“I witness nothing but ignorance towards Sylhet”

I wrote this article for The Daily Star’s Shout with a heavy heart. Electricity went out this morning and so chronicles an array of anxiety and fear, anger and frustration. The rain has been incessant and the water level keeps rising outside our home in Kumarpara, which is relatively in a higher ground than the…

Proof of BTS: 9 Years of a Breathtaking Journey

I wrote this article for The Interlude in celebration of BTS’s 9th debut anniversary (which is on my birthday) and their release of the new anthology album, Proof. I’d like to think this article is the proof of my love for them. Do give this a read here or below.Happy 9th Anniversary, BTS. BTS returned…

Red Flags in K-Drama: Breakdown of the Toxic Tropes (5 Recs with Green Flags)

I collaborated with my friend on this article for The Interlude. Give it a read here or below. K-drama is a phenomenon that has taken over the world by storm in recent years with Netflix shows like Squid Game (2021), Kingdom (2019), Love Alarm (2019) etc. However, even though K-dramas have set the bar high,…

Mental Health Therapy in Bangladesh: A Comprehensive Guide

This article was written for The Interlude for the Mental Health Awareness Month in collaboration with a few other members. You can read the full article here or below. The infamous impression of psychological therapy in our country, especially our older generation, is nothing new. Even if we ever gather enough courage to ask our…

Ode to a Beautiful Eid

This year, Eid felt similar- yet somehow very different. The old traditions were there but after spending two years in lockdown, this Eid felt renewed. Here is an artwork illustrated by Tahsin Mostofa Chowdhury on behalf of the team on The Interlude, and a poem by yours truly, both dedicated to the Eid that felt…

Izanami

Naomi got into her boots and coat, and as soon as she stepped out of the building, the blinding sun shone on her face. “Forgot my shades, again,” she muttered to herself. Regardless, she treaded along the pavement, barely hiding her eyes from the rays. She had to force herself out of her bed every…

22 Anticipated Book Releases of 2022

I wrote this article in collaboration with @mimiisreading for The Interlude. Read the full list here or below. As a new year of outstanding books begins, readers like us are already anticipating new releases. The excitement is building for titles that can help us separate the failures we want to bury in the past from…

An Unravelling

I barely enjoy anything anymore. I have to force myself to watch shows, read books, talk to friends, study for exams, work to earn, clean my room, go out to eat, daydream a future where I am “happy” and even after all that, I feel numb and I have to tell myself I am doing…

Madness in Hamlet

Madness refers to the state of having a serious mental illness as well as the state of wild or chaotic activity or situation. Shakespeare was evidently intrigued by this madness and he incorporated and portrayed this as a central theme and key focus throughout the play Hamlet, and as King Claudius said, “Madness in great…

On Poetry: Should It Prevail?

I find solace in the saying, “no matter what you are feeling, there is a poem out there that makes you feel less alone.” Ever since I learnt to read and love various forms of literature, I have also picked up the habit of writing down my own thoughts and feelings and translating them into…

The Drowning White Knight

I face the crashing waves and tread even with the pain,But what’s the use if I drown?Do I deserve the torments that I carry like a cloud?I’m tired of being a lifeboat for your sinking ship.You never bothered to ask if I could swim,Or if I had a life jacket strapped on,You kept holding your…

Book Review: Fragments of Riversong by Farah Ghuznavi

Genre: South Asian, Contemporary, Short Story Anthology Goodreads Blurb: ‘Fragments of Riversong’ showcases a dozen masterfully-crafted tales that bring alive the beauty, chaos and contradictions of contemporary Bangladesh. Here are scenes from lives less often examined. A visa applicant at the US Embassy struggles with her conscience. Strange things happen when a street child finds…

Appreciating Bring Me The Horizon

It’s 2013. School just ended for the day and I run out of the classroom like it’s the end of the world, down the stairs and to the backyard instead of the front because I know it’d be too crowded. The one friend I have is on a sick leave so there’s no point dilly-dallying….

Healing with Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha

I cried a few buckets after watching the season finale, and my eyes sting, so I’m here to gush about it abundantly. Spoilers ahead, duh. Gamri halmoni described how she met wonderful people, ate good food, appeared on television, performed on stage, and saw beautiful landscapes. It seemed as if I was watching the whole…

Do You?

Do you ever find yourself romanticising your classes and pretending you’re a novelist in the 18th century about to publish your first draft when in fact you are just sitting in your room with a blank Google Doc? Do you ever just want to fall in love and study together in a sunlit corner of…

Book Review: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery Goodreads Blurb: A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded…

ARC REVIEW: Yume by Sifton Tracey Anipare

Genre: Literary Fiction, Fantasy Publication Date: September 14th 2021 Goodreads Blurb: A modern-day fantasy novel about demons, dreams, and a young woman teaching English in Japan. Cybelle teaches English in a small city in Japan. Her contract is up for renewal, her mother is begging her to come back to Canada, and she is not…

ARC REVIEW: Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls (Jane Doe Chronicles #2) by Jeremy Lachlan

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy Publication Date: February 1st 2020 Goodreads Blurb: Strap in. Hold on tight. The follow-up to the award-winning Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds is here! Jane Doe is in more danger than ever before. Her father is still imprisoned. The Manor – the hallowed world between worlds – is still dying….

