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The Learning Curve

The Learning Curve is late author Melissa Nathan’s final book. And being maudlin wasn’t her style. The book is vibrant, deals with a contemporary issue, has a teensy-tiny feminist touch, is choc-a-bloc with colourful characters and leaves you with a smile on your face.

Nicky Hobbs is a thirty-year old, much-loved school teacher in a primary school. Her gang of friends include fellow teachers : Rob (who she shares a romantic history with), Ally (the big-build best-friend with quips galore) and Pete (the tiny teacher with an elfish appearance). Nicky is a dedicated member of the staff and when she finds herself being made co-deputy head with Rob, she’s thrilled at the challenge. That’s when she’s not dealing with the hot and cold responses emitted by Rob.

Adding fun to the proceedings is the truly eccentric head of the school : Miss.James. She is most definitely a Quentin Blake illustration to the tee and has enough oddities and strength of character to make her a memorable cast-member.

One of Nicky’s favourite students is Oscar. Oscar is intelligent, moody and comes equipped with an absent widowed father. Mark Samuels (Oscar’s father) is the classic workaholic, earning big bucks and working all hours of the day to provide Oscar with an affluent lifestyle. Sadly, the only thing Oscar needs is his father’s presence and free time.

When the disapproving Nicky and the world-weary Mark finally meet, the proverbial sparks fly. Angry (yet hour-glassed figured) teacher V/s Bitter (yet broad-shouldered) single father...the outcome is inevitable.

And then out of the blue, Nicky gets offered the chance to apply for the position of School Head. And so does Rob. Suddenly the blow-cold Rob is sounding out waves of pure heat to Nicky.....talking marriage, babies and white picket-fences. A confused Nicky is now faced with three alternatives:
a) Whole-heartedly pursue the shining climb up the career ladder and most probably say goodbye to dreams of a family-life.
b) Give in to Rob’s oily paintings of a happily-ever-after and agree to play second-fiddle to his ambitions
c) See if there’s something more to the sizzling chemistry between her and Mark Samuels.

A whole lot of soul-searching, a bit of hearty venting and loads of misunderstandings happily scamper along Nathan’s final work. The story was predictable. I found her earlier books (The Nanny ; Persuading Annie) to be loads better. But I guess I have kind of developed an emotional bond with the author and got a bit teary-eyed when I read the Acknowledgements.

Melissa Nathan was in the poignant position of knowing that her book would most probably be published posthumously. Her consequent messages to her dear ones left me with a a sizeable knot in my throat, especially the one written to her three-year old son Sammy.

The last lines go:

“Go into the world knowing that while you were everything to your mother, you won’t have to deal with an annoying woman who can’t stop kissing you when you’re fifteen. I will be in the sky kissing you from afar”

.

The Waitress

Katie Simmonds is an ambitious young lady. This week she wants to be an educational psychologist. The one before that, she wanted to be a teacher. And the week before that, a film director. She’s earned her degree from Oxford and believes that the world is her oyster. Sadly the oyster is yet to be shucked and she’s living out her life as a waitress in a dead-beat cafe. It may not be the best job in the world but it pays the bills and provides a stop-gap while she imagines herself in one glamorous career after the other.

Her love-life isn’t much to write home about. The latest debacle occurs when she runs out on the very endearing, very eligible Dan in the middle of a date.

Dead-End job, Dead-End love-life. Katie’s life is set.

But then things take an ugly turn when the cafe is taken over by new owners. New owners that include the aforementioned Dan. Dan Crichton. The last man she ever wants to run into is now not only running the cafe but playing hoity-toity big bossy to her snarky, sarcastic waitress.

Other interesting characters are
a) Jon: Katie’s waiting-to-be discovered author roommate. Much of his practice writing includes penning down glorified resumes to bolster Katie’s ever changing career options.
b) Sukie : Katie’s waiting-be-discovered actor best-friend. She’s gorgeous and talented and true to her art. Sadly she’s yet to get her big-break and continues to try out for a series of go-nowhere auditions. She also ekes out a living as fellow waitress with Katie
c) Matt : The teenage dishwasher at the cafe. Morose, bludgeoned by pimples and the fear that he will die a virgin makes him a real charmer.

