15 December, 2017

#SpecialFeature :: #GuestPost - Highlights of You Came Like Hope by Jyoti Arora



*** Special Feature - December 2017 ***

About the Book:
Peehu:
“I heard them mourn my death. I lay in the next room. Motionless, silent, and staring at the ceiling.”
Adih:
“When it comes to a broken person, some of them are expert at blinding you. Spend an entire evening with such a person, but you may still not know how he is crushing inside.”
Uday:
“Who would say no to him? He is smart, intelligent, super handsome, rich, suave and sophisticated. He’s perfect!”
Pooja:
“Pooja gave no explanation. She asked no forgiveness. She just arrived in his home, resenting him for being her husband.”
Arunav:
“He had smiled as if nothing was wrong.
He had behaved as if he still had his dreams and hopes.
He had pretended as if it didn’t hurt.
But it did.”



Does Destiny hold the key to our happiness?
Is it always the feeble that is the victim?
Love can be the embrace of heaven. But what happens when it unleashes hellfire?

Lose yourself in the intense narrative of You Came Like Hope as it unleashes a rollercoaster of emotions, uncovers some bitter truths, challenges widespread prejudices, and forces you to reconsider your beliefs.

Check out the Free Sample of the novel

Book Links:

Highlights of You Came Like Hope

I have written three novels so far. You Came Like Hope is my latest novel, coming after Dream’s Sake and Lemon Girl. Like my previous two novels, You Came Like Hope is getting excellent reviews too. And just like reviews of Dream’s Sake and Lemon Girl, different people are focusing on different aspects of the book. 

But what do I like best about my latest novel? What do I want people to take notice? Well, here are five things that I consider the highlights of You Came Like Hope. 

1. Unique Themes:
Although a contemporary romance, You Came Like Hope is a theme-based book. There are two main themes in the book. One is the issue of fake cases filed by women against men. The other is good luck / bad luck. I think there aren’t many books out there that have tackled these themes yet. Numerous books have been written showing women being victimized by men. But I don’t know of any that has a man being victimized by a woman in a way that is shown in You Came Like Hope. Even though the issue of fake cases is a rising social problem, nobody seems to bother about it. So, after taking the women’s part in my Lemon Girl, I decided to show the other side of the story in You Came Like Hope.

As for the second theme, we all feel victims of bad luck sometimes or the other, don’t we? My heroine Peehu feels so all the time. She suffered one misfortune when a child and could never recover from it. And numerous succeeding events confirm her belief that she is unlucky.

But as the story of You Came Like Hope moves ahead, we see that if there is anything like good luck, it can change sides any time. And when the book ends, it is the ‘unluckiest’ who find bliss. And those who seemed to have it all, lose it all. So, it is useless to blame bad luck and not try to improve your life. We all have problems. It is up to us to find solutions out of these problems, good luck or bad luck notwithstanding. 

2. Believable characters:
Even though I was writing a romance, I kept the characters of You Came Like Hope very realistic. Of course, they are good-looking. But they are not Greek Gods or Goddesses. They are normal people with normal lifestyle. They don’t have mansions, they don’t drive Audis or fly jets. The hero lives in a rented house. The heroine zips around the Delhi roads on a scooter. They are just normal, good people caught in bad circumstances. This might have made the characters less thrilling, but they are certainly more believable. And more lovable, I hope. 

3. Unique narrative technique:
You Came Like Hope uses a very interesting narrative technique to reveal the past of the hero. Hero’s backstory is not revealed through flashbacks. Instead, the Past moves along with the Present using tiny flash chapters. Both the Past and Present plot move together and converge at the crisis point. From there, the Present takes over and moves the story ahead. I don’t know if this technique of flash chapters has been used in any other book or not. But it is a first for me.

4. Truly a feminist fiction:
The main theme of You Came Like Hope shows that women aren’t always the victim. Sometimes, they can be the aggressors too. This might make it seem as if the novel is anti-feminist. But it isn’t. Feminism is defined as “The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” So, I think my book is truly feminist. Besides, it does not turn its back on women’s issue either. When my heroine has to drive through the Delhi roads late in the night, she dresses like a man and still carries a pepper spray in her pocket. This hints at the rising crimes against women. Also, my heroine doesn’t ask the hero to fight her battles for her. She fights her own battles, though the hero stays near, giving her his silent and loving support. 

5. Fast-paced:
I tried my best to make You Came Like Hope as crisp and fast-paced as I could. It is only 53,000 words long. Every scene moves the story ahead or explains the character. I tried my best not to include anything superfluous in it. As a result, the book keeps its pace and has no space to lag in story. One reader recently wrote to me that once he picked up the book, he could not put it down without finishing. You can’t achieve that with a slow-paced book.
These are what I consider the highlights of You Came Like Hope. Of course, my judgement might be coloured with my own fondness for my book. But by the reviews I am getting, I think my views are close enough to readers’ and critics opinions. 



About the Author:
Jyoti Arora is a novelist and blogger from Ghaziabad. You Came Like Hope is her third novel, coming after Dream’s Sake and Lemon Girl. She is Post Graduate in English Literature and Applied Psychology. 

Jyoti has over five years of experience working as a freelance writer. This experience includes abridging over 24 famous English classics like Jane Eyre, Moby Dick etc.

Jyoti Arora is a patient of Thalassemia Major. But she does not let this stop or discourage her. For her determination and achievements, Jyoti has received appreciation from Ms Sheila Dixit, Ms Maneka Gandhi and the Ghaziabad wing of BJP. Her life story has been covered in various local and national TV shows, radio programs, newspapers, magazines and websites like YourStory and Inspire India. She was also one of the ‘100 Women Achievers of India’ that were invited to witness the Republic Day parade of India (2016) as special guests.

Besides reading and writing novels, Jyoti also enjoys blogging and has won several blogging competitions. She loves checking out latest technological innovations, watching movies, and listening to old Bollywood songs. Reach her at jyotiarora.com.



Contact the Author:
Giveaway:
2 Paperback Copies of You Came Like Hope for Indian Residents Only
2 eBooks of You Came Like Hope for International Winners

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No comments:

Post a Comment