this book : good can come out of bad actions and bad can result from actions of good intent. And no one can really determine what happens but leaving it all to chance and hoping for the best.  A young kid of 12 loses his mother to a bomb blast in a museum in New York. He is one of the survivors and while escaping from the debris and the museum, he steals a random painting. It is the Goldfinch painting by Fabritius, 1654. He comes to associa...

 Shaitaan (2024) Release Year: 2024 Language: Hindi Director : Vikas Bahl  Cast : Ajay Devgan, Jyothika, R.Madhavan.  Medium: Netflix  Genre : Magic, Soul Possession, Mythology, Fantasy, 2024-watched, Horror, Black Magic.  Rating : 7.75 /10 Sensational. Brilliant acting by all the cast. Very refreshing to see Jyothika on screen in an active role again. Everything is good, I was watching it so intensely engrossed in the unraveling plot, but the ending seemed illogical. How could the father have foreseen the ending ? How could he have done what he had without knowing how the story would turn out? But still, it only reminds that this is all a fictional concoction, not even remotely connected to reality. Something that could one day happen, maybe? I think would have been better if they also included some element of divine intervention to stop the maniac black magician. Madhavan is a black magician. He has taken over the soul of Ajay Devgan and Jyothika's daughter. H...

 Paris for One and Other Stories  By Jojo Moyes  Published Year: 2017 [Penguin Books] Page count: 381 pages Medium used : Paperback  Rating : 5/5  I just love writing style of Jojo Moyes. Ever since my first book from her - The Giver of Stars - I have only given her 5 star ratings. This book doesn't disappoint. There are two long stories and other smaller ones which are all very entertaining and inspiring to read. She restores the faith I have in goodwill of people and also in the enduring quality of love. Despite the number of years spent together and the sacrifices that are made by the couples, their love could be enduring and renewed.  I love the two longer stories  - had me gripping the book and in a strong hold till I finished them. Loved the prose too. Loved reading about Paris and all the attempts everyone makes for lovers to come together in the stories.:) 

The House in the Cerulean Sea  By TJ Klune  Published Year: 2020 Page Count: 398 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre : Magic, Fantasy, Mythology, Fiction, 2024-read.  Rating : 4/5   Loved the story. Loved the way it has turned out. The characters are all likeable and adorable. It is a well drafted plot that is both entertaining and educational. I liked the last few pages, how the story turned out - not only that one orphanage but all around the world will be seeing some remarkable transformation. Linus is a changed man - where he was alone all his life, he found someone now, someone who gave him wings to fly and fire to act upon. Linus Baker is working as a case worker dealing with magical children and their orphanages. He is assigned to visit one such orphanage and give his honest, objective assessment - if the orphanage should be kept open, if the man running it is capable and if the children themselves are behaving or not. Without his knowledge, he...

 Breasts and Eggs  By Mieko Kawakami  Published Year: 2008 Page count : 398 pages Medium used : Kindle PW  Genre : Contemporary, Female Body, Artificial Insemination, 2024-read.  Rating : 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The main character is a novelist. She lost her aunt and mother to cancer when she was in her early twenties. She decides to have a child through artificial insemination because she has issues getting intimate with men. This is her experience and story of how she becomes a successful mother finally after attempting multiple times to get pregnant.  I felt the prose is very good. I have come to learn a lot about the issues and concerns that handicap many women. I thought she shed a lot of light on the different aspects of the industry of artificial insemination and how children born that way feel and react when they learn the truth behind their birth.  Do check it out ! 

 A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) By V.E.Schwab  PUBLISHED YEAR: 2015 PAGE COUNT: 384 pages  Medium used : Paperback  Genre : Fantasy, Magic, Good Prose, Adventure, Action, 2024-read.  Rating : 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mind blowing. Head spinning. Wow! V.E.Schwab!! She just knocked off my socks and left me speechless. What an amazing story and amazing amazing world building. I got sucked into the story and didn't want to let up. I read this book really fast because couldn't put it down. It is fast paced and keeps one grooved.  Kell and Holland are the two remaining Antari. Only they can use blood magic and travel between the four different Londons, each in a different universe. These universes are like stacked up on top of each other and journey is only possible from one to the immediately adjacent world. Kell is the hero from Red London which worships magic and where he is raised as one of the royal palace princes. Holland, on the other hand, is from diabolic...

The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo #1) By Rick Riordan  Published year : 2016 Page count : 360 pages  Medium used : Paperback  Genre : Fantasy, Adventure, Mythology, Ancient Greece, Greek Gods, Modern World, 2024-read.  Rating : 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Ancient Gods haven't been wiped away. They have adapted themselves to the modern world. They have chosen their new lairs and still interfere in the affairs of men everyday. They are kept alive by the thoughts of people and what less - the internet!  The book is full of fun, wit and amazing adventures from the start. There is no where an iota of boredom even. There are many characters and I felt it would be difficult to remember all of them but it wasn't necessary. The character evolution - or rather, devolution - of Apollo is very well portrayed. I felt sorry and sad for the character of Meg - of what her step father did to her. The adventures are very funny and the opportune times when Apollo regains his much needed power...

A Wild Sheep Chase By Haruki Murakami  Published Year : 1989  Page count: 289 pages  Medium used : Paperback  Genre : Fantasy, Magical Realism, Adventure, 2024-read.  Rating : 4.5/5  I liked this book very much. I am giving it a 4.5 star rating but I also can understand why it would have an overwhelming number of average ratings. It is exhilarating as much as it is baffling and bordering on boredom. This is the first book I am reading from Murakami which is without any smut and stuck entirely to a core idea. This is also the first book that didn't leave me open mouthed and gazing off into space. I have followed the entire plot, from the beginning to the ending. There are no gray areas for me here. And I liked what I read! So cool!  A man is entrusted to go on a chase after a dream sheep - a sheep with a birth mark star on its back. In Japan, even with fully accountable sheep rearing and raising ,its a herculean task to track this sheep. Not just becaus...