Melissa Nathan’s books are like addictive sitcoms complete with punchy dialogue and unexpected cliffhangers. Her characters try to take the less-travelled path, trip over many pitfalls and emerge victorious.

Another winner from the Nathan stable.

Persuading Annie

Once upon a time....the beautiful, auburn headed, vivacious teenager Annie Markham had an awful scare. She thought that she was pregnant. And when she shared this bit of news with her teen boyfriend, Jake...he turned an unbecoming shade of puce, yelled out a panicky speech and promptly fainted. Vivacious Annie should have seen this as a prologue for things to come. But when she discovered that she wasn’t really pregnant, she told Jake again. The gallant Jake promptly turned a slimy shade of green, yelled out another heart-ripping speech and promptly disappeared. Annie should have listened to her wise Godmother Susannah’s advice. Men weren’t to be trusted.

The End.

Once upon a more recent time, Annie Markham is a beautiful young lady. She has a heart of gold, works at a local art gallery, moonlights as a phone Samaritan and seems to be the only sensible duckling in an eccentric self-absorbed family of pretentious swans. But the bouncing curls and witty facade hide an embittered soul. Annie has never really got over Jake’s abrupt departure from her life and he continues to colour all her interactions with the opposite sex.

But Annie has more pressing problems. The once-flourishing family business is in danger of folding. Her figure-head (in every sense of the word) of a father is too busy chasing everything in a short-skirt to do anything useful. Her eldest sister, Katherine is single and too busy playing coiffed socialite to contribute anything meaningful. Her middle sister Victoria is too busy being stuck in a dead-end marriage to the lovable yet golf-crazed Charles and lives out the daily drama of playing hapless mother to two energetic tots.

Susannah, who now works for Markhams decides to bring in the best Managment-Consultant team to save the company from bankruptcy. Said Management Company is headed by the dynamic Jake Mead. Yep, the very same: turn into the colours of a rainbow ->faint -> run Jake from Annie’s past. Jake, despite being hugely successful and handsome to boot, has never really recovered from what he believes to be Annie’s duplicity. When he learns that Annie is the youngest member of the Markham family, he sees this as a perfect opportunity to seek some long-overdue revenge (or "closure", as his psychiatrist would like to stress). Annie too, is determined to be stoic/sarcastic/condescending when she encounters the big howling ghost from her past.

But the best-laid plans of management gurus and curly-topped viragoes can always hit a roadblock. Soon the two find themselves thrown into improbable situations that result in unexpected results.

The witty Melissa Nathan strikes yet again. Her writing is cheeky, loaded with quips and generously peppered with realistic insights into the minds of different personalities. The characters may seem like caricatures, but they revel in their predictabilities. Annie is an endearing heroine, Jake has the requisite charm to make you overlook his pigheadedness and the rest of the supporting cast have enough eccentricities to keep you hooked till the last page.

The Nanny (by Melissa Nathan)

In recent months, I have waded through some fairly mediocre chick-lit. I have left books halfway, groaned at the plot-predictability and mentally castigated the dull-as-ditchwater heroines and their pompous heroes.

So now when I come across an author who took a much-mauled genre and perfectly bound all the essential elements together; I want to genuflect before the Lord and send up a fervent "Thank You!"

The Nanny is another brilliant offering by the late Melissa Nathan. It's a tale of 23 year-old Jo Green. She’s a young lady who’s increasingly feeling the pangs of a life that’s going nowhere. She’s stuck tight in bucolic Niblet-Upon-Avon, lived with her parents, has a boyfriend (Shaun) who she’s known since kindergarten and is trying to eke out a living as an underpaid Nanny.

Taking a leap of faith (and desperation), she decides to take up the job of live-in Nanny in London with an affluent family. The perks are humungous. She will have her own suite with a massive TV, her own car, new friends and the golden opportunity to pull herself out of stagnation.

But every silver cloud has a demented lining.

