Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

Absalom, Absalom!  By William Faulkner  Rating 4/5 Genres: Drama, classics, 2021-read, non linear story telling  This is the first book I have read by William Faulkner and its non linear story telling kept me hooked through out its rather simple  plot. He gives a gist of what had happened in the past and slowly unravels the whys, the whens and the where's by going back from the present into the past opening a window there, closing a window here and so forth. It got a bit tricky to keep track of what point in time he is referring to and who the characters in the context are. To put it mildly, it is a bit challenging of a novel which required occasional back and forth in reading also. He says something and the details or explanation to it come later..so one has to hold on to reading and it all becomes clear eventually.  This book tells the story of the family  of a fictitious Thomas Sutpen narrated by a young man Quentin Compson who got it from mu...

Melmoth the Wanderer By Charles Maturin Genres : Gothic, Horror, Classics, 2021-read,awesome. Rating 5/5 Absolutely loved this! Gothic and horror at its epitome and best! While reading this, I wondered if such souls like Melmoth don't really exist? My conscience and gut feeling tells me there might be some like him wandering trying to fulfill the wishes of the devil just like we have saints trying to convert men to good for the will of God. So Melmoth is a man who made a pact with the devil - sold his soul - to quench his curiosity in the black arts and is thus condemned to walk this wold alone..in search of another person who might take over his pact thereby liberating him from it. He approaches many a bereaved and extremely desolate soul in its stages of utter hopelessness offering this deal in exchange for a reversal of their circumstances and those stories are told in succession. They all reject his offer. He falls desperately in love with an innocent girl Imaal...

The Troop  By Nick cutter  Rating : 3.5/5  Genres : Horror, suspense, 2021-read, virus, worms, epidemic, self immolation, investigation. So, its more creepy and filled with literally creeping things- worms - than horror. I guess the plot could have been written better- making it more raw and intense.  At no point during the read did I feel really worried for the boys even though I guessed right of the bat that none of them are going to escape. And the unnecessary animal cruelty and violence felt like an attempt made by the author to make it more horrid but I only felt empty queasiness and skipped parts of the plot where its there.  Its a hard book to finish in one go. I had to take breaks in between and tried to get away from the horror but I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I tried to sleep it off but my dreams are filled with images of crawling multitude of worms. Its an understatement in the least to say this is a disturbing book.  Getti...

The Witch Elm  By Tana French Genres : Suspense,  Murder mystery,  Drama,  2021-read, detectives. Rating : 5/5  I enjoyed the unraveling of the plot. The mind bending and chilling conversations between the detectives and Toby are thoroughly enjoyable. The story is a cat and mouse chase -  with detectives trying to piece together a murder mystery, a burglary that almost left the victim dead - shrouded in a lot of family and emotional drama.  It starts with Toby, the narrator and protagonist calling himself lucky and ends with him accepting the fact that he is lucky with grace.  Toby is working as a PR guy in an art gallery. He gets involved in painting forgeries with his colleague and when his boss finds it out, Toby gets few days of suspension while the other gets laid off. After Toby gets back to work and smooth talks himself into the graces of his boss, one night while he is asleep in his apartment, a couple of burglars break in and ...

The Lost Apothecary  By Sarah Penner  Rating: a solid 5/5 Genres: Historical fiction, 18th century England, magical realism, awesome read, 2021-read, reviewed  My God! What an amazing book. I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I started on this one but I just couldn't put it down.  I usually read multiple books together but after I picked this one - I could focus only on this till I finished it! Its just very gripping!  This is a story of uncovering some mystical events that happened during the late 18th century in England with a fictitious female apothecary, Nella. She inherited and learnt her trade from her late mother who wanted her shop to be a rescue from women's maladies. When Nella is young, she is betrayed by a man and later when chance presents, she dispenses her medicine in heavy dose leading to his death. This starts her journey in which not only helping and healing the physical ailments of women, she also becomes the dispenser of poiso...

