“Rain & The Woods”

“The Haunting of Hill House” Book Review

It starts the quote “whatever walked there, walked alone”. This quote somehow seems to explain the whole story, right? The book wasn’t something I had expected. It deals with mental horror more than it deals with the ghostly horror which was not something I had expected though I knew there would be something psychological to it.

 It starts with Eleanor going to the Hill House by getting an invitation from Dr. Montague. The descriptions added about the town downstream the Hill house were like something we expect from a typical haunted house story. However, I too enjoyed the journey of Eleanor going to the Hill House, the writing was very effective in that part. The atmosphere inside the Hill house which has been described made me feel suffocated. The Hill house was described to consist of different rooms with different colours of the rainbow but still very dark and deep, just to think about this it feels like nature is against lighting the house. All through the book, Hill house did not only spread horror, it also had spread hatred, loathing, jealousy and suspicion. But at some points, I felt that though Hill house was disastrous, Hill house was also their comfort zone to an extent. One very disagreeable thing about the book is that it’s very draggy. You’ll have already gone through almost 2/3 of the book but you’d feel nothing major is happening actually. I would have liked it better if it did contain a bit more things going on. 

 Now, talking about “The Haunting of Hill House” means talking about the characters of the book. The protagonist is of course Eleanor and everything is about her. Her life seems really boring which needed excitement and hence the decision of going to the Hill house has arisen and she was genuinely happy to go there. She is very imaginative and keeps imagining a lot of stuff at the time of the journey. She is actually very insecure and an overthinker. She always keeps thinking about what her mother says or how she would have reacted in all of the situations. I felt like she had been controlled by her mother for the whole time. She troubles herself in every small matter. She is very pathetic and desperate which is very normal for her as she was brought up very strictly. And then comes Theodora. She is a chill kinda person who also seems to like excitement. One of the lines from the book is very appropriate as it has described the characteristics of both Eleanor and Theodora, “Theodora’s face was stiff and sulky, she likes attention, Eleanor without thinking, moved and sat on the floor beside Theodora.” Dr. Montague was the most adventurous among them. The only thing I want to say about Luke is that he is a flirt.

 Jackson’s writing style is very simple and easy to understand. She added many small details to make the hill house appear scarier and darker. But I did not like the style of her writing in case of conversations. It was messy with a disturbing flow which lacked smoothness.

This was all about the book. I enjoyed it though my expectation was a bit higher.

Our first ever story writing club 💚

“And Then There Were None” Book Review

“And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie is one of the best mystery books ever. The plot of the book really touched my heart. The story is short but well decorated. There is no way you can get who is the actual killer. Christie made the whole thing soo much confusing.

The story deals with 10 main characters. actually there WERE 10 characters and they happened to be murdered by someone who was among them. But none could understand particularly who was that murderer. And the murderer killed them in a very peculiar way following a rhyme named ‘Ten Little Soldier Boys’. 

You won’t actually understand how twisting and interesting is this whole story without reading it. The book has created an environment of great suspense and thriller for me. I would definitely recommend it to everyone who likes murder, crime and thriller stories.

Some of My Favorite Movies of 2010

1. “127 Hours”, Genre: Drama/Biography, Summary: An adventurer man becomes trapped between rocks for 127 hours.

2. “Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief”, Genre: Fantasy/Adventure, Summary: A young boy gets to know that he is a demi-god and a great adventure awaits for him.

3. “The Social Network”, Genre: Biography, Summary: A genius Harvard student discovers a social networking site which becomes very popular and he has to deal with his fame and friendships. 

4. “Shutter Island”, Genre: Psychological Thriller, Summary: Two marshals go to an island to investigate the disappearance of a patient of an asylum situated in the island and things get worse.

5. “Insidious”, Genre: Horror, Summary: A couple become concerned when thigs keep happening in their new home and to their son. 

‘Eleanor & Park’ Book Review

‘Eleanor & Park’ by Rainbow Rowell is a simple Y/A story. This is basically a love story between two introverted teens. The story takes place in 1980′s. This book has every vibes and chills of that time.

