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Still Loved…Still Missed!

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“Still loved...Still missed! The myriad hues of souls” is a collection of 14 short stories and a poem. These stories span characters and emotional states with canny details that touch the depths of your soul. Picturing the complexities of love, misery and mystery, the stories try to gnaw your heart like never before.

• What does a flower teach us we often fail to see?

• “The belly is an ungrateful wretch.” Is it true?

• Ever wondered about the sparseness and illusions in life?

• Does death put an end to true love?

• Have all the ascetics won over their emotions?

With the power of simple language, this book transports the readers to a world scarcely thought of in our bustling lives. The allegories maintain an intense rhythm of life prompting the readers to perceive things from a unique angle.

“A whole bookful to make you think, cry, think again and move on.”

78 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2019

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About the author

Mridula മൃദുല

2 books21 followers
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Still loved...Still missed! The myriad hues of souls

മാർജ്ജാരനായകി

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
Profile Image for Sumit RK.
848 reviews517 followers
April 6, 2019
The dread of loneliness is greater than the fear of bondage.

“Still loved...Still missed! The myriad hues of souls” is a collection of 14 short stories and a poem. Each of these short stories delves deep into the complexities of love, misery and a sense of loss. Not just people, even inanimate objects have stories to tell; stories that make you introspect, revive old memories, stories that touch your soul.

Each story explores a different emotion but the theme of melancholy and of having loved and lost is recurring. Every story makes you think deeper about life and the choices you make but it also leaves you with a glimmer of hope. The stories are really short, but each manages to leave an impact, both memorable and I felt some of the stories ended abruptly and could have been longer (I realise that there is no ideal ending point for a story). I especially liked the story about sepal & the flower and the bamboo coracle for its simple yet powerful message.

The stories are easy to read, well narrated and fast-paced. The language is simple and the writing style is free flowing. The book is short and immensely readable. I would love to read something longer from the author next. Overall, If you love reading short stories, you will enjoy this book.

The author provided me a complimentary copy of the book for an honest review.

Profile Image for Bharath.
711 reviews535 followers
March 27, 2019
This is a set of 14 short stories and a poem. The stories are the short - short story variety – averaging 3 pages or so, except for a few exceptions. With these it is important the theme is strong as you cannot develop the characters with depth. This book does that well, and each of the stories has a nice theme reflecting largely on life and nature.

There is an undercurrent of philosophical exploration in all the short stories. The first story is about a sepal and it’s selfless nurturing of the flower. There is the other story about a girl who wants to chase her passion for paragliding at great personal risk. There are other stories which cover animals, death etc. “Still Loved, Still Missed” is the story after which the book takes it’s name, and yes – I liked the story and the story deserved to be the title one.

While the stories have good themes, are nice and easy to read, they are also forgettable. They leave you with faint impressions and had far more potential - if they had had more incidents/depth for readers to remember them by.

However, since these short stories move along smoothly, they are recommended as light, easy and relaxing reads.

I received my copy of the book at no cost to me, to provide an honest review.
Profile Image for Aakanksha Jain.
Author 6 books716 followers
March 29, 2019
Still Love...Still Missed by Mridula is a heart-wrenching tale consists of different types of emotions. The dark blue cover page makes me like it even more because of its austerity. The book comprises a few short stories, and one poem based on love happened under the lavender tree.

Every story has different sentiments, but I feel sadness in common. The author is a skillful story-teller. She knows when and where to put a twist. The plot does not only show human POV, but animals, plants, and non-living things too. The tales are thought-provoking.

Mridula has that essence in the stories where readers can feel the raw and pure sentiments. The characters are easily connectable, and I felt affection towards them. I read this book in less than one hour. It hooked me from start to an end. The language is quite easy, and there are no semantic errors.

"The dread of loneliness is greater than the fear of bondage."
"Hunger has always been strong enough to question moralities!"
Every word penned down by Mridula makes me think deeper about life and the choices we made. The book is beautifully narrated and proved to be a worthy read. I recommend this book to newbies, and to those who like short stories with a pinch of attachment, suffering, and an enigma.

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Profile Image for Kavita.
353 reviews25 followers
May 8, 2019
: “I received a copy of this book through The Book Genie Review Program.

' Still Loved Still Missed' is a collection of short stories and. Poem. With a very simplistic cover and a good blurb this work calls to be picked up.

A short read of stories that have an underlying message about nature and also life in its various facets....mostly the sadder parts. Most of the stories are narrated in a first person PoV and the author gives words to the perspectives of so many mundane or things we do not usually thing about. This just shows how much observant and in tune the author is with her surroundings and in touch with emotions .

Written in a very poetic language these stories are an experience to read. Having said this, it may be a bit difficult for beginners to read. As the reading experience is so good and the stories are short I had this compulsion to get to the next story and so this book is a fast read.