Thoughts on Fictitious Volume 2 by Shout

I like to think I’m a better reader than a writer and I read more than I can comprehend with my tiny brain, but I read on and it is my favourite form of meditation. I find fictions to be mind-numbingly addictive. I also get easily attached to things and get emotional when I have…

Untitled Document (7)

Thank you for gracing us with your presence tonight!This was an experiment of a lifetime, you see.Our multi millennia project would lead us to humanity, we believed,And here we stand tonight in front of all the Heavens,As every bit of despair subtracted one gather togetherInto a black hole, ceasing to exist. All the wars we…

K-Drama Review – It’s Okay to Not Be Okay on Netflix

I made it no secret last year on my Instagram account when this show was running how much I adored it and it was even on my Top 5 K-dramas of 2020 post. Since I successfully made my mother watch it recently (SHE LOVED IT!) I thought of making this individual post! It’s Okay to…

Rant Review on Netflix’s Shadow and Bone!

Netflix’s Shadow and Bone series was my most anticipated show of the year by far and it blew me away! I cannot thank Leigh Bardugo enough for this amazing world she has built for us, and keeps giving us the most unique rides everytime we come back to it. So, just this once because of…

Book Review: Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Genre: Magical Realism, Sci-fi, Japanese Literature Goodreads Blurb: ‘A narrative particle accelerator that zooms between Wild Turkey Whiskey and Bob Dylan, unicorn skulls and voracious librarians, John Coltrane and Lord Jim. Science fiction, detective story and post-modern manifesto all rolled into one rip-roaring novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is the tour de force that…

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom – duology that ages like fine wine

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Goodreads Blurb (Six of Crows, #1): Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But…

Book Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Genre: Magical Realism, Japanese Literature Goodreads Blurb: What would you change if you could go back in time? In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to…

Book Review: The Outlands by Tyler Edwards

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: In the ruins of the world that was lies the city of Dios, a haven protected from the hostile environment known as The Outlands. Ruled by an oppressive Patriarch, the people of Dios are conditioned in fear. The smallest infraction could result in banishment to the Outlands, a fate…

Book Review: Nathaniel’s Got the Blues by Daniel L. Heaney

Genre: Children/ Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy, Animals Goodreads Blurb: In the winter of his life, Nathaniel, a fruit rat, is bored, angry and depressed. Even his longsuffering wife, Birgit is becoming impatient with his litany of complaints and ailments. Nathaniel has grown increasingly self-focused possessing little interest in his gray-hued world. Sometimes he wistfully recalls…

The Marxist Undertones in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens gives life to the French Revolution in his classic historical fiction, A Tale of Two Cities, where he puts together the tale of two cities, London and Paris. Throughout the entire novel, Dickens refers to wine as the blood flowing through the streets of Paris. Social injustice and class struggle are the cause…

Depiction of Bipolar Disorders in All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

While novels themed on mental illnesses are on the rise, and society is slowly pushing towards a more empathetic outlook regarding the elements, it is important to discuss and deconstruct the books to fully understand the authors’ perspectives on the matters. This paper’s objective is to analyze the main character, Theodore Finch’s mental illness, specifically…

Book Review: Burning Souls by David Chernushenko

Genre: Literary Fiction, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: To survive, the world must change. To survive, four friends must remain steadfast. Burning Souls is a dramatic tale of courage and friendship in a time of political turmoil and ecological collapse.  Long time best friends Simone, Sagan, Jenny and Jiro learned of the predatory practices driving climate breakdown and social collapse,…

Book Review: The Good Witch of the South by T.C. Bartlett

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy, Classic Re-telling Goodreads Blurb: There is a darkness brewing in the West and alarming rumors of dragons and an evil enchantress building an army to overthrow the Great Head of Oz. A demon fairy witch the Land of Oz hasn’t seen since Dorothy Gale destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West. Soon…

Raja Mansion

I had the opportunity to write this short fiction for the national newspaper, Daily Star’s weekly magazine, SHOUT, in their special issue solely focusing on the Sylhet city and the people living here. You can read it on their website here. My story was edited and shortened for the magazine, so below is the unedited…

My Thoughts on Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: In one of the most acclaimed and original novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkle skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now thirty-one, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her…

ARC REVIEW: Shaula (The Stinger #2) by A. M. Kherbash

Genre: Thriller, Fantasy Publication Date: September 30th, 2021 Goodreads blurb: The sight of the body did not sicken Ben. Not right away. Guilt was what got him: the mounting consequences rising in his throat, and the truth which would inevitably come spilling out. Sometime after the events at Duncastor (See Lesath), two men are dispatched…

My Thoughts on NO LONGER HUMAN by Osamu Dazai

Genre: Fiction, Japanese Literature Goodreads Blurb: Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being. Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels incapable of understanding human beings. Oba…

ARC REVIEW: The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as Told to His Brother) by David Levithan

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Contemporary Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021 Goodreads Blurb: New York Times bestselling author David Levithan takes young readers on a twisting journey through truth, reality, and fantasy and belief. Aidan disappeared for six days. Six agonizing days of searches and police and questions and constant vigils. Then, just as…

The Grishaverse Trilogy – a rant review

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Goodreads Blurb (Shadow and Bone): Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has…

ARC REVIEW: LOVE AND LOCKDOWN BY ALICE CASWELL

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, New Adult Publication Date: March 4th, 2021 Goodreads Blurb: Angela wouldn’t usually be caught dead within two metres of Colin Cooper—and that was before a global pandemic broke out—but she’s just been evicted and he’s offered her his spare room for free. Except Colin’s not exactly a knight in shining armour. He…

My 2021 Netgalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge

I am quite new to the world of reviewing ARCs, given I only read and reviewed published books that caught my attention to avoid disappointment, but ever since discovering NetGalley and Edelweiss last year, it’s been life-changing. I decided to take on the 2021 Netgalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge hosted by Socrates’ Book Reviews. I…

BOOK REVIEW: 1Q84 BY HARUKI MURAKAMI

Genre: Contemporary, Adult, Magical Realism, Dystopia Goodreads Blurb: The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. In this world, the fates of two people, Tengo and Aomame, are closely intertwined. They are each, in their own way,…