 2010 : Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke Genres: Science Fiction, Space travel, Aliens, human intelligence, artificial intelligence,2021-read,reviewed. Rating: 5/5   Awesome Read!! More than reading like fiction, it felt like I was reading a history book. Without going too much into every intricate detail, he has covered a lot of material. One of the worst fears I have in life is getting hopelessly lost in space. Although all the science fiction space related stories(like this one and project hail mary etc) eventually end on a note of success and hope, the stakes couldn't be higher in those challenging and harrowing situations for the astronauts should they arise in reality. It might all depend on the success of a minute calibration, ship orientation and it invariably is life or death with no in between. This book is a gripping read - as most/all Clarke's books are - which made me forget both time and number of pages read/left to read etc. :D  This book is a continuation t...

Death With Interruptions Jose Saramago  Genres : death, speculative fiction, humor, satire,2021-read Rating 5/5  💕💕 Loved it!! "Death" is conquered. By Love!! This is an abnormally endearing book. Its ripe with impossible hypothetical possibilities and they are just mind blowing!  The reader along with the citizens of a lucky/unlucky country are taken for a ride by Death which wants to test human fragility. Then Death comes up with some ideas of her own - because she can and who is there to question or deter her? Yeah! Its a very hilarious write up and the comical timing is so apt!  I didn't anticipate this to be a love story but that's what it has turned out to be and a pretty touching one too - in its authenticity, honesty and it just had my knees go weak. I waited with baited breath as to how it would end - for how many can have a successful love affair with Death? Little bit into the story. For a brief period of seven months, death takes a break. People of a ce...

Tender is the Flesh  By Augustina Bazterrica  Genres : Horror, Dystopia, Science fiction, Future, 2021-read. Rating 5/5  So I am giving this one a 5 star rating. This is one of those books that gets a lower rating for being good. There were many futuristic dystopian novels I had read and loved/liked/hated some of them but none gave me the shivers like this one. Humans supplanting animals is an agreeable and digestible future?? I felt that cruelty and ruthlessness are celebrated in this world the author created and the main protagonist at the end reveals his dark side which comes as a blow. I had few ideas on how the story might have turned out while reading it and extrapolating but what actually came is a jolt. The terms and fight for human rights would have a whole new level of meaning in this society.  Coming to the story, Tejos Marcos is a man pursuing and being pursued by many evils. His beloved father is suffering from dementia and is locked up in a ...

The Egyptian  By Mika Waltari Rating 5/5  Genres : Historical fiction, classics, Ancient Egypt, Akhenaten, Sinuhe, 2021-read, reviewed  This book is a masterpiece!! Just like any masterpiece, it is thorough, has depth and is fantastic. And also like most historical fiction,  it is based on few facts and rests itself on much conjecture/imagination of the author. Whoever tells it and however they tell it  - its the same story - story of the reign and ruin of Akhenaten,the false prophet and king of Egypt - at the core with only some details altered. But what makes this such a good read is the depth of the story  and the complete picture  that is conveyed to the reader through the eyes of a head physician to the Pharoah,  Sinuhe. I had great respect for him till the end when he gets himself embroiled in the affairs of kings and mixes politics into his former unbiased treatments there by using his potions to kill. He uses his noble professi...

 The Return of the King  (#3 Lord of the Rings series) By J.R.R. Tolkien  Rating : 3.75/5  Genres : Fantasy,  fiction,  classics, 2021-read, magical realism, fairy tales, paranormal, supernatural, good vs evil This book marks the end to the saga started with the formation of the fellowship of ring 💍  in part-1 of the series. Its a culmination to all things - dark and light. In a tale of fight between an overpowering and encroaching darkness against forces of good/light - a ring forged by the dark lord himself becomes key to victory. Since the story must end, it is naturally anticipated that the ring gets where it should - thrown into the pits of fire smoldering in Mount Doom of Mordor - the province where the dark lord and his servants/soldiers reside. And that's what happens. Frodo and Sam through many perils and tribulations take the ring to the precipice of Mount Doom but Frodo becomes unwilling and possessive of the ring at the last mo...