Her new boss Vanessa Fitzgerald is a hard-wired, smart-talking corporate biggie. Evenings at home take the form of nasty digs and articulate squabbles with her easy-going husband Dick who runs a record store. They are the proud and terribly exhausted parents of bloodthirsty Zak, warrior-pixie Cassandra and the well-mannered little Tallulah. Adding to the family dynamics are Dick’s two sons from his previous marriage : obnoxious (since he has a chip on shoulder) teen Toby and charming but prone-to-bouts of obnoxiousness (since he has enough chips to form a mini-skyscraper on his shoulders) 25-year old Josh.

Just when Jo is getting the hang of things, she suddenly has to deal with the fact that Josh will be her new roommate. Simmering attraction, blow-hot blow-cold responses from Josh and the ever-intrusive presence of boyfriend Shaun do not make for peaceful living. And then there are the constant parallel dramas of the Fitzgerald clan. Everyone seems to be harbouring some deep dark secret....everyone’s ticked off but not always in unison....and everyone needs their lives to be set right.

Jo Green has a lot of growing-up and decision-making to do. All this while finding true-love and keeping her hair attached to their follicles.

The book justifies it’s massive size. Nathan’s style is chatty and witty and loaded with punch and righteous indignation. The characters are not clichéd and even their most confounding personality disorders are beautifully unravelled. I strongly recommend this book to all disillusioned chick-lit lovers who are sniffing out for something fresh, humorous and utterly engaging.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1

Writing a Potter movie-review without *spoilers* is next to impossible. True blue fans know exactly what happened to:
a) The Boy who lived
b) The Girl who sniffed disdainfully into her books
and
c) The Other Boy who played second-fiddle to The Boy who lived and didn’t like it one little bit!

If you expect me to dart around the places where the plot thickens and boils over, stop reading. Now. For the rest, here goes...

The penultimate instalment begins with a poignant scene where Hermione obliviates the memories of her parents, thereby burning her human bridges. The movie ends with Voldemort desecrating Dumbledore’s tomb and flicking the Elder Wand. And between these two moments, the plot unravels in an engaging collage of rip-roaring action, stagnant scenarios and eye-moistening moments.

The Half-Blood Prince ended with the brutal demise of Dumbledore and left Harry in the unfortunate position of leader-without-a-mentor. Potter and his magical entourage have their work cut out. They now know that the only decent chance that they have of stopping Voldemort (dark-wizard extraordinaire and all-time big baddie) is to find the Horcruxes. Looking for the much-maligned needle in a haystack would have been easier. No one knows where or what all the Horcruxes are. The trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione (with special mention for Hermione’s trusty little purse of unimaginable depths) are soon off on a long, confusing journey.

They make suicidal trips into The Ministry of Magic.....uncomfortable trips down memory-lane....and ghastly trips down the road of friendship. The individual loyalties and collective skills of the three Griffindorians is put to the test. In the course of their wanderings, they also learn about The Deathly Hallows (An invincible Elder Wand, A Resurrection Stone and An Invisibility Cloak); the possession of which makes the owner: A Master of Death.

The battle between Good and Evil dances along the horizon and before you know it, you are sucked into the fantastical world created by the marvellous Madame Rowling.

The movie stayed loyal to the book, with minor discrepancies. Where the book stumbled, the movie plodded along too. Where you gripped the book in terse anticipation, you clutched the unsuspecting arm of your poor friend too.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) was cheerily wan. His endearing combination of simmering anger and clumsy boyishness worked perfectly. Hermione (Emma Watson) was her usual gorgeous and articulate self. Ron (Rupert Grint), the weedy Weasley boy has become a buff, blustering, purple-in-the-face, jealous (almost)boyfriend and plays his role to the hilt. We get tantalising glimpses of a close-mouthed Snape (Alan Rickman) and a happily deranged Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter). Ol’Voldy (Ralph Fiennes) hammed it up a bit in this addition. Somehow he never quite recaptured the insane vein that he aptly displayed in The Goblet of Fire. The rest of the cast makes you smile with their familiar portrayals. Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), The Weasley Twins (James and Oliver Phelps), Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) and Dobby (voice of Toby Jones) stand out in particular.

One singular scene that deserves special mention was when Hermione reads out the tale of ‘The Three Brothers’ from the book: The Tales of Beedle The Bard. The animation that ensues is spell-binding. It swirls and accompanied by the narration pulls you right in.

