Love, Life and Everything Else

by Xunaira J.

Meet Sarah, a nine-year old girl with a talent for painting and an adoptive family who supports her in everything she does. She lives a happy life with her foster-father who is her idol and her foster-mother who loves her unconditionally. Little does she know that her past will come back to haunt her and an atrocity that happened nine-year ago would come to light. What will be Sarah’s reaction when she is subjected to a past that she has no knowledge of?

Sandy is scared, worried and somewhat irritated because of the weird voices she hears from the attic above. With the help of her best friend, Anne, she decides to find out the source of this all racket but what will she find hidden up there? Would the truth shock her?

Will the frail, old and lonely novelist who had managed to incur an emotion so inside him be able to change the course of his life?

Self-made and hardworking Jenny was looking forward to the opening ceremony of her novel when she is subjected to the hatred and scorn of her best friend, Cindy and made a laughingstock in town. Will Jenny be able to hold her head high?

Genres: Short Stories

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 7, 2013

About the author

As a thirteen year old teenager, Xunaira J. aspired to be an author someday. From short stories to novellas, she has written them all but as an adult now, she has published two short stories and is now aiming to publish her first Novel, Before Time, scheduled for November release. Xunaira resides in Islamabad, Pakistan and enjoys a hot cup of cappuccino, a good romance novel and her favorite music from the 80’s. Apart from that, when she’s not working on her current literary project, she loves developing mobile applications and studies as a software engineer.

Reviews

[Lynxie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Love, life and everything needs an editor. It needs an editor like the flowers need the bees to help pollinate them.

The language used is clunky, words and phrases are reused too close to each other, tenses are changed within the same sentences and paragraphs.

The poor writing aside, the stories are mere slivers of stories. The ideas are there, but they don't have enough substance to be worth reading.

Take the first story: Abandoned in the Alley, the story was fraught with plot holes. When finding an abandoned child in an alley, rather than take it to a hospital and the police, our character takes the child to her orphanage and raises the child as her own - wrong!

This is but one of many plot holes and inaccuracies that plague this collection of short stories.

I'm not sure if the other reviewers got another version of this book, but I can't understand how it has 5 star reviews with so many fundamentals of writing misused or not used at all!

A few things I noticed:

4% - alley is used too much in the first paragraph.

6% - a deafening silence ensued after the hooded figure left was broken when a car rushed through the alley - what?

I stopped listing them after this... It was just too much.

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book in return for an honest review**

[Michelle Cornwell-Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited when receiving an advanced review copy of Love,Life &Everything Else! I loved the cover and was anxious to see what was inside:) The book is actually a compilation of four stories:

Abandoned in the Alley

Footsteps in the Attic

The Novelist

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

I enjoyed all of the stories, but due to the book has not been released as of yet, I will discuss only one story in detail summary as to limit the amount of spoilers:)

Abandoned in the Alley, follows socially conscious Alice Mayberry, who is the Founder and owner of Mayberry Foster Care. The story opens with Alice awaiting a unknown, although from the description unsavory character, in the dank, roughest part of town. So of course my first thought was, wow. Why was she really there and what could she have to do with such a character? But it is shown to be kismet when Alice, tired of waiting for the no show appointment; prepared to leave but stopped when she heard the cries of the a child. She followed the cries of what sounded like a small infant. She soon sees a small child on a heap of garbage, with rodents and such attempting to chew on the blanket!

Immediately Alice takes the child back to her center and cares for her for four years! Soon the child Sarah grows and is adopted, but her new adopted parents are wonderful to Sarah, and she loves them completely as well. But the family’s fragile happiness is threaten as the dark details surrounding Sarah’s past comes to the present, and threatens to take Sarah away from the only family she knows!

I loved this story because it had the suspenseful elements I am attracted to when reading a story. My thoughts ran rampant from oh my goodness, who would put a small child on a garbage heap?! Was there something wrong with those in the child’s life? Or was it the child? I was stumped! The book’s darker tinged theme surprised me when I began reading. I believed the book would be geared more towards aiding the young adult with daily life and emotional challenges, which they all faced.

So when I began reading I was really surprised! I mean, I would have enjoyed either way, but the author’s ability to keep me on edge, and surprise me while reading…well, that thrilled me! Awesome job:)

I will not go into full detail regarding the other stories so as to not spoil them….but I will say that overall the book was well written, pace was perfect…loved the suspense, I believe Ms. Javed has a real niche in the suspense genre!

I recommend this book for all ages, and I look forward to Ms. Javed’s future work!

[Nicole Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to start by saying I was giving a copy of this book in return for my honest review. To be very honest I have never really read and/or reviewed a set of short stories before, so please bare with me.

Love, Life and Everything else is a collection of 4 short stories, that seem to have a hidden moral or meaning behind them. First up is Abandoned in the Alley, this one was super touching and actually had my eyes misting a little cause I could not comprehend why someone would leave a baby in a dumpster in the slums of a city. It so little amount of words and pages this author is able to take you on a journey of what it was like for this young girl and her adopted parents. She even manages to sneak a little suspense into this one.

Next up was Footsteps in the Attic and I have to tell you I had goosebumps while reading this. I am a ninny at heart so it is easy to freak me out. The author does a fantastic job in a short amount of time dragging you into this girl hearing footsteps in the attic. I really thought I had this one figured out but man oh man was I wrong.

Third in line was The Novelist, as a huge reader I really could relate to this quick story. We have a young man who has come to recognize an older gentleman everyday he visits the park to the point that when he no longer sees the man he seeks him out. They form a fast bound and are able to grow extremely close in a very short amount of time. There is just something about this one that struck a chord in me.

