Daughter of the Sun - Cult of the Cat Book 1 - Review

Title: Daughter of the Sun (Cult of the Cat series, Book 1)
Author: Zoe Kalo
Genre: YA mythological fantasy
Word count: 93,000 words
Release date: May 1, 2016

I was lucky to get my hands on this book before it launched.

This book is so good from the word go. 

The story revolves around Trinity and her amazing life and reason for it. The story starts in London and is set against the rich, cultural , mysterious and abundant backdrop of an island a little further away from Istanbul. It begins with Trinity at an orphanage in London. An unexpected visitor taking her to meet her only living family member living on the Island of cats - her grandmother who dies immediately when Trinity lands to see her. She is left in the huge mysterious palatial house with its secrets by herself with no one to give her answers or guide her. The hundreds of cats who are grieving for her grandmother, the will, her first love and the dangers it holds. Her changing body and traits, coming of age. Magic and mystery surrounds her and answers keep evading. The ever cunning and mean Dr Nassri and her ever suspicious ways, what is she hiding?

The heart of Egyptian mythology is the core of this book. Its rich in traditional tales, knowledge and way of life. The three feline goddesses—Bastet, Sekhmet, and Mafdet are the centre of this story.

An ordinary kid with extraordinary gifts. The life she lives and the life that awaits. Is she really an orphan? What is so special about her bloodline? An unexpected visitor, the turn of events, propelling her headfast in the world of mystery, questions, prophecies, Egyptian goddesses, demons and a house as well as an island filled with cats - Will Trinity find her way out of this ? Will she get her answers and how ?

The book is a fast paced read and I finished it within two days as I couldn't resist keeping my hands away from it. A hard core adventurous, mysterious thriller. It kept me hooked on the edge of my seat till the very end. 

The suspense is well maintained and I really loved it. The language is easy and simple, the author tells the story in the most fluid way. The characters are well sketched and in depth research and knowledge on the subject is evident in the book.

However I was not very satisfied with the end though, Needed a few answers, a clearer picture on Seth and what happens to them how she rules? what happened to her father? What about church ownership, Dr Mildred Taylor ?  what does Arya do? How does everything come together?

May be its kept for the next part but I really would have loved one chapter more at the end giving the story a clean finish and a happy ending.

Its a nice breezy suspense mystery, I really liked it. I cant wait for the second book.

I give it a 4 rating.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Its a must read, highly recommended.

Here's the Amazon Purchase Link:

Hope you guys like it, let me know your views.

Thanks a lot for sending this book to me.

until we meet again

Stay cheerful and happy

xoxo

Bhakti

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Disclaimer - This is a sponsored post however all the opinions are my own.

Gratitude

We are always taught from childhood that we should be thankful and have gratitude. However it was not until very recently that I realised the power of gratitude.

By being grateful for things we receive, for our life, for happiness we invite more of it to our life. Gratitude is an attitude the more you have the more you receive. 

I have started beginning my day with gratitude and ending them on a note of gratitude and the joy it has brought, the contentment, the feeling of being so lucky of what I have. It has got a big change in my life. Whatever I like, whatever I am grateful for finds a way to me more and more. It's magical. All I am doing is just being thankful for this magic. Having gratitude from within, feeling it deep in my bones. It's amazing. 

Give it a try. Don't expect to try this with immediate miracles. You need to develop this habit and you really need to feel thankful, blessed and lucky and not just say it. 

I am sure you will immediately feel good and see the results in short time. 

This will definitely make your life more beautiful. 

Just start with saying a short gratitude prayer and ending your day with the same. Maintain a gratitude journal or just simply be thankful and feel it loud for the things in life. As they say - " A grateful heart is the magnet for miracles." 

On that note - this is something I wore twice in a week once for an event dinner and once with friends. Sometimes I am too lazy and just repeat the outfit depending on that its different set of people I am going with. Besides I love the colour of this top. Very comfortable and yet chic, now that's my style ;). 

The last few were in yellow light (gosh the difference light makes). 

Outfit Details 

Top - Max 

Denims - Zara 

Shoes - Inc 5 

Necklace - Pink Pvssy 

Clutch - Handmade ( exhibition ) 

I hope you liked this post, please do share your views with me. 

I am honestly so grateful that I have a platform to connect with you guys and share my thoughts with you. 🙏

Until we meet again ❤️

Stay Happy and Cheerful !! 

xoxo

Bhakti 

Singapore Diaries - Chinatown Food Shopping and more

Chinatown in Singapore definitely ranks on my list of top things to do in Singapore.

One of the best Chinatown I have been to. This place oozes of charm in every way. Be it Buddhist or Indian temples, food, shopping, spa and more. 

Extremely easy to reach by Mrt, which drops you in the heart of Chinatown food street and street shopping. 

Street shopping is one of the best over here and there are foot spas all over the place which act as the right place for the tired body and soul after a day of shopping. 

I am sharing everything you must do and more in the video below and our snippets of time spent here. 

Let me know if you like this video. Do share your thoughts I love reading them. 

Until next time.

Stay happy and cheerful !

Like, Comment, Share and subscribe, do spread the love !!

xoxo

Bhakti 

Weekend Date

As you all know by now, I am a sucker for nature. Take me into the wilderness and I am happy as a puppy (hehe ;)).

Anyhow, so hubby dear took me on a perfect date- a small hike at a nearby hill, watching the sunset and then a yummy dinner amidst beautiful setting. 

Oh! I almost forgot we started off the Saturday with some shopping (yay) and some heavy duty true blue Maharashtrian Food. 

