Apollo's Rebellion

Firstly, this book didn't leave me "breathless and yearning for more". It left me tired and bored and slightly mad. I have this thing that when something shocking or annoying happens in a book I start talking to it. Let's just say that I could not keep my mouth shut while reading this book. 

I bought the book firstly because of the beautiful cover and secondly because it's set in India.  I find India such a magical, mystical place and I thought that this book might feed my imagination a bit more. It did, until it started to get cliched and redundant. The first few chapters were amazing, it spoke about a curse and fulfilling prophecies. I thought that with a book this thick it must be filled with adventure and wonderful tales from ancient India. Then came the clear love story forming between Ren and Kelsey, which we all saw coming, but I felt as if Houk focused more on their love story and Kelsey fighting with her feelings rather than Kelsey trying to help Ren free himself from this 300-year-old curse.

Okay, so I think I just gave away a significant plot point over there, but, like I said before, we all saw it coming. Ren is an ancient Indian Prince (his full name being Dihren) who ends up becoming a tiger because he is in possession of a piece of the Damon Amulet. This curse only allows him to change back into human form for 24 minutes in one day, basically a minute for every hour. The only way for the curse to be broken is for Durga's chosen one to be found, enter Kelsey Hayes typical awkward American girl with no intention of breaking a curse or falling in love. I say typical because I think that almost every American author of this genre picks this archetype for their protagonist. Thinks herself to be average in appearance,but described by others as beautiful, pale skinned, unsure of herself, not very outgoing and has had something happen to her parents, in Kelsey's case her parents died in a car accident. I've seen and read it so many times before in films and books. I understand that this is what teenage girls relate to most, but it somehow makes the story more unrealistic than watching anything on TLC or any other "reality TV" network. The things I admire about Kelsey are, and yes there are things I like about her, her bravery, loyalty and the way she cares for others before herself. She's a sweet girl and if I had met her in real life I probably would be (distant) friends with her, there's nothing you can hate about her, except for when she becomes lovelorn Kelsey torn about her feelings for Ren. The other thing that would probably drive someone up the wall is that she asks way too many questions, even I don't ask that many questions. I understand that she is a curious person and curious people's brains need to be constantly fed with information, but there's a point where it just becomes a sort off info-dump where you just need to get the information out for the sake of the story. I've been accused of doing it before, it's hard to weave in important facts through dialogue and narration while also allowing the story to flow, but a good writer should know when and how to show that information. 

Sorry, I got a bit lost there. The thing I love most about this novel is the fact that it's based in India and it is filled with Indian mythology. The culture of India really shows through in certain places and the jungles make a great backdrop for most of the novel. The story relies heavily on the tales of the Hindi Gods, specifically Durga, the one who's curse must be broken, she is known to ride a tiger (sometimes a lion) and is often depicted in battle against demons. Of all the Hindi Goddesses, you do not want to mess with her. Hannuman, the monkey God, is also mentioned as they have to entire his realm and retrieve the golden fruit as one part of Durga's prophecy. As a part Tamil, part Telegu, and my mum being religious, it was interesting to see how someone from America who was not Indian herself retold these ancient tales without mocking it in anyway. Kelsey's curiosity made the reader more absorbed in the stories, Kelsey was open minded and that made the reader more comfortable to be open minded. I was never that religious, although I always wear my red string with pride and go whenever we go to Temple, but after reading some these stories I started to ask my mum questions about them. It made me realise how brilliant this religion really was with all our different Gods and what they all stand for. 

The character I liked the most was Mr Kadam, the wise mentor of Ren. There's just something about him that made him seem so knowledgeable, obviously because he was the one telling Kelsey about the curse, but he also has that air about him. Like you could ask him any question and he will answer honestly. I would imagine that he would be comfortable either in a library with floor to ceiling bookshelves or drafting up a battle plan against the enemy. Kelsey sees him as a grandfatherly figure and, in my opinion, the book would've been dry without him. I would like to see more of Kishan, Ren's younger brother who was also cursed, in the next novels. I love his wit and charm and it would be interesting to see more of the dynamic he has with his older brother. 

Tiger's Curse in a nutshell: Mystical, Adventurous and a lot of romance. Seriously, don't read it if you can't handle the love-lust of a nineteen year old girl. It's the perfect novel for someone who likes romance with a bit of adventure mixed in, although I prefer my books as adventures with a bit of romance mixed in. If you're not one to start a series of novels and have to read every book in the series, then give the first book a go and see if you like it by the end.

We all do it. On 14th August 1947, I learnt that everybody lies, but not all lies are equal...

Many years ago I told one lie that

has taken on  life as its own.

the only time I was sure of anything 

was all those years ago, when I was a boy.

When I was lying.

But now the truth need s to be told...

This is Irfan Master's debut novel and it is brilliant. Bilal and his friends act their age, but as the novel progresses and the political situation becomes deeper, they learn to grow up. Seeing everything through Billal's eyes gives the novel a both humorous and emotional spin. The character of Bapuji is so lovable and down to earth that you don't want anything to happen to him. As the book progressed, Bapuji became one of my favourite characters. In the place where they live, Anaar Gully, not many people get a proper education as the classrooms are often filled to the brim and Bapuji seems to be the centre of knowledge. He loves books and in their house they have "The Wall of Books." When Bapuji was well, Bilal used to take people around the house and tell them different stories. Bapuji taught Bilal how to read and, because of this, Bilal is one the smartest boys in his class. He is a loving father to his boys and he always wants to protect them. Bilal admires and respects his father and their relationship is so wonderful that you begin to see way Bilal lies and why he feels so guilty about it. 

This is a heartwarming story that is filled with wit, compassion and loss. A Beautiful Lie is great historical novel and I recommend to anyone who is looking for an interesting book to read. It isn't too complicated and  I found it very easy to understand. It feels so real that won't be able to put it down.