Eleanor is a miserable, insecure, scared, red-headed girl who lives with her stepdad, whom she hates the most. Park is a little, self-esteemed, half Asian boy who is very much happy with his family. Eleanor is a new girl at Park’s school. I really loved the way by which the relationship between Eleanor and Park has grown. They were both a little bit different in thinking from their family and even from each other. But still a bonding of love and care grows between them. Both of them appear to care only for each other. One becomes the permanent shelter of the another.

But I didn’t actually like the writing style. I can’t just stop thinking that it could have shown something more. The pace of the story was a little bit slow. However, I really liked the ending. In total it was not that bad. Good book for Y/A lovers.

“Dracula” Book Review

Just completed reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. I’ve got mixed feelings for this book. There are some things which I liked, some things I did not enjoy at all. I would like to discuss thoroughly though I am afraid that I won’t be able to as I have forgotten many things. However, lets get started...oops!

The Things I’ve liked about Dracula:

1. The story itself is very good. It has gothic elements, the environment is very scary. 

2. The whole novel was explained indirectly by using different character’s daily journals which is quite interesting.

3. I loved the concept of Jonathan’s going to Transylvania and literally everything happed in there.

4. There were some things which were explained really well. This book contain some little mysteries which were good to read.

5. Totally loved the character of Renfield. Never seen such an interesting character.

The Things I’ve disliked about Dracula:

1. I couldn’t help feeling that this novel could have been a little shorter. There were some really unnecessary details which needed to be excluded to make it more better. 

2. Other than Renfield, none of the other characters I’ve found interesting. Even, Lord Dracula himself wasn’t that fascinating as I’ve thought at the beginning of the book. 

3. Other than some chapters, most of the chapters or scenarios were a little boring.

4. The relationship between the characters seemed really mechanical to me. I didn’t got them as they were portraited. 

5. Last but not the least, I haven’t enjoyed the writing style of Bram Stoker at all. The writings are really hard to follow. 

My Top 5 Favorite Books of 2021 <3 

"This is How You Lose the Time War" by Amal El- Mohtar & Max Gladstone

The story follows two of our protagonists belonging to two different futuristic worlds which are against each other. It follows different timelines, describing from the past historical events to the things which are probable to happen in the future. Basically, it is a story of time travelling to the past, could be for saving something or destroying things. Red is a time-traveling agent from a world more collective and dependent. Blue's one is calculating and more independent. So, red's the one who runs and Blue's the one who ruins. Red and blue eventually get a form to connect to each other: through letters. So, it's more like a "enemy to lover" romance story in the historical and sci-fi world.

I have really liked the concept and storyline of the novella. But i have found the language a bit difficult to get by. The books at the beginning and some points also seemed a bit messy. I lost the tract and did not understand some of the rapidly mentioned historical references. It took me much time to understand the plotlines as well. I just wish it was more understandable and swift to grab a whole bucket of information (the ongoings) all at once. But the good thing is, as we keep reading, the things start untwisting and it feels less confusing. And slowly you starts to love it.

The message of the story is the best. War is the worst thing we can do. Love is the one thing everyone needs to live truly and fully. Love is another name for freedom, not war, of course.

‘The Alchemist’ Book Review

‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho is a short, simple book but still bears so much significance. The language is simple and easy to understand but the meanings appears somehow really deep. The story follows a young shepherd boy who searches for treasure and realizes and learns so much meanings in the way. he learns about luck and destiny. He appears to understand gradually about specific values of certain things.

I have realized many philosophical things over and over again. Like I have realized, one who experiments and learns new things must move forward with his life without binding herself to any activities. In the book, the travelling is that sort of experiment. There is always a way out from any kind of trouble no matter how hard it is. It is no coincidence, it is destiny. There is nothing impossible for us to do or gain because everything needs to make the matter possible lies within our souls. Human soul is the greatest of all as Allah Himself has said.

After reading this book life seems beautiful. Even if there are troubles and disturbing phenomena going on, it is worth to believe and to rely on life completely. 

‘The Alchemist’ is a book of realization. The things we already know but haven’t have enough before to realize. This is a great spiritual and moral book. I will definitely recommend this to all the philosophy lovers.

Oh, Newt. You never met a monster you couldn't love.

Leta Lestrange