I hoped there were more stories to read in the collection. There are so many powerful lines in the stories that just stay with me. The twists in some of the stories are very cleverly done.

If you are in a contemplative mood and would like to read stories that are very well written and poignant and have an hour or two to spare then do pick this one up.
Profile Image for Reading_ Tamishly.
4,822 reviews2,968 followers
November 4, 2020
Loved this collection.

Short story collection. Easy to read. Awesome writing. Fast paced.
Most of the stories are painful, memorable and emotional.
I am so glad to read this book. Worth it.
Profile Image for Katherine.
553 reviews152 followers
April 28, 2019
Still loved... still missed is a mesmerising collection of 14 heartwarming short stories and a concluding poem which was just a cherry on top. Each story depicts something extraordinary and has diverse themes too. Melancholy,hope,dreams,memories,greed,honesty and sympathy are to name a few of those emotions. Writing a short story is never easy because sometimes if the story is too short then it fails to impress the reader let alone have a chance of leaving an everlasting impact but fortunately that was not the case for this book, these stories were complete and absolutely amazing.


The most important thing that I loved about this book was the writing style. It was lucid and had such profound emotions attached to it. Each story will tug at your heartstring and this will make you realize the value of love and respect. My favourite stories were Fly...flew...flown,bluebells in the woods and hunger.

Still loved...still missed! deserves more than a mere 5 stars rating because the author not only stated the feelings between two people but she has also shown the unconditional affection between a person and his or her pet and how an inanimate object that we see and pass by everyday rarely think about their usefulness in our lives. These little things that we should be thankful of yet we have learned to become ignorant of the luxuries that the nature has given us abundantly for generations together.

Really enjoyed reading this wonderful book. Highly recommend it.



I received a copy of this book through http://www.thebookgeniepr.wordpress.com
Profile Image for Aparna Preethi.
Author 2 books48 followers
April 10, 2019
I have never been a lover of short stories, but then there are few books which will make you try certain things you never have done before. Now, I have come up with the review for another book of short story collection ‘Still Loved… Still Missed’ by Mridula. I am glad that this book and the book I have read before, which is also a short story collection, this has a little of same striking features.

When I first started this book, I have observed that there are both positive and negative things described in this book. Positive because, it will make you happy; Negative because, it will make you realize. The stories are a rare collection saying about Life, Death and Love. More than that, it teaches you how to live by showing you what you have missed.

Each story is unique in its own way. It is as if the pages are waiting to be turned so that it can unleash the knowledge it hides behind the words. I can literally not put my feelings into simple words. All the stories given, they are not just about the life of human, but then, everything else surrounding us; everything else we have failed to notice and acknowledge; everything else we may wonder will actually own a story on its own. It is mostly about how we react at them – the ignoring part and the appreciating part.

I personally have felt that the major theme that has circulated through the book is Death through which we will be able to realize the importance of life. The old people, their life, how we look at Death, there are more ideas discussed through the stories. Just buy it, is all I can say.
Profile Image for Rakhi.
Author 2 books97 followers
March 23, 2019
Still Loved Still Missed is a collection of short stories. The stories are unconventional yet simple, endearing yet thought provoking. The stories are poetic proses.



The prime mention is to be given to the style of narration. It is quite palpable and engaging. Author has an inclination towards nature. Most of the stories including the title story are about inhuman or non living things but the author has succeeded in making them the characters and successfully connected the readers with them.



There is an inconsistency when it comes to the different stories but the readers will be surely glued to the book. It is said that we should not judge a book with its cover. This comes true when it comes to this book. The cover and the size of the book forces the readers to judge it as a negligible piece but on further foray into the literary world, author proves her mettle. The book could be given to the little readers as many of the stories have a moral- be it the life of Sepal, or a coracle or spider s, all carry a message and hence recommended to the little readers as well.

Profile Image for Khyati Gautam.
764 reviews183 followers
March 24, 2019
Have you ever heard of Sepal and a bamboo coracle? Do they intrigue you? Would you like to know their stories? Grab Still Loved… Still Missed which is imbued with heartwarming stories to sadden and rev up your spirit, both at the same time.

It is a collection of 15 soothing short stories and poems which are woven beautifully. In each work, you could identify with the author’s penchant for nature. The way she presented her own emotions and thoughts through them is amazing. As you begin with the journey, you meet sepal which teaches you to perform his/ her duties in the world without any expectations. Each story has melancholy enwrapped in it. Actually, the melancholy is the central theme which is brought forth in different ways. Also, a ray of hope which shrouds melancholy eventually is also pointed in the book. In short, this book is about love and the hope of something good existing in this universe. I am enamored with a few stories. They revolve around dreams and reality, light and darkness, right and wrong, moral and immoral, lucky and unlucky. It is the effect of the opposites which underline this short book.

