Jamba The Joint Family by Sriram Balasubramanian

Jamba The Joint Family by Sriram Balasubramanian

Source|For review

Pages:300

Key info:Amazon.in|Goodreads|Amazon.com 

In an age when families are becoming more nuclear, Karthik's family was an aberration: It was a large joint family with its own complications, contradictions and commonalities. Two love stories and a wedding get intertwined within the family at the same time. One of them could make or break the joint family, will the family survive? Will the love story succeed? Will the younger generation respond to the needs of the family? How will the older generation respond to the changing perceptions of the younger generation? Will the family eco-system survive?

In an India swamped by globalization, this racy and humorous story tries to dissect the generational changes in Indian society and how the Indian society is responding to the changes.

My review:

This book was a light and easy read but there were many words that I did not understand. Another language was spoken and it was not always translated. I believe the conflicts were easily resolved and there wasn't much of a climax. The narrator had an easy way of talking which I liked. I was put off at some points but continued on.I found it was worth it. A thing to note is that there were a lot of errors within the book. What I mean by this is that there were random lettering in it. This sometimes made it difficult to read and understand. Although I would not choose this book normally, overall I liked this book and give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

About the Author:

Sriram Balasubramanian is a Writer who has contributed extensively to international publications such as NYT, WSJ, Foreign Policy, Forbes India, and The Hindu among others. He has interacted with a variety of global business leaders and policy makers in his experience as a journalist and writer. His main area of focus has been on human development, education and socio-economic issues with a global context.

Besides this, he has a Master’s Degree from University of Southern California and is pursuing another degree at Columbia University in NYC. He is also authoring another book on the World Chess championship which was held recently.

He is very passionate about India, its cultural ethos & socio-economic evolution. He can be reached at @Sriram316 or http://www.facebook.com/jambathenovel20 or http://www.srirambala.in

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare Review

Lady Midnight y Cassandra Clare
Source:Bought
Pages:669
Buy:Amazon|Book Depository|Goodreads

In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.

A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabataiis your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.

Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.

Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?

My thoughts 


I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great start to the first book of a series. This book has a different feel to it as Emma already knew about the Shadow World and so it was a different experience being thrown in to the world right at the beginning and reading about the world that we're so familiar with now.  An explanation as to what a seraph blade or witchlight was not needed. It was definitely a 5 star read.

Spoilery

I adored the relationship Julian had with his siblings but felt sad for him as he had to grow up so fast. It was great to see his love for Emma right from when he was introduced and I loved it when they finally acknowledged their feelings for each other. It was great that Mark finally came back and Julian had an older brother again 

s a great character.

I love Emma, she's a great character. it was great to see her developing and coming in terms with her feelings for Julian. It was great that she finally got revenge for her parents' death, although revenge isn't always a good thing. It was heartbreaking to learn that she's going to pretend to love Mark as that would heart Julian the most and        make him hate her. I'm interested to see how her relationship with Mark plays out.

It was sad to see that Mark didn't understand that five years had passed and that his little siblings weren't so little anymore. It made me happy to see that at least he had someone to share his burdens with in the name of Kieran. It was interesting to see how Kieran told of his just so that he could go back to him. People show their love in different ways. I'm really excited to see how his relationship with Emma turns out as he said 'Why lie?'. So does he want a real relationship with her to spite Christina?

Right from the beginning we knew that Christina had a lot of secrets and I loved how she was a great friend to Emma. Kit was shown in the prologue so I guessed that he would play a bigger role in future books. I was right as he was the last Herondale. It will be fascinating to see how he will cope living with the people he was taught to kind of hate.

Overall, I loved the story and can't wait to read the next book when it comes out next year!