If Looks Could Kill – Beverly Barton

A face to die for! MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO IS THE DEADLIEST OF THEM ALL? The victims are found face-down in the murky waters of Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. The murders all share the same characteristics: the victims are found naked except for a black, satin ribbon tied around they’re necks — and they’re all redheads. Meanwhile, Reve Sorrell has come to Cherokee Pointe seeking answers about her connection to bad girl Jazzy Talbot. With their stunning looks, the two redheads are mirror images of each other — but raised in very different worlds. As the serial killer leaves another chilling calling card, Reve turns to Sheriff Jacob Butler to help her unravel the deadly secrets of her past. But one person will do anything to stop her — and they are closer than she could ever imagine!

This was my first Beverly Barton book and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The book is a must read for any one who enjoys crime and romance. It gives you a good dip in both of these. It was an absolute page-turner and towards the end I found it hard to put this one down. Right from the beginning Barton narrows down the list of suspects but it still keeps you guessing about who the real killer is. Towards the end, I badly wanted to know if my guess about who the killer was, was right. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was wrong, that made the end more exciting for me – who doesn’t like surprises?!

Lets now peekaboo into the plot.  Reve and Jazz (Jasmine) discover that they are twin sisters and have lived their entire life not knowing that they had a twin sister. Reve was discovered in the dumpster and after that adopted by a wealthy family – the Sorrells. Jazz on the other hand was brought up by her aunt Sally Talbot who was an eccentric old woman and wasn’t very well off but loved Jazz dearly. Both the twins due to their contrasting upbringing found it hard to accept the idea of sisterhood. Slowly as they get to know each other, they start liking each other almost instantly. Jazz is dating a guy called Caleb who has recently discovered he is heir to the wealthy Upton family in Cherokee point.

Slowly the twins become curious about their mysterious past and set out to discover the truth about their biological parents. And soon realize someone wants to keep them away from discovering the clandestine past. Meanwhile there is a serial killer on the loose who kills pretty red-heads and to their disadvantage Jazz and Reve are both red-heads and are next on the hit list. Slowly these seemingly different dangers intertwine together and makes matters extremely complicated and dangerous for the red-head siblings.

Reve meets Sheriff Butler in her first visit to Cherokee point and in their first encounter they despise each other. It is interesting to see how their relationship changes with time. With time the despise begins to fade and how they become romantically involved. This relationship adds the romance to all the conspiracy and murders. Overall an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading other Barton books.

Overall Verdict: 4/5

One Day – David Nicholls

‘I can imagine you at forty,’ she said, a hint of malice in her voice. ‘I can picture it right now.’He smiled without opening his eyes. ‘Go on then.’

15th July 1988. Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.
So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year which follows?
One Day is a funny/sad love story spanning twenty years, a book about growing up – how we change, how we stay the same.

The choice to read this book was again an easy one it was an international bestseller! I have to be honest and tell you that the book did not live upto its name. It was a very interesting read in the beginning and towards the middle of the book you just loathe the characters. You loathe Emma’s naiveness, Dexter’s pompousness. I haven’t still been able to make up my mind about the end of the book. I absolutely hated one of the over-the-top drama twists to the tale but I think the author made an ok-ish comeback after that. In short, nothing to look forward to.

This book showcases the relationship between a boy and girl over a span of twenty years. This book shows how the friendship evolves over time. How they get each others back through their  lows in both personal and professional life. Emma Morley has a crush on Dexter Mayhew and does her best to not show him that.

The initial phase of their friendship is the best the book has to offer. It is very realistic and probably something a lot of us can relate to. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the long letters they write to each other especially the detail of the underlining or upper case because that is exactly how I write! Having said that I wouldn’t want to relate myself to the naiveness of Emma.

Dexter is portrayed as the cool dude who is a big hit among women and is innocent at heart. He joins the media/entertainment industry as a tv anchor and transforms into one of those pompous, full-of-himself ass hole (Please ignore the usage of words but that seems like the most apt way to describe him). During this phase, he doesnt value his dear ones and takes them for granted. It is during this phase that Emma is working at a Mexican restaurant. She wonders what she is doing working as a waitress which was never what she had dreamt.