The sets are grandiose, right from the home-grown charm of Fleur and Bill’s wedding to the sheer vastness of the Ministry to the various breathtaking pitstops that the trio make at regular intervals.

As for the argument over whether two instalments of the movie are justified....maybe not. I would have gladly pinned my tushie to the seat for a straight four hours and rooted for Potter till the very end. But on the other hand, I am also pretty chuffed to have an ultimate instalment to look forward to.

More Mayhem. More Action......and more importantly......More Magic.

July2011...Get.Here.Already!

Acting Up ( by Melissa Nathan)

I have just discovered the magic of late author Melissa Nathan. After a rea-ealllly long time, it’s nice to finally sink my teeth into a chick-lit read that incorporates all the key elements, is loaded with peppy dialogue and is refreshing within a mould that rarely gets broken.

What first attracted me to this book was the funky almost art-deco cover-art. Secondly, I read the first line of the blurb which went

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large ego must be in want of a woman to cut him down to size”

and was instantly enchanted. Jane Austen (and especially Pride and Prejudice) adaptations have always been my weakness. While many a time, the Darcy-Elizabeth equation has been mauled and marauded,‘Acting Up’ got it just right.

Jasmin Field (a.k.a. Jazz) is an outspoken journalist who lands the role of Elizabeth Bennet in a fund-raising adaptation of Austen’s most popular work. Directing the venture is Hollywood’s golden-child, Harry Noble. He’s handsome, popular, acerbic and opinionated. In fact, he’s Mr.Darcy come to life! The leading lady and the arrogant director rub each other up the wrong (and sometimes right) way. The proverbial sparks fly and the story flows without a hiccup. Supporting characters bring their own woes and parallel storylines to make the book a page-turner.

You would think that the story would be predictable since we all know how Austen’s classic ended. What makes this retelling worthwhile is that Melissa Nathan’s characters are addictive. They are bright, can mouth crackling dialogue, are proud but equally humble in facing their shortcomings.

Chick-lit at it’s superlative best.

BURNED (House of Night, #7)

In TEMPTED, Kalona killed Heath. Zoey Redbird witnessed the murder and though she sent out her element ‘Spirit’ to protect Heath, she was unfortunately too late. The shock shattered Zoey’s soul, dissolved all her intricate vampyre tattoos (save the outline of a crescent moon) and left behind the shell of her comatose body.

Her soul and it’s fragmented pieces now whirl incoherently in the Otherworld where Zoey also encounters the soul of Heath. If Zoey’s soul is not returned to her body in seven days, she will die and her fractured soul will roam forever in unrest.

Stark, Zoey’s oath-sworn warrior witnessed Zoey’s mortal fall and despite his mind-numbing grief knows that he will do anything to get Zoey back, even it means dying himself and heading off to the Otherworld to yank Zoey back to the land of The Living.

An intent which is bolstered by Aphrodite’s startling visions and Kramisha (the newest Vampyre Poet Laureate)’s cryptic poems. Everything points to the fact that Stark will have to die, become a Shaman and then enter Nyx’s realm to convince Zoey to return.

Warrior Stark’s work is cut out. Besides the obviously gruesome fact that he has to drop dead, he also has to deal with several road-blocks:
a) No warrior in times past has ever returned from the otherworld; either alone or having rescued his high-priestess.
b) Kalona, weakened by Zoey’s last-ditch attempt to save Heath is in a debilitated state which is fully exploited by Neferet. Wielding the powers of darkness, she orders Kalona’s weakened spirit to head off to the Otherworld and make sure that Zoey never, ever returns.
And the third and most pressing problem
c) Zoey is grieving the loss of Heath. She feels responsible for his death and bogged down by her vanishing spirit, she may never want to return back to her body and the living world.

Stark’s seemingly impossible quest and the painful journey that he undertakes is what BURNED is predominantly all about.
---------------------------------------------------------

I enjoyed seeing my favourite character go through the drill of self-evolvement and maturity. The Scottish legends woven in, added the essential touch of mystery and olde worlde lore. Add to that the ancient symbolisms of the Black and White Bulls (depicting Light and Darkness respectively) and you have a tale that binds urban fantasy with mythical elements.

