Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

 3001 : The Final Odyssey  (Space Odyssey #4) by Arthur C. Clarke  Published Year: 1999 Page Count: 272 pages  Medium Used: Lenovo ThinkBook Genre: Space Opera, Science Fiction, Aliens, Artificial Intelligence, 2025-read. Rating: 2.75/5 I somehow felt this narrative lacked imagination. Being an ardent fantasy reader who also loves science fiction, I thought this narrative to be limited and stifled. It was like drawing a picture with a pencil and leaving it uncolored. I have picked this book without first reading the third book in the series - the 2061 : Space Odyssey but I didn't feel like I have missed much. I read the book 1 in the series long back, the most popular 2001 and had to brush up/refresh the recollection centers of my brain through Wikipedia perusal. I liked the few insinuations that are made to the religious atrocities and fanaticisms of the 21st century and how they are eradicated in the current era. I was surprised that no note is made regarding the t...

 Zorba the Greek  By Nikos Kazantzakis  Published Year : 1952 Page Count: 335 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre: Spirituality, Religion, Christianity, Memoir like, Historical fiction, Greece, 2025-read,Good Prose, Satire.  Rating : 5/5 !😍😍😍😍😍 This is a solid 5 pointer for me. The writing is stunning. The pacing is fast and the scenes are memorable. The characters are sensational - especially Zorba and his old aged lover Bouboulina. All through the book, I was wondering one thing only: Has this author won the nobel prize or not. This is my second book from him .. the first one was The Last Temptation of Christ  and   it was sensational too. I absolutely love this book . Its a satire on the religious beliefs of Christians and makes one wonder the concepts of good and evil, existence of God and if God intervenes in the affairs of men. A profoundly thought provoking read.  This is purely my take on this. I feel Christianity as such d...

 The Da Vinci Code  (Robert Langdon #2) By Dan Brown  Published Year: 2003 Page Count: 575 pages Medium Used: Paperback  Genre : Historical Fiction, Thriller, Christianity, Spiritual Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Cryptography,Symbology, 2025-read.  Rating : 5/5  Spoilers Ahead!!  If I dont mention how much scandal there is in the book, I would be doing a grave injustice. Yes, the content is shocking and revealing at the same time. If someone did, half of what Mr. Brown did to Christianity, to some other religion like Islam, they would have demanded his head on a spike. I felt that Mr. Brown has,all in all, dealt, the findings and revelations, with compassion and in choosing to let hidden things hidden, didn't want to shake the foundation of a long held belief system - if indeed they were true!! This is my second read of the book - a true, breathtaking, spell binding masterpiece! I read it back in 2006 when it's release was fresh and there is much gaga ...

 Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief  (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) By Rick Riordan  Published Year: 2005 Page Count: 375 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre: Olympians, Titans, Greek Gods, Adventure,Action, Half Gods, 2025-read.  Rating : 4.5/5 🌟 😎 😀  👌  The first thing that struck me, having wrapped the book, is that this story is backwards. Usually, when we go on our daily quests and activities, we pray to the Gods to help us succeed or emerge victorious over our hurdles. Here, there is a mortal - albeit, a half blood, half God, son of Sea God Poseidon, Percy Jackson - who sets out on a quest, relying on his wits, wisdom, luck and some help from his father, to restore items lost by the Gods. He is doing a service to the mighty Gods, which they cannot pull off without his involvement. Percy Jackson is a true hero!  I have read the first two books from the Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan and felt this book had more believable ...

 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde By R.L.Stevenson (Scottish Author)  Published Year : 1886 Page Count: 65 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Gothic, Horror, Classics, Science Fiction, 2025-read.  Rating : 5/5 🌟 😎 😀 👌😇 Mr. Utterson is a very close and long term friend to Doctor Henry Jekyll. He is a lawyer and when he gets the latest draft of Dr. Jekyll's will, he is surprised and driven to his wit's end. Because, the terms of the will give a huge benefit to a hitherto unknown character Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson has heard some sinister accounts of the deeds of Mr. Hyde and is apprehensive of that personality. When he sees him involved with Jekyll, his curiosity and apprehension are piqued. As time goes, this Mr. Hyde becomes the perpetrator of a grisly murder and escapes. Jekyll becomes a recluse and someone who shuns all company, locking himself up in his laboratory behind his house. The story doesn't end on a happy note but on a rather shockin...

