charvi_not_just_fiction's reviews
695 reviews

This was so adorable! The plot itself is very predictable but I really enjoyed the build-up of the romance and the characters in the story. I guess I wish we got to know a bit more about the love interest until maybe the last chunk of the book but on the other hand, I loved the mc and her character development! The side cast was cute and fleshed out well enough so overall it's a very enjoyable, quick read that had me giggling quite often.

I absolutely loved this!

What an adorable prequel. I think often prequels fall into the trap of just getting readers hooked with the name of their characters but there's nothing of substance in them. This prequel not only had an interesting and fun mystery to solve (I'm a sucker for murder mystery parties) but we got to explore the friend group dynamics more and actually see what convinced Pip to take up the Andi murder case as her project. It's just a great character study mixed with a good plot and mystery all in one.

Loved the slight twist at the end also, flustered and angry Pip is absolutely adorable XD

 This book was everything I wanted and so much more!

Not only is it a cosy mystery which keeps you wondering who the killer is, it's so much more than that. At its core this book is about love, family and relationships. It revolves around the lives of five people -

Vera Wong who is a lonely old woman with a failing tea business but of course she will never let anyone see that side of her. Instead she keeps herself busy by poking her nose in other people's business and showering them with love and for this story, solving a murder.

Julia is left a widow with a manipulative piece of shit ex-husband who left her with their daughter Emma. Julia finally has the space to find herself, and come into who she was before she had ever met her ex-husband.

Both Rikki and Sana have mysterious ties to the dead man as they're trying to get their lives together after the murdered man left it in shambles.

And then there's Oliver, the dead man's brother who hated his brother and is dealing with mixed emotions and grief while hiding secrets of his own.

This is such an eclectic group but they come together absolutely beautifully, tied together by the eccentric Vera Wong. Vera is truly a force to be reckoned with and I couldn't have loved her more. As an Asian, I definitely saw pieces of my grandparents in her and it made me fall in love with her even more.

While the mystery is definitely interesting, due to the small cast I had already wagered and guessed the murderer correctly but the motive and actual play out of the murder was an absolute shock and surprise! It truly managed to tie everything together perfectly.

You'll come for the mystery and stay for the absolutely wonderful cast of characters. Love, love, love this book so much! 

 

This is the kind of book I wish little me had read.

A story about our anxious little artist called Deena and how she struggles to maintain her mental health while helping her mother with her small business amongst many other things. This is a beautifully written narrative about art, family, anxiety, and being a middle-grade kid.

It has the kind of things little kids need to read about, I wish somebody had told me more about anxiety when I was young instead of simply telling me not to worry. As a young artist from a not-so-well-off family, it was easy to find myself in Deena. Whether you relate to her or not, it's easy to love Deena, this precious and adorable child trying to make everything right for her friends and family and cause the least amount of trouble instead of simply being and living through a happy-go-lucky childhood.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the plot was great as well, with a couple of things I didn't see coming that only made the narrative stronger. Overall this was a very immersive book and I'd definitely recommend it for readers of all ages, but especially to younger audiences.

 

I don't always stick with anthologies and like any collection of stories, some of these missed the mark. But overall this is a beautiful anthology, a collection of heartwarming, emotional and tearjerking narratives about love, dogs and the bonds they form with us.

Some of the stories are delightfully clever and funny while others are more touching and a couple grapple with the history of dogs or present poetry and digital narratives. All in all, I enjoyed reading through this book. I'd especially recommend buying a copy since the authors have contributed to it for free and all royalties will go to registered animal welfare charities.

This was a cute book, with nice characters and lovely desi references and Diwali vibes. It just didn’t hit like I wanted it to.

The plot was very predictable which isn’t always a bad thing but the book felt so long and stretched out. The romance was really slow-burn and annoying at some point, like get-together already. Other than that the excessive descriptions of everything they did in Dubai and every sight felt exhausting, like I didn’t need a travelogue? 

Loved the desi family dynamics though, very spot on.

I read this in audiobook format and the narrator was lovely as well. I guess I just wanted more from this book. It’s a light-hearted read that you can go for, I can't say I enjoyed it as much as I’d hoped to :/

What a ride! This book was addictive, gripping and an absolute page-turner that kept me up well into the night. There's a lot going on in the plot, it's not just about a missing wife. There's politics, the pasts of some shady and innocent people, capitalism and the decline of the newspaper industry and so much more. It all ties up beautifully in the end, everything Linwood Barclay writes has a point to it.

I loved the plot itself and the characters were well-developed with a narrative that kept me hooked. There were a couple of twists that were obvious to me (now whether that's because I've read a lot of mysteries and Linwood Barclays I don't know) so I docked half a star for that but other than that this is a compelling book with a good build up and pay-off. Would highly recommend it!

I'm so sad and frustrated. This book had the potential to be so much more. Let me start with the positives. I think the author has a great writing style with humour and dialogues that will resonate with young adults. Some of the scenes were really cute, funny or wholesome. Which is why I'm so sad that this book wasn't it.

"You never ask me for anything. Anything. You're, like, passively waiting for me to do things all the time, even hand you the motherfucking salt."

THIS. This was my biggest problem with the book. Nolan, our main character is the most passive character I've come across in a while. Everything just happens to him. He gets pushed into everything by his sister Daphne (figuratively and literally!!) and seems to have no dreams, drive, or character motivation. It makes for a rather boring narrative.

Everything just felt extremely disjointed. The cast of characters was huge and we barely knew anything about the side characters so I ended up getting confused many times. I kept asking where is this story going? And why does it feel so long for a 200-page book? It just feels like 150 pages of build-up.

Coming to the romance, it was kind of cute but very frustrating. It felt mostly physical. We get Nolan internally drooling over Bern which is fine really but their fake dating romance lacks a lot of substance. It feels like something is missing. Maybe it's the fact that Nolan never really excepts his feelings until the last couple of pages and we don't get much of an indication of feelings from Bern either.
Almost every character in this book says that they're 'bad at feelings' which begins to feel like a cop-out from the author because yeah, no feelings are ever brought up or discussed. It's such a shame because I thought Nolan and Bern were cute together but I wasn't invested in them at all. Of course everyone knew they would get together but the romance is all the feelings and dates and everything felt like it was going as per a script but lacked any emotional exploration.

Phew, I guess that was a rant I needed to get off my chest.

I didn't hate this book, certain things were still enjoyable but gosh it has such missed potential.

"The sea never stops wearing the rocks down,
and they may be smoother now, but they survive."

Nikita Gill's poetry is always so moving ❤

She covers a range of themes from self-love to friendship, breakups, coming out, hopes for the future. I think this is a beautiful collection that especially resonated with me.

"No one told you that wounds fester.
That which you leave unspoken
only serves as a cage for your golden voice.

If there was a way to unlearn suffering,
then it is this,
the fine art of breaking."