 Song of Kali  By Dan Simmons Rating : 2.75/5 Genres : supernatural, theology, dark fiction, fiction, mystery, suspense, 2021-read.  This book is extremely gripping - till the end. But I couldn't give it more than what rating I have given it. Why? First, it had me simmering with rage and there is more than one scene which left me cringing - the author is outright blasphemous in using curse words against the deity and over blowing/exaggerating about his experiences in India. Second, I think he is confused between - kali, the demon who defines the age of kali vs Kaali the goddess who is known as all powerful. I had to remind myself that this is not a memoir but only a work of fiction. It felt like a slowly unwinding nightmare. This work of Dan Simmons beats many of the recent works of Stephen King - in horror and in touching the morbid, graphic violence, grisly ideas too deep.  The narrator is a writer and he gets commissioned to obtain a manuscript of p...

 The Wings of the Dove  By Henry James Rating : 3/5 Genres: classics, drama, fiction, 2021-read. The plot is good --  but the writing is not. I picked this book wearily knowing the author - having read his other classic The Turn of the Screw. Something in his style of writing calls for skipping chunks of text and not miss much in the line of story/plot. It's not an easy read this big book - if he hasn't delved so much into the characters' inner conflicts, psychological reactions, thoughts, feelings to the extent he has - I believe this book would have been much shorter and manageable. At the level of modern day and age, the plot feels trite anyways - it's like walking in tested waters.  Basic theme : A couple of lovers try to scheme and trick a rich young heiress into winning over her wealth for their own. What hand has fate dealt these ingrates? Is their earning worth the price paid for it?  Kate Croy and Merton Densher have fallen in love through m...

 The Two Towers by J.R.R.Tolkein  (Lord Of The Rings series book #2) Genres: Fantasy, Classics, Fiction, Hobbits, Wizards, Giants, 2021-read, reviewed, awesome read.  Rating 5/5 😍🥳 Whew! "I loved it" would be an understatement for this great classical work by Tolkein!! I found this book smoother, swifter and even better - if that's even possible - than the first part. ✌ I wish hobbits are not a fictitious lot - but that they truly exist and I come across them in reality. Ahh, I know. It's wishful thinking. Hobbits - like rabbits - are harmless, simple minded, meek, short and stout people who are content to live in their holes underground surrounded by greenery, singing their tales of lore, feasting and merry making. Tolkein takes them into the mouths of danger and gives them shades of chivalry even perhaps they were not aware of. Bilbo baggins is something of a legend for adventure and bravery in the Shire but this book shows all the hobbits have somethi...

Valis  By Philip k. Dick  Rating: 4.75/5 Genres: Science fiction, suspense, thriller, good vs evil, theology, mental illness, insanity, novel plot, 2021-read, reviewed. Just like living things have an 'aura'  around them with which some could guess their health/well being, books also seem to have a kind of aura around them. If it's a book written by Philip k Dick, one can be assured that it has some element of surprise, novelty, drugs, madness and a promise of a fun ride. Valis is a pleasure to read.I ran through the pages with my eyes glued to my kindle. I couldn't put this book down. Philip Dick is one of the very established authors in the genre of science fiction but for the first 20-30 percent of the book , I wondered if he diverged into a memoir. Yet, his writing is so hilarious that on the one hand I was telling myself  'what a poor fellow this Horselover Fat( an alter ego of Philip, the narrator) is' and on the other hand laughing my head off...

The Bell Jar  By Sylvia Plath Genre: Suspense, Mental health, madness, insanity, 2021-read, good prose, modern classics Rating: 4/5 A student one minute is pursuing the most envious and successful life and the next minute is undergoing shock treatments under harsh conditions of mental asylums to help cope with her life. What's happened? A fast paced and gripping page turner. Disturbing and strange read which is heart pounding and equally seductive in style. Very thought provoking in its own way. I took my sweet time getting through this book and now I can't seem to get it out of my head. A scene never lingers or tarries at one point or gets too much into detail..it just moves forward into another.. seamlessly blending the two together. The chain of events are broken off and joined by links of continuity that keeps the prose going. But although a book on mental detachment, depression and other mental health issues, it had some strong laugh-out-loud moments and the na...

