Reviews of Dream’s Sake

BOOK REVIEWERS

The opinion of book reviewers:

Book News India

Handling such a complex mesh of emotions and behaviors within limited number of pages is not a work of an amateur. One needs to have that eye and heart. Surprisingly, this comes as the debut novel from the author, Jyoti Arora. She is young in person and in book writing as well but is strong enough to give hard times to fellows and veterans for sure.

Literary Angels

(Professional book critic and editor)

My very first thought on reading the first page of Dream’s Sake was, ‘Finally an author I can recommend to those who ask me which Indian author they should read.’

On blog Turning Pages, Pushing Pencil, Tapping Keyboard:

What definitely distinguishes Jyoti’s book from some of the other love stories I have read or seen is her ability to transport the reader so effectively to the virtual world of her own and the manner in which each central character of the book starts growing on you with each page turn. Priyam, Abhi, Aashi, Sid, Raj all emerge as convincing characters. Almost real! The end came as a surprise to me though. Her portrayal of half a dozen characters is subtle yet powerful, and the ability to convey feelings effortless which according to me, stands out as the most impressive facet of her writing. Articulation of emotions through the multiple twists and turns is very persuasive and succeeds in invoking a variety of emotions.

There is certain amount of simplicity and innocence about the way she writes which almost induces you to trust and accept what she writes. I liked her free flowing style combined with a selection of simple but suitable vocabulary.

On Writespace:

Friendship, love and the will to survive despite all odds forms the basis of this novel. For a debut novel, Jyoti has indeed done a good job.

On Blogjunta:

The beauty of  the book lies in the way it is written. The story may seem cliched but Jyoti’s prowess  as a writer takes higher hand – the poetic verses at the beginning of every chapter and her ability to get the reader into the skin of the characters and connect with them keeps the pages flipping.

“Dream’s Sake” is the dream of the author and we must say she has dreamt well. Read the book to find out whose dreams are fulfilled and whose dreams aren’t. For all you know, you may find yourself to be one of the protagonists of the book. Read More

On cupidspeaks.com

A good entertainer and an enticing story, Dream’s Sake was a good read for me. This book kept its hold throughout and I read ahead to find out the end. Jyoti Arora has made an awesome and reader friendly debut I must say.

On blog Priyanka’s Neverland:

I’d suggest you to read this book to freshen your mind from the daily romances that seem to be the current obsession. Of course, at the end of the day, what are we without Love.. But to experience the vivacity of it, you must read this book.

On blog Between The Lines:

‘Dream’s Sake‘, the title, with its dreamy cover picture is a total misfit to all the content that is there between the covers of the book. Frankly speaking, for me, ‘Dream’s Sake‘ by Jyoti Arora was a total surprise package, helping me to believe all over again in the much said proverb ‘don’t judge a book by its cover‘.

‘Dream’s Sake‘, with major protagonists Aashi, Priyam, Abhi, Sid and Raj, is a story about friendship and love, where the protagonists fight dark clouds in one or the other point in their lives. But at the end of all, they all stay afloat by means of chasing their dreams, except one. Abhi, Priyam’s brother, as portrayed by the author, can be easily said to be one of the most powerful (in a different way) characters in Indian novels of recent times. He has seen life from a distance very few does. Being an orphan from a very young age, Abhi has been the pillar of support for his younger sister Priyam. Life has forced him to take up responsibilities when he was young enough to play around and enjoy. And that invariably has made him a strong willed, mature individual, who banks of his subtle senses to enjoy life, to love others and be loved. The ending of ‘Dream’s Sake‘ is not something all the readers will like a novel of such calibre to end, but if pondered over in solitude, it can be realised to be one of the logically ways to carve out the ending. It’s upto the author as to how he/she decides to do justice to the character that is her brainchild, and in the context of this novel, Jyoti Arora deserves respect for taking such a hard decision to keep the integrity of the storyline intact.

