2009 - by Aditya Koppula

Title: 2009

Author: Aditya Koppula

Published: 18 Jul 2020

Series: -

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

Just when everything is going normally, we all come across that "one year" that throws everything at us. "2009" is a poetic short story that explores the human reaction to opportunities, love, empathy and inner strength.

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

As I had previously read the author's other book, when I started reading this I thought that this would also be a poetry book for some reason. If I had looked a little closer at the front cover, I would have seen that it even told me it was a poetic short story. Whoops! Because of that I was a little confused when most of it turned out to be in short story format, but it was still a nice and quick read.

Many of us either have a relationship or a good career, and the lucky ones get both.

This story doesn't follow the story of the author, but an Australian character called Joanna. In the bio of the author on Goodreads, however, it does also state that the events in the book are inspired by true events.

There were a couple of times where I thought there was a little too much description of something, but it didn't detract from the storyline too much. There were also a couple of times when the problems in another country were put into perspective right in front of your eyes which is good though as it gives you a little bit of a wake up call to what's truly going on in the world.

What happened towards the end of the book between Joanna and Ethan is something I wouldn't have predicted if you'd asked me at the beginning of the book. The author does describe the feeling of this situation very well though, and I'm sure everyone has that one bad situation which reading this may bring back feelings of anger or resentment about.

Overall, this was a good book to read as it was nice to follow along with Joanna's story with the odd poem thrown in about how she was feeling and what she was going through too.

We all have that one year that changes our lives forever. Mine was 2009. What's yours?

Illuminated - by Aditya Koppula

Title: Illuminated

Author: Aditya Koppula

Published: 23 March 2018

Series: -

Rating: 2 stars

Synopsis:

"Illuminated" is an anthology of poems on love, pain and hope . It takes you on a profound journey that mirrors deepest emotions we go through in different stages of love. 
You fall in love with Aditya's fascinating felicity and his perception of love as you read through 50 beautifully written poems. 
A must read for everyone.

Poetry has never really been my thing, but this was fairly short coming in at only 55 pages with one poem per page, so I figured that I would give it a go.

I do know that not all poems rhyme, but some of these did and some didn't so that annoyed me a little bit. Just like art in any form, everyone will see poetry differently - no one answer is right or wrong. However I do feel like most people will relate to at least one of these poems.

Some of these were cute and I could picture the scene unfolding, but others I wasn't quite sure about.

The poem title I Love You is a short poem, but it makes sense and shows how some people can feel when they realise that they're in love with someone.

My favourite poem out of all 50 was probably Caressed as I can clearly picture the scene in my head, but it's still short enough that I don't lose interest in the poem.

Your breath has the fragrance of grassland
Your skin is smoother than beach sand
Your sweat has an aroma of natural oil
That can never be found on any soil

One question I have about Smell Of You is about the first two lines - it was a little weird comparing someone breath to grassland, but my main issue is that I personally don't think that beach sand is very soft. Try getting that out your clothes!

Two Sides Of The Same Coin gave me flashbacks to high school though. So did a couple of the other poems.

Another question I have: What's the picture on the cover? My guess is that it's two people embracing, but I can't quite tell as it's a fairly faint sketch. I do the love the font that was used for the title though.

It may not have been for me, but it's short enough that you can always try this one for yourself! Like I said at the beginning - everyone sees poetry differently.