 The Dinner  By Herman Koch Translated by Sam Garrett  Published Year: 2009 Page Count: 255 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Parenting, Contemporary Fiction, Suspense, Murder, 2025-read.  Rating : 4/5  The prose is so good and the ambience is wonderful. The story, most of it, takes place during the course of a dinner in a Dutch restaurant in Holland/Netherlands. I didn't want the story and narration to end. Although the opinions aired and the actions condoned are a bit hard to take in, I gulped the prose/story down. I really wanted to give this a 5 point rating. But some of the beliefs and actions of the narrator are nothing but crazy. They cannot be supported. Like, for example, when he says that someone who gets murdered or killed is subconsciously inviting it because they are not innocent and are deserving of the punishment. He compares World War 2 and the humongous numbers of people who died this way are not all innocent. It is outrageous to ...

 Once Upon A Broken Heart  (Once Upon A Broken Heart #1) By Stephenie Garber  Published Year : 2021  Page Count: 292 pages  Medium Used : Paperback  Genre : High Fantasy, Magic, Love Potions, Spells, Murder Mystery, 2025-read.  Rating : 4/5 I found this story very gripping. I would have given it a 5 star rating if the ending didn't confuse me fully. I was combobulated as to who is to be trusted and who did what. The questions that are raised had more blanks than answers. The main character is so totally confused as to who is what. She sees each person for their faults as well as merits and can't make a choice against them!  Evangeline Fox is raised up on fairy tales, lovely affairs and happy endings. Her step sister, Marisol, on the other hand, has a very cruel and critical mother that wants her daughter to snag a wealthy suitor for her not so good looking and not good for anything daughter. When Eva falls in love with Luc and wants to marry him f...

 The Kind Worth Killing  (Henry Kimball/Lucy Kintner #1) By Peter Swanson  Published Year: 2015 Page Count: 285 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Murder Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, 2025-read.  Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 I liked the fast pacing of the narration, good character development and the depth the plot had. I found the reasons and justifications the main character gave herself to kill rather childish and immature. Whatever the reasons, she had been adept at killing and getting away with murder all her life! Its shocking how easy it was. It made me wonder how many serial killers are there, walking around in civilian clothes, around us every minute, every day! Towards the end, it became like a cat and mouse chase with the cop, Henry Kimball and Lucy Kintner, the suspect, playing catch up. I liked the book very much. Would love to read the next book in the series.  Lucy Kintner is a murderess. She had been taking ...

 Conversations with Friends  By Sally Rooney  (Debut Novel)  Published Year : 2017 Page Count: 321 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre : Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Complicated Relationships, Clinical Depression, Endometriosis, 2025-read.  Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 My, my!! What a prose! The writing felt amazing. So did the character development. I felt like having read some personal journal of a real person ,not a novel or a book of fiction! Highly recommend to all lovers of good books. I am also appreciative of the fact that there is minimal to no smut in the narration. I usually cringe and walk away or skip the pages in books where it is there. This didn't feel like a debut work at all. Written with an ease of professional!  Frances and Bobbie were a thing. They used to have a lesbian relationship. They stopped being lovers , for whatever reason, and remained solid, best friends. In their lives enter Melissa - a journalist and essayist and he...

The Silent Lover Channel on Telegram by Tanishk. Click on the following link to head to the channel and follow:  The Silent Lover   The guy writes beautifully and with such intense feeling that it touches the core of the reader. He usually puts out his thoughts, beautiful, soulful quotes, pictures and has good interactive subscribers. Do check this out for sure!! He writes from the heart and soul under his pen with the benediction of Krishna. 🥰

 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine  By Gail Honeyman  Published Year: 2017 (HarperCollins) Page Count: 383 pages  Medium Used : Paperback  Genre : Contemporary Fiction, Chronic Depression, Loneliness, Mental Illness, 2025-read.  Rating : 4/5 😇😇😇😇 If the character of Eleanor Oliphant is not consistent, I would have laughed and put away the book as farcical. Yes. Eleanor has had a tough past/upbringing and she is rendered incapable of having a strong social life. The author spooked me at how easily she plays her inner psychological detective and comes out of her mental issues. She accurately diagnoses her issues and though she couldn't deal with them, she nevertheless is aware of all her problems and the after effects. This felt strange and insincere to me. Other than this, the story and narration is very gripping. I found myself reading the book when I was suppose to be doing something else more productive. I spent a large part of my work day immersed ...