The writing style is, without a hint of doubt, intriguing. It is beautiful and keeps you glued to the book. It is attracting and bewitching in a way that you connect to the sadness, to the characters. The flow of individual story and poetry is good. More importantly, the cover is pretty simple and charming. Also, the brownie points would be given for its precise and concise content. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and so, finished it in a seating.

If you are looking for a short and pleasant read, do check out this book!

MY RATING: 4/ 5
49 reviews3 followers
May 27, 2019
Title : Still loved Still Missed
Author : Mridula
Publisher : @notion.press

⭐️ Still loved still missed is assemblag of 14 short tales and one poem. All the stories are based on divergent theme of hope, faith, beliefs, trust, desire and many more. They are short yet conclusive.
⭐️ Among 14 stories few grab my attention, they are "The Sepal", "Still loved still missed", "Hunger", "and Quiet flew the little birds". I was gripped by them surely these stories will stay with me for long time.
⭐️ Every single story hand over tacit gist and idea for readers which are life learning lessons.
⭐️ Few stories are beyond my understanding because the essence behind it were quite passive.
⭐️ Writing style is exemplary admirable. Flow of story is fast but at some places I was unable to follow the story.
⭐️ I have never heard stories of things like sepal and petal, bamboo coracle that's why I think author had done miraculous job by writing stories with different perspective.
⭐️ Patently these stories will left you with at odds emotions like hope, desire, love, happiness, sadness, trust.
⭐️ Beyond question it is a good read.
Profile Image for Summaiya Ansari.
83 reviews
June 12, 2019
This is my second short stories reading. I loved them so immensely. Every tale has different characters and different pursuit of work. The theme of the stories based on love to fantasy,hunger to death and fear of loss to resilience..
.
.
Language used in this collection were easy to understand but some of them were didn't connected to me well. Every story deals with the emotional states with minor details of life and thoughts will take reader to think so deeply or beyond the actual reality.
.
Auhtor has done great job to look in the soul of heart while portraying the characters well. She tried readers to look insights of feelings such as ....
1. what sepal feel and used for work?
2.How spider can't bear his hunger can swallow the poor honey bee🐝 even she is well wisher.
3. How Tasha found the treasurer in the garden.and then next what?
4. About spareness and illusions in life.
5.Really love can cause death?
............etc.......
.
.
Language and writing style is good except some of the stories which I felt so disconnected yet bit difficult.
Theme were perfect, subject all revolves around the title of the book..
..
If u r looking for lite read u can pick this if lang and writing style isn't problem for u.
Profile Image for Ritika Chhabra.
517 reviews55 followers
June 3, 2019
Follow Just A Girl High On Books for more reviews.

Thank you The Book Genie PR for the copy.

Still Loved...Still Missed! is a collection of 14 unconventional short stories and a beautiful poem. The book is filled with simple short stories that take a new look at life. From the point of various unexpected narrators, the stories show us a world that we are more or less ignorant of.

The stories included in the book feature nature and the different ways we ignore it. They also talk about different lessons—sort of like moral stories, except without any animals and full of beautiful narration techniques. The book is filled with emotions and made me ponder over a lot of things. The stories were quite inspirational and once you get into it, you end up really enjoying it.

I guess the only thing that bothers me is that the book wasn't properly edited. It is always an issue for me because the language matters to me as much as the narration, the story and everything else does. Hence, even though I loved the stories and they excited me a lot, the editing kind of took away that one star from the rating for me.
April 12, 2019
10th Book of 2019

Quote from the Book I Liked - 'The dread of loneliness is greater than the fear of bondage.' (Page 42)

Rating - 4.5 Stars

Plot Summary - “Still loved...Still missed! The myriad hues of souls” is a collection of 14 short stories and a poem. These stories span characters and emotional states with canny details that touch the depths of your soul. Picturing the complexities of love, misery, and mystery, the stories try to gnaw your heart like never before.

• What does a flower teach us we often fail to see?

• “The belly is an ungrateful wretch.” Is it true?

• Ever wondered about the sparseness and illusions in life?

• Does death put an end to true love?

• Have all the ascetics won over their emotions?

With the power of simple language, this book transports the readers to a world scarcely thought of in our bustling lives. The allegories maintain an intense rhythm of life prompting the readers to perceive things from a unique angle.

“A whole bookful to make you think, cry, think again and move on.”