Finally we are given The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, and wow did the author end on a bang. I totally did not see this one coming. You have 3 best friends from a small town and one is super successful and the other two support her in her endeavors. Hopefully you will be as shocked as me.

I have to say that I was completely and utterly impressed with the author, as I said in the begin I am not a huge reader of short stories, with that said this author amazed me. I look forward to seeing more of her work. One last little thing and that is several of these stories have such great storylines I would love to see them turned into full length novels.

[Njkinny (Njkinny's Blog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Love, Life and Everything Else" by Xunaira J. is a short story collection comprising of four short tales dealing with various topics and exploring a varied range of emotions. There is the small child left to die in the trash among rodents and other creatures of the dump in "Abandoned in the Alley" .
Then there is the inquisitive girl who hears voices from the attic which are not heard by anyone else in her family in "Footsteps in the Attic" . The third story, "The Novelist" , features a boy who finds his idol in a stranger and finally there are three friends who swear to face all the facets of life together but destiny has other plans for them in the final story "The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony" .

The stories in Xunaira's book "Love, Life and Everything Else" are tales that are seemingly ordinary and each one of us has either experienced or heard such stories numerous times but the thing that makes them special in this book is the sensitivity with which the author weaves the emotions and narrates the sequence of events to form a recital that touches our hearts and leaves us thinking about them long after we are done reading them.

Beautifully narrated and simply yet effectively written, this book is a perfect travel companion and a book that can be read at anytime. I give "Love, Life and Everything Else" a 3.8 out of 5 and recommend that you take this journey of exploring the various flip sides of life. :)

I received an ARC by the author and I am very thankful to her. The above review is my personal opinion and in no way influenced.

This review is also available on my blog http://njkinny.blogspot.in

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Life and Everything Else is a book of four short stories that center on family and friendships. Each tale shares how relationships are important but can also be confusing and conflicted.

Abandoned in the Attic tells the tale of a found baby and her life as she finds her "real parents". I love how Sarah is loved by everyone. She literally has so many people on her side that sets out to protect her. As a parent, I like hearing that children are kept safe even in unusual circumstances.

Footsteps in the Attic is a mysterious tale which shows how far a family will go for their loved ones. Xunaira provides suspense and tension that engages the reader.

The Novelist is a wonderful tale of two people who connect by accident and become good friends. Having worked in a nursing home, the description of the old age home took me back to those days.

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony should be a day of celebration for one young lady. This tale is a perfect example of those ugly emotions we all have and the lengths we could go to get what we want...

The entire book was a quick and entertaining read that drew me into the different stories and engaged my emotions. I recommend that you read this story and take a deeper look at Xunaira's future stories.

[Aiden Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Life and Everything Else is a collection of four short stories. The author, Xunaira J. , does and amazing job of painting a picture in your head. Most authors either give too many details, to where it takes away from the story, or not enough, to where it seems bland and boring, yet she has the perfect meeting grounds between the two.

The problem that I usually have with short stories is not present in these. Most short stories that I have read just do not do a good job at making the characters seem like they matter in the short amount of space that they have available, but here, all four stories have their own way of getting you attached. I won't give a synopsis of any, as I am afraid that I would give too much away and I don't want to take away from Xunaira's writing.

It is a very short book and I would recommend anyone who enjoys reading to go ahead and pick it up. It will only take you about an hour to read it, yet the stories are really good. Another plus, the author is really nice, too!

kerthasreviews.blogspot.com

[C.p. Bialois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story collection is made up of four stories focusing on a family’s love for a child, meeting an idol, and being the victim of a misunderstanding and jealousy. I don’t want to go into too much detail as I might give away spoilers, but one of my favorites was Footsteps in the Attic. It took me back to the haunted tales you tell around the campfire in Scouts.

The thing about these stories I enjoy is they’re reminiscent of the stories we hear from our parents and grandparents when the power goes out or they put us to bed. It’s enjoyable from beginning to end.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book have four short stories. I like all of them but my favorite is the "Abandoned in the Alley" and "The Novelist".

[Xunaira J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there is one thing in this world that will never change, that is mystery. And, these stories all have an air of mystery to them. They take you places that you never thought you’d ever be able to go. They’re emotional, suspenseful, and even-sometimes-fun.

I’ve always been told that an author has to have something special to help them stick out from other authors. For some, like me, it’s the type of story or plot of the story; for others it’s the writing style. But, for Xunaira, it’s the provocation of thought. No matter what story of hers you are reading, she finds a way to get your brain working—in a good way.

For example, in Footsteps in the Attic, every page makes you wonder more and more about the noises, and what the girls find. It never ceases.

In The Novelist, you think about the man, and revel in the amazing person he was. You sit and wonder about everything he could have been through in his life, and how amazing it must have been. And, for a novelist, like myself and X, it holds an even bigger meaning; we strive to be that novelist that has a life’s story to tell. That story had to have been my favorite; for obvious reasons.
Now, I know we don’t read books in an effort to think—in fact, a lot of us read to escape—but, don’t underestimate the power of thought. Sometimes, all it takes to enjoy life is to think about the possibilities.

Genevieve Scholl
Author of Catching a Cardinal

[Anna Othitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Life and Everything Else - her past will come back to haunt her will Jenny be able to hold her head high? Readers the suspense is now left for you! Loved this book with a great story of a nine year old girl with a talent in painting and an adoptive family who supports her along. Great fascinating book!

[Barbara Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book

I thought the book was inspiring and great reading. Each story tell a little truth about the character and what they represent. This inspired me to finish my books I have written. I give this book five stars