One of Us Is Lying | Karen M. McManus

The novel begins with a backstory about five high schoolers who were punished for behaving uncharacteristically foolish during a class which has led them to their current predicament. It’s neither a smooth starting nor the characters introduced are easygoing. Still, something about the humdrum beginning keeps the readers engaged to deliver a gut punch. The…

Verity | Colleen Hoover

Oh my goodness, what did I just read??!!!! This is psychedelic stuff but still phenomenally fascinating, so engaging that it will keep you awake at night long after it’s finished. The book itself starts on a gory note acting like a prenomination of what has to come ahead in the storyline when the protagonist of…

City of Girls | Elizabeth Gilbert

The second novel by Elizabeth Gilbert is all about the memories; memories of one’s youth enjoyed and spent in repentance, memories of familial relationships built and nurtured, memories of friendships built and lost and memories of a city loved and admired for over a lifetime. The story begins in 1940s New York when Vivian Morris,…

Piranesi | Susanna Clarke

Piranesi lives in the House. The House protected him till now and it still looks after him. It provides him shelter from tides and nurtured him with the bounties brought by the tides. The House is boundless and merciful to Piranesi; at least, up till now. Susanna Clarke’s marvellous novel begins in the House with…

Vinegar Girl | Anne Tyler

Vinegar Girl is a modern take on Shakespeare’s Taming The Shrew by Anne Taylor. Like the original source, this book also has a spinster at its heart who is a bit problematic for her father and then gets eventually ‘tamed’ (sort of) by an arranged suitor. However, unlike the original play, the entire plot line…