Book Review: Unlocked – Historical Tales in Verse by Sonia Dogra | #BlogChatterEbook

June 8, 2020 DiaryOfAnInsaneWriter Book Reviews, My thoughts, Reviews 6 comments

I grew up among friends who always complained about how they found history boring. I was blessed with fabulous teachers in school and college who made history fun. They would paint pictures right before our eyes and we would listen, totally fascinated by the lore. Well, I wish Sonia Dogra would have written this book while we were growing up. My friends would have grown to appreciate history and learn from the myriad teachings it offers.

Sonia Dogra’s ebook, Unlocked – Historical Tales in Verse, is a collection of poems that narrate historical events and characters in the most interesting manner.

BlogChatter published Sonia Dogra’s ebook, Unlocked – Historical Tales in Verse as part of their Ebook Carnival in May 2020

What I loved about the book?

For a moment I felt as if I was reading a book in the Central Library of Mumbai. The language, layout, choice of words, illustrations – just about everything is international quality. Sonia comes across as an extremely well-read writer whose research prowess is phenomenal.

I love the way she has picked out a single incident or situation from a historical figure’s life and then written a poem about it. The best part is that Sonia has written the poems in a manner that allows a glimpse into the entire life of the characters mentioned.

Each poem is complete with footnotes to guide the readers. This ensures that a reader with little or no knowledge of history can also understand the context.

My favourite poem from Sonia Dogra’s, Unlocked – Historical Tales in Verse

The Missing Key – While every poem is amazing, this is the best! Not only because of the way it is written but because it highlights a never-told fact about the sinking of the Titanic. Shhhhh….I won’t reveal the suspense – download the book and read for yourself!

The downside of the book:

For the sake of pointing out, I feel that poems within Virangana deserve independent status in the book. I also felt that the language and formatting of Virangana could have been better and matching the rest of the book. The poetess may also want to re-look at the footnotes since there are few grammatical errors there. I must reiterate that I am pointing this out merely because reviews need to appear unbiased.

Verdict: 5/5

Everyone who loves stories, history and poems will love this book. Personally, I enjoyed reading it and so did my family. The book gives an exceptional opportunity for meaningful discussion during meal times or friendly meets.