Book Reveiw - Heartstrings and Harmonies

5th Dec 2024

क्या पता हम में हैं कहानी
या हैं कहानी में हम!

When an author puts in so much effort to build a synergy between music and her stories, a reviewer should also put in some effort, right?
Hence, starting the book review with a song. I have attended almost all of Manali's author collaboratives, which she hosts on Instagram Live, and have also heard a lot of praise, backstories, and her thoughts while writing the stories. Heartstrings And Harmonies is written on the one-of-a-kind concept, undoubtedly. This book is a beautiful marriage of Bollywood songs and short stories. You may have read stories that mention popular songs or the songs playing in the background, but building a story based on the lyrics of a particular song is a unique concept. If you are a music lover, especially Bollywood songs, then this book is for you. Although all stories feel relatable at different levels, that is the reason why I chose the above song to start with my review, my top 3 picks would be:
1) Oh, Something Strange is happening
2) The World's Slogan Stay Vigilant
3) Namo Namo




These three brilliantly use the song and stories are also creative. There are many other aspects I would like to praise this book for. The cover is so apt, and goes well with the title, "Heartstrings and Harmonies", I can not imagine it being any different. The book formatting is so neatly done, just like those from big publishing houses. This aspect started making sense to me only after I read more traditionally published books from 2023. And Manali has delivered the same typesetting quality. Another noteworthy thing is, there are NO typos in the book.
Although Naam Rakhne Me , no one is as pro as Indians, when it comes to naming characters of my stories, it is a TASK for me. Manali has done that effortlessly.
The prologue has already received so much appreciation from our author circle, and having read it quite prior, I was not aware of it being the prologue. I liked it the way it was, untitled as a prologue. After knowing it corresponds to each story from the book, I can not resist appreciating Manali for her creativity.
She has also made a playlist at the end with each story title in English representing its corresponding Hindi song. Thank God for not using Google Translate, it is such a turn-off! If you are a music lover, if you love short stories you must pick up this book.