An intriguing parallel story was Stevie-Rae’s relationship with Raven Mocker Rephaim. Full credit to the Cast duo for building up a tale that makes you root for the unlikely pairing of a red vampyre and a supposed monster.

I don’t care what the critics say, I loved BURNED. I adored Stark and his true-blue heroic quest. Heath, the only human in the whole proceedings rises to the occasion even in The Otherworld and has you applauding him for his selflessness and All-American bravado. Zoey, despite being the satellite around which all else orbited, was effectively relegated to the background and that worked perfectly well.

A lovely tale and all I can say is that it is going to be a lo-ong and impatient wait till AWAKENED comes out.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

See also : Destined (House of Night, #9)

TEMPTED (House of Night, #6)

I like it when a series progresses from wince-inducing to wholly-engrossing with each successive instalment. It’s a much better scenario than getting hooked on to the first book and then watching the downward spiral with a feeling of dismay. The House of Night series, I am happy to report, just got better with TEMPTED.

HUNTED ended with Zoey Redbird banishing the avenging immortal: Kalona and his vile consort (and former High Priestess of the Goddess Nyx): Neferet. But the respite is temporary. The nasty duo has only faced a minor setback and will definitely return with a vengeance.

As the nerd-herd and the red fledglings take shelter at the Benedictine Abbey, Zoey has to deal with a whole new set of developments.

Stark (Zoey’s oath-sworn warrior) has been badly wounded. Stevie-Rae seems to be lying through her teeth and harbouring dangerous secrets. Heath and Erik continue their oneupmanship battle for Zoey’s affections. Aphrodite's visions spell doom, despair and the end of the civil world unless Zoey takes action.

Kalona and Neferet step up their world-domination plans by scooting off to the island of Capri where the Vampyre High Council holds court. So it’s time for Zoey and her pack to make a trip to the sunny climes and face the dubious charms of Kalona, who still has the ability to make Zoey’s soul hesitate and wonder whether he really is the big, bad winged monster that everybody claims he is.

Life as Zoey has come to accept it, is about to change drastically...again!

The book was good, with minimal annoying teen-references. The plot thickened, the characters fleshed out and Rephaim, the injured Raven-Mocker (and favoured son of Kalona) made a wary appearance on the palette of dubious but memorable characters. Coupled with a fine cliff-hanger of an ending, the story was engaging and readable. It shows that the Cast duo has soaked in the misgivings of their fans, critics and naysayers; shaped up their writing act and delivered a worthy instalment.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)
See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

See also : Destined (House of Night, #9)

HUNTED (House of Night, #5)

UNTAMED ended with Stevie Rae getting struck by the unwavering arrow of James Stark, the newest red-fledgling and possible minion of Neferet (High Priestess gone bad with a vengeance). As Stevie-Rae's blood soaked into the earth, Kalona, the suppressed evil/ fallen God was released from his centuries long imprisonment and Neferet’s evil plans finally came to a head.

Zoey Redbird, unable to deal with this fresh and bone-chilling terror, fled 'The House of Night' with her nerd-herd and decided to seek refuge in the underground tunnels which are inhabited by Stevie Rae and her army of red fledglings.

In HUNTED, Zoey needs to find a way to vanquish Kalona, who happens to have the psychic ability to enter her dreams and play hockey-with-her-hormones. When an almost fatal wound forces Zoey to return to 'The House of Night', she is frazzled to see that the entire school (save a discerning few) is under the spell of Kalona and his physical perfection (read: really hot God-like awesomeness complete with massive black wings). She also encounters Stark who appears to be struggling between good and evil. While he isn’t being the stereotypical vamp who sucks blood from a bunch of dizzy females, he still feels the core connection to Zoey.

So, along with the reappearances of ex-boyfriend : Erik and imprinted human : Heath, Zoey is dealing with her reluctant attraction to bad/good boy, Stark.

Teenage angst coupled with the need to vanquish ancient evil, Zoey has her work cut out.

The instalment is readable with some cool kick-a** action and a few poignant moments. The series appears to pick up with each instalment and the emotional growth of Zoey is interesting to watch.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)
See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

See also : Destined (House of Night, #9)