In the next phase, their lives take a turn and their roles reverse. Emma is now the successful writer while Dexter is the failure. He has made a mess of his life and is jobless and divorced. Emma is still there for him and he rediscovers his life. And this for me is the part that let me down the most. Too much drama just traumatized me and I would like to say it could have been much better.

Overall Verdict: 3/5

Hostel Life

Hostel life is a completely different world. You have substitutes for everything! Here is a list… Read and enjoy

Anyone has an exam or appointment which needs you to wake up early then it is Meena-‘the alarm’ to work! 🙂

If anyone wants to know about some cricket matches or sports related event then Miss Parat comes to the rescue… Right from how much Ganguly scored to which over n what went wrong, a complete game analysis report would be given to us…

Anyone who needs to know the current affairs could run to Miss Hudson who was our newspaper. She will read anything that comes her way and I mean ANYTHING! From old lays packets to newspapers dating back to 2000 to old notebooks, this lady can read anything she can lay her hands upon!

The next is our movie reviews, we dont need sites like imbd.com or anything cause we have our own walking talking movie database and review center… None other than Divi…

Next is our To-Do list… It is about the stuff we need to do for college- assignments,seminars,tests,submissions,etc etc. For this Miss Vava came to the rescue! She knew exactly what we have to do for when etc etc.

The next thing you need is Jokes for recreation. We had a joke book (of extremely low standards 😉 ) in hostel. Yes, I am talking about Ansu! 😛 Quantity assured… sadly not the quality!  (Dont kill me for this! )

Next being the cook book. How to cook this n that… Someone who takes all the questions about cooking in our hostel Miss Gayathridevi…

Next coming to Nami- ‘the installer and uninstaller’… 24×7 Ma’am is either installing or uninstalling something… The funny part is that within hours she will uninstall the same softwares she took ages to get her hands on… One DIFFERENT person for sure! 😛

In hostel we had substitutes on whom we relied wholly and solely upon to get through our college life. Looking back now I completely miss my substitutes. I am starting to loathe the normal way of being… I hate setting alarm clocks to wake up or having to go to a particular site for some reviews. So this post is in fond memory of my substitutes! 🙂 🙂

Khaled Hosseini- A Genius

Profound thinker and writer Khalid Hosseini has made a mark with his books -‘The Kite Runner’ and ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’. The two books became best sellers in no time! With such content and skill it would be a surprise if they weren’t….

Both the books give us a peekaboo into the lives of the people of Afghanistan. For a majority of us Afghani’s hav been just the news headlines and the figures, nothing more… Not many of us think about the emotions of the people living quite literally ‘IN the line of fire’. The two books are quite different and force you to picture the pain and misery of people there.

The first book that is The Kite Runner tells us more about the social barriers of caste that induce suffering. It is a story of two boys Amir and Hassan who are best friends right from childhood. Hassan is a Hazara (one of the lower castes) and he goes beyond limits for his dear friend who does not realize this at that point of time. In reality, Hassan is the Amir’s illegal step brother (which he discovers very later). Just to save himself from the disgrace, his faithful servant takes Hassan to be his child. The story is set in the background of the Sovient invasion. It tells us about how Amir flees from Afghanistan and has a life long regret of never having stood up for his best friend. A MUST read for all!
Amir might be the hero for a lot of people but for me Hassan is the true hero. He symbolizes true friendship and commitment. His forgiveness and love touching!

A Thousand Splendid Suns(ATSS) is again a great book but nothing in comparison with The Kite Runner.No wonder they say a writers first book is his best!
ATSS revolves around the story of two women and how they form a mother-daughter relationship in the hostile situation in Afghanistan where there had been one invasion after another. It also makes us aware of the pitiable state of women under the taliban rule. How the rules, regulations, schools even hospitals were different for both men and women. It is sadly the most inhuman behaviour one can imagine. But nevertheless it is a story of a fighter- Laila who not only overcomes the odds of life but also is lucky enough to spend her life with her childhood love -Tariq. Laila is an educated woman who dedicates her life to bringing her country back to life.

If you are still looking for another reason to read Khaled Hosseini books here it is…. Well… he is one hell of a good looking man! 😛 😀  hehehe