 Big Little Lies [2014] By Liane Moriarty  Genre: Suspense, Fiction, Drama, Contemporary, 2021-read,female-oriented, murder, mystery, reviewed  Rating : 3/5 This book is perfect example of what makes for good TV but poor reading. It's a strange relationship I had with it. I wanted to put it away and pick something else so bad but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Having watched the very successful TV series with the same name starring Nicole Kidman didn't help either. It is boring for the most part and only got remotely interesting towards the end. I was asking myself why the heck do I care about the personal lives of some small town people and try wrapping my head around their petty skirmishes, illicit affairs and even poke into some damning domestic violence? Also what is this book trying to convey? That it's ok for women to put up with domestic violence? Or is it ok for the abusing husband to be murdered?  It's a small town called Pirriwee in Australi...

The Haunting of the Hill House (1959)  by Shirley Jackson  Genre: Gothic, Fiction, Horror, suspense, 2021-read, Classics  Rating : 3.75/5 This is a story of a failed experiment by a fanatic scientist at researching the happenings of a hill house. Unlike the poltergeist kind of events where a house drived it's inhabitants away, this one sucks them right in.  It's a cute, elegant looking house perched on top of a hill. It has been built over 80 years ago but no one has inhabited it atleast for the last 20 years. People in the neighborhood didn't like it and there are many stories of deaths associated with the place. Either the earlier inhabitants were taken by death or madness but they all loved the place dearly. A scholar, doctor Montague - with an idea to foster his career and give it a boost - decides to conduct some experiments within the hill house and publish a research paper. He is joined by three other people - Luke, Theodora and Eleanor - upon invitation. The ...

 The Case Against Satan (1962) By Ray Russell  Genre:  Paranormal, supernatural, fiction, good-evil, god-demon, possession, exorcism, classics, priests, monasteries, 2021-read, horror, suspense, mystery, detective. Rating: 4.5/5 🎈💃💃 Some of the scenes and episodes in the book had me shaking with fear and gave me serious goosebumps. I conjured black shapes out of thin air in my imagination and had to put the book away to distract myself with something like light reading. This book is a story on demonic possession and exorcism but with many other elements added to the plot.  A sixteen year old girl Susan Garth is brought to consult a priest Halloran because she has started acting odd of late. She shuns visiting the church, calls her father slanderous names and when alone in the presence of the priest, she attempts to seduce him and strangle him. Horrified and disturbed, the priest chooses to get transferred to an orphanage. His replacement, Father Gregory , when pre...

 The Maidens By Alex Michaelides Genre : Suspense, Thriller, Greece, Mythology, Horror, detective, whod-unit, female-oriented, 2021-read Rating : 4.5/5 👌👌 Woo Hoo! I just finished this book and I feel like I have been taken for quite a ride by the author. He gave my taut imagination a spin making me guess and second guess at a game I eventually lost. He threw me - a hooked reader at that point -  off into wrong directions about who might be the murderer and right enough, I took the bait each time. So as the end was nearing, there were multiple suspects and with a pounding heart, I kept reading ignoring sleep and late hour of the day. But I felt that the end fell a bit flat for me - after all the expectation, it was like an anti-climax.😕 Something that could have been a little different and improvised upon. 🙄🤔 But still, this is one hell of a book!! I thought this engaged me more than his first book The Silent Patient which was a rage and a massive success. When this b...

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? By Henry Farrell Genre : Thriller, horror, psychological fiction,classics, best-twists, good prose, 2021-read, macabre Rating : 5/5 🎈🎈 What a twist! Didn't see that one coming! It's true what they say - all that glitters is not gold. What looks beautiful on the outside need not be so on the inside. "Beautiful people could also be very bad". This is a story of jealousy,hatred, selfishness, vengeance and the repercussions that one has to face when they can't keep these emotions in check. It's a classic story from the 1960s which got made into a successful movie with the same name starring Joan Crawford and Bette Davis who were arch rivals. It also was the book that kind of revived the slow going career of Henry Farrell and brought him back into the game with full force. 💃 Baby Jane Hudson was a star. She was hailed the most talented and famous child star by everyone. Mostly her father and family who felt they owed all the...