Unedited yumminess, I am drooling right now. Kolhapuri and rustic maharashtrian food is my weakness. These kolhapuri Thalis are my all time favorite. 

We decided to try this place for the first time having heard rave reviews from food communities. 

New Milan Khanaval is located in the bylanes of Sadashiv peth Pune. This is the king of kolhapuri cuisine, best tambda rassa ( red curry) I have ever had. The after taste tickled me for more and more. The chicken masala and chicken fry preparations were amazing I loved the chicken masala more. The pandhra rassa (white curry) was nice but I have had better. There was also alni rassa (chicken broth) which is very rare to be found in Thalis, it was nice. It was such a heavy meal bursting with flavour that by the end I had stuffed my stomach to the point of no return. I barely could walk and was supremely high on food. The place served excellent biryani as well but that's for another day, another story and another date with food. This place is really small. You might have to share table with strangers. Worth it all. Go early when they open or late so you don't have to wait forever. I am in heaven with all this food. 

Happy me !! 

Could you believe we could have this monster after this? Yes we had it though. What can I say we are foodies who become eating demons come weekend. 

Awesome coffee shop at Conrad Hilton Pune . 

Mesmerised 

Sunsets ❤️

He makes me so happy ❤️ 

Amidst beautiful setting at The Asian Box
I love such quaint places. It's a little place with character. Lovely food and pretty ambience. 

It's an oriental place and we decided we were in a mood for some Thai as well as Burmese cuisine. 

I love this dish. Spicy Thai chicken. Crispy chicken coated with perfectly got Thai spices along with some capsicum. I can keep munching on this baby. 

Lettuce chicken wraps. 

Yummy and so filling. Must try. 

Burmese Khowsuey - I never really am a fan of Khowsuey from outside as my hubbys family hails from Burma and I am used to eating home made authentic Khowsuey, recipe of which has been passed down in generations. 

I just like to eat Khowsuey outside just to see what they serve and experiment but it is always so different from the authentic one made at my place. 

So don't judge on my review. The Khowsuey was good however I have had better outside at other places. Saying that I still loved their curry which was more inclined towards Thai curry and couldn't help slurping on it. 

We clean up good, don't we ? :)) 

Sweet endings ❤️❤️

I am so grateful 🙏

How was your weekend? 

Until we meet again.

Keep smiling and stay cheerful!! 

xoxo

Bhakti 

Park, Unparked

To clear of my Monday blues I decided to visit one of the serene parks in my city (Pune) before a work meeting with a friend. However I had no idea that it is going to lead to terrible Monday woes.

To give a miss to the city traffic I rode down my two wheeler to this said park on the insistence of my friend. I had never visited this place, she told me to park the vehicle with hers. There were lots of watchmen over there for the park , after checking out baggage we were ready to indulge in nature. 

I so love greenery. I think summers are the best time to visit these beauties (I can visit them all year round -24/7). No sooner than we entered I felt like I was drifting away from the city chaos in te heart of some serene far away beautiful forest. 

I can live here forever 💚

Came out of the park and to my horror my lone bike out of all the vehicles was lift up by the traffic police- and it wasn't the area police where we were, but the area next to this place. Neither had even one watchman told me that I am not supposed to park my bike there nor was there any signs of no parking. Adding fuel to fire all the other vehicles along with my friends were still there intact. 

I rushed to the police station and found my bike there. I explained my situation and told him that I am ready to pay the fine. However there was no traffic cop out there but a big group of bike lifters or should I say goons, who were extremely rude and were staring badly and talking in the most horrible way. He asked for an exuberant sum of money precisely ₹ 2300 for a bike in no parking ( I was clueless that the rates had gone that high up). I was there reasoning with him for another 45 minutes and after several demands of knowing where the cops were and I would like to speak to cop in charge right now, my bike was left with ₹200 by another polite bike lifter. Still till the end no cop to be seen. 

The best thing was the feeling of being unsafe in a police station. Ahhh. That's the state. 

It really makes one thing what state is our legal departments in? Everytime we have some work with places like these, there is a early visitor in the form of headache. Public offices meant for public where people don't want to go. I am not saying everyone is bad but there is a problem. 

Any how after the horrible scene and with a massive head ache I headed back for the meeting. 

Bless Cafe one o eight located in Kp area of Pune for having a calming effect with their ambience and organic pots of tea and refreshments. 

Must visit. 

The pot of Love, ya that's what it was called and I indeed needed lots. It was so good, soothing my senses completely. 

Outfit Details 

Top - gift from sister Similar

Denims - Levis similar

Glasses - Forever 21 

Footwear - Kolhapuris from Kolhapur 

Bag - Jabong Better

Watch - Espirit 

Bangles - high street

Here

shop now

So, that was my Monday for you all. 

Definitely - Park, Unparked.

What do you guys think? 

Until we meet next time.

Stay happy and cheerful. 

xoxo

Bhakti

Summer colours inspiration

Sunny summer sunshine is here to stay and just like that summer days are here again.
scorching heat, uneasy temperatures and yet there is nothing more cheerful and vibrant than summers, something so magical.
So lets ditch our heavy clothes and welcome summer by dressing up our body and souls in the most vibrant summer shades. Summer is so cheerful and that transcends in the nature. To feel one with the nature and bring joy to your own self all you have to do is to look learn and camouflage with it.
Just ape all things summery and you are set.
Summer means vibrant colours, pastels, corals anything and everything which is pleasing to the eyes.
lets have a look at 2016 Summer colours.

now lets see what nature and all things summer tell us.

Take a cue from nature and get your Colors sorted for this summer. 

Until we meet again. 

Stay happy and cheerful !! 

xoxo

Bhakti

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