Writing: ‘Dream’s Sake‘ by Jyoti Arora can be a perfect example of the power of writing, by virtue of which a rather cliched storyline can be totally transformed and presented to the readers as a superb reading experience. Very simple use of words, less of complex or compund sentences, fluent portrayal of events – these are one of the many brighter sides of Jyoti’s writing skills.

Bookreviews:

Coming to the review, Jyoti Arora has defined each and every character so articulately that you don’t feel it’s a fiction at all. At one point of a time, you start feeling that the story is true and you want the book to end as soon as possible so that you can know what happened with all the characters in the end. Book is based in Delhi and hence you may feel that the book will have all those elements of a city but Jyoti Arora has defined the story as a world of only those 5 characters. It has no connection with any thing else. The whole book concentrates only on the story of the characters. She has perfectly shown a hatred of a son for his father who he thinks is the criminal of his mother’s death. She has perfectly shown the trauma of the orphan brother and sister. She has shown the heart of a father who loves his child a lot but remains sad because he don’t want to talk to him because of misunderstandings. She has perfectly shown the romantic triangle between the character. The one who is receiving the love is all fine while the one who is bearing his/her love go to somebody else is feeling depressed throughout.

On Blog Saddi Delhi:

“Dream’s Sake is a page from life: the life that Aashi, Abhi, Priyam and Siddharth live, a life that has much to borrow from and much owed to the days gone past. Though in them can be spotted people we meet in the bus, at coffee shops and fancy malls of glass, they all live in the sort of turmoil that has become inseparable from our convoluted metropolis. Aashi, a romantic twenty something who comes to live in a rented house with her mother, believes in a world of happy, if myopic, endings. When her stars collide with Abhi and Priyam’s – orphaned siblings who have always lived in a world devoid of bubblegum goodness – differences are certain. What is not certain is the course their lives eventually take. Likewise Siddharth, the son of a rich business tycoon, also walks a meandering course. The permanence of his love for Priyam, it seems, is wary of the equal if not more hard-pressing love for his dead mother. And life, in dishing out episode after episode of take-your-pick doesn’t help at all…”

READERS’ APPRECIATION

Review sent on Facebook

Hi ma’am,

This is Aradhya, one of the people who won your book ‘Dream’s Sake’ in the giveaway contest you had arranged in 2011. I wanted to say something to you. When you sent me the book after the contest, you also asked me to let you know what I thought about the book, and I said I will. But I never did. The reason was- I hated the book. It was intriguing but sad. I always read the books in my collection again and again but I never re-read it. Until last month. Last month I wanted to read something and for some reason I picked your book. And after reading it I realized why I hated the book. Because of the end. The book was simply beautiful !! I fell in love with the characters and when the end came [Spoiler edited by the author], it was easier to hate the book than to accept the ending. But now I know how wrong I was. I am really sorry that I never replied to you and am sorry that I thought that your book was not good. It was one of the books that affected me a lot and I’m so happy to have it in my collection of books. Thanks a lot for that. Looking forward to your second book, -Aradhya

Reviews sent to my mail:

“Dear Jyoti,

I have just finished reading ‘Dream’s Sake’.

You have created an elaborate plot, with absorbing sub-plots, your detailing is touching, the characters are real, one can live their feelings, and feel sad when they come across misery.

Discerning readers will appreciate your work.

I look forward to read many more of your works in times to come.

Best wishes,

Vinay Gakkhar

Aditya

It’s a story about 4 friends, a couple of love stories entwined together, with some triangles thrown in too. Abhi’s character is likeable, his sister Priyam is too goody good. Sid, love of Priyam and child-hood friend of Abhi, is a volatile guy! Major surprise is the characterization of Aashi and Raj. Was able to make some sense of Aashi’s negative shades in order to achieve her dreams, but Raj’s total turn-about towards the end was totally unexpected.

 I have read Mill on the Floss a long time ago, don’t evn remember the story, but this one reminded me of it.

Smitha:

This was quite a change from my usual preferred genre of mystery/crime/semiphilosophical fiction. This story deals with the interrelation between 5 young adults – 3 men and 2 women. The main character is Ashi, a blood and flesh type girl who sustained a major loss quite early in life. The story starts when she comes to live beside a brother-sister duo who themselves share emotional baggage, and who have 2 male friends, both of whom are attracted to the sister. The story moves with rapid paces, punctured by dramatic events, to its final and unexpected culmination. I found Ashi, the protagonist, the most likeable of all, the more so because of her innate human selfishness and mild envy. The other girl Priyam, a paradigm of virtue and her equally virtuous brother were too goody-goody to swallow. Their childhood friend too is very silly and emotionally labile. Rajiv, the other friend somewhat resembles Ashi in that he has his human foibles, but is forever trying to overcome them. One thing I liked about the book, was the snippets of famous poems given at the beginning of each chapter, giving an indication as to the feelings portrayed in the chapter.

Though not my forte, nevertheless I enjoyed the book – maybe because it was quite different.

I feel this book will appeal to all those romantics at heart who love good tragedies, with sweet and bitter endings.

Mansee:

It was a nice read. The characters were brought out well…found Abhi and Priyam too good to be true..Somehow liked Sid the most 😛 he was a bit crazy yes- but he acted how he felt…which I liked! The climax was a little disturbing though…all of us r so used to reading happy endings …but I guess any other end wouldnt have been justified. Overall, a good read

Harsha:

I usually like to believe myself to be a happy-endings lover, but then the fact remains that some of the best books I have read are tragedies. Tragedies do sometimes have a way into my heart, maybe because tragedies do seem to happen a lot in the world around us.

 How far would you go to fulfill your life’s dreams? And How far would you go to fulfill the dreams of your most beloveds? Jyoti Arora’s debut novel Dream’s Sake is a story of dreams, love, despair, jealousy and sacrifice. A simple tale with a complex play of emotions.

 The story revolves around four friends Aashi, Abhi, Priyam and Sid each with their own share of past tragedies in life. It is a nice read, there are aspects I really like in the book, and there are certain things that could have made it better for me.

To say the good things, firstly, I really liked the story and the setting. There are some contrasting characters each with a story of their own to tell. Be it Aashi- an ambitious, a bit selfish, practical girl, or the siblings Abhi and Priyam, very charming and lovable- a bit too good to be true as a matter of fact. And Sid is different from all the three- a character with his flaws, he is my favorite character from the book. Blinded by his love for his dead mother and hatred for his father, he doesn’t warm up to people very easily except for his best friends Abhi and Priyam. The language is nice and simple, and Jyoti’s love for English classics is quite evident.

Now, coming to the things that would have made the book much better for me. Firstly, the editing. There are serious problems with the editing for which the publishers are to be blamed. Many printing and grammar errors, which can be a huge turn off for many people.

Then, some characters, for instance Sid, Priyam and Raj needed a little more exploration according to me. But I guess the book would have to be much longer then. Somewhere towards the middle of the book, I felt the story is being told by the author and not the characters, but again it picked up towards the end.

The end could be disturbing to some, but for me it was the most appropriate ending the book could have had.

Overall, a nice story with some memorable characters and some melodrama. Jyoti has done a fair job with her debut novel, and I wish her best of luck for her future books.

 Reviews from Flipkart:

By Disha:

Its a beautifully written book of so many dreams, their clashes, emotional struggles.

The narration is so strong that there are situations where you can feel hatred for a character and there are situations where you feel their helplessness. Such is the simplicity of the story that while I was reading this book, I felt as if these characters were right in front of my eyes. I felt their turmoils, their confusions.

This is a book which should be read by everyone who dares to dream. This is a book for everyone who dares to love. This is a book for everyone who has hopes! This is a book to dream for dream’s sake.

Highly recommended!

By Sheetal:

Intense! Moving. Really a gripping tale of love and friendship. The writing is smooth and polished…the characters all memorable…I could not pull them out of my mind for several days after finishing the book. A must read if you like love stories.

Share your thoughts, please!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.