My Review - The book is very short and is a collection of 14 short stories and one poem, 'Love under the Lavender Tree'. All the stories are simple and thoughtful. The best thing I liked about some of the stories is their endings. While reading those stories you are deeply diving into the feeling they are conveying and the story they are expressing and suddenly in the last line (or the last paragraph), the whole story gets transcend. You are made to feel as though you know what the ending is gonna be but to your own surprise the tale suddenly turns and there is a whole different and greater meanings to the stories. Maybe the stories if seen according to content may look just like of two to three pages long but when read and thought later, it starts to feel as though you've been to a completely different level of consciousness while in those stories.

I Loved reading all of the stories and expect more from Author Mridula soon.

My Favorites among all were -

1. The Sepal

2. My Little Child

3. Wedding Memories

4. Final Destination

Conclusion - Collection of some very heartwarming stories.

Full Review on Blog.
Link to Blog - The Tales of Fugitive Biker
Profile Image for Swapna Peri ( Book Reviews Cafe ).
1,437 reviews53 followers
June 11, 2020
Book Title: Still Loved…Still Missed! : The Myriad Hues of Souls
Author: Mridula
Format: Kindle

Book Title:
The title of the book ‘ Still Loved…Still Missed! : The Myriad Hues of Souls ‘ is soulful and emotional

Book Cover:
The cover of the book is an elegant and antique styled with minimal art of a frame. Ir reminds me of some classic books’ covers.

My Review:
Poetry has always been a classic choice that I consider to read. There always lies a subject matter or an invisible thought process in the poem about the perception of life and life incidents. The same thought can be captured in the poem with the words that encompass the soul of the poem beautifully. This is where the talent of the poet in gaining the attention of the readers shines.

Here Author Mridula has very eloquently and beautifully has written poems that are heartwarming, soulful, and thoughtful. She has created art in every simple and little thing that one encounters and meets in life. The book comprises of 14 poems and story. Each of the poems excluding the poem is a piece of skill and has great literary values. Though the language seems simple, it is the meaning and the zeal with which the words were woven that has smitten me.

One of the finest poems to me is ‘ Hunger ‘. I was so moved with the words in the poem as I could relate it with the daily wage workers who have been striving hard to make it in a day during the present lockdown situation. To make the review spoiler-free, I would recommend simple poetry lovers to get their copies and appreciate the good work done by the author.

Rating: 4/5
Profile Image for Aryan Sarath.
Author 5 books35 followers
March 25, 2019
This is a collection of short stories and a poem by Mridula. What is special about this book is it features the stories which aren't usual. When I say this, I mean it. There were 14 short stories and a poem and each one differs from one another in terms of emotions, message it wanted to convey and the style/appeal quotient.



This would be loved by the readers who seeks a change in the pattern of the stories, most of the times. The stories revolves around Sepal, a Dog, a Soul, a Spider, break up to name a few.



Each and every story has a deep meaning and the intricate details has been captured to the maximum extent possible. It would make you think and ponder over these things and as to how the scenario differs from one to another.



Read the book and I am sure you would appreciate the content and the efforts of the author who wanted to show a variation in her writing with each and every story.
Profile Image for Ankita Sharma.
128 reviews11 followers
May 1, 2019
Book:- Still loved...still missed
Author:- Mridula
Pages:- 78
Format:- Ebook

The book is a collection of 14 short stories and one poem. While writing this book, the main subject on author's mind must have been The nature because even though there's diversity in each story, the love for nature remained intact.

I don't really read short story books that much but this one, I thought, was very heart felt. Each story was written very carefully and was wrapped with different emotions. It was fast paced; I finished it in almost 2 hours to be exact.

There were more than a couple of stories I liked very much like "Fly...Flew...Flown", "Passing", "Final Destination" and "Still loved...still missed" but the most amazing write up in the book was the poem. Being a poetry lover, I think I liked it the best.

Recommended to those who wants a light read and also to the short story lovers😊

I received this review e-copy from http://www.thebookgeniepr.com/ exchange of an honest review. Thank you http://www.thebookgeniepr.com/
Profile Image for Madhura 🦋.
866 reviews42 followers
June 1, 2020
This book of 14 short stories and one poem is a beautiful rainbow of emotions, mainly emotion of pain decorated as a narration of human tales and at places voices (and words) of inhuman pieces. The collection of words are heart touching poetic charm for every reader.

Entire book is brilliant but these five stories have made a mark on my heart -

Fly…Flew…Flown! - I would happily die doing what I desire rather live a life fearing my dreams.

Wedding Memories - This story is special, we normally talk about passionate love but we miss the silent walk of romance with life. This story reminds us that style of love.

One Day…Someday! - Death is an unavoidable guest who visits us at the most unprepared, unwanted and unexpected time.

Final Destination - Love above all else... Even death!


Rating : 4.3/5
Profile Image for Karen.
Author 3 books22 followers
March 17, 2019
This book offers you fourteen short stories and a poem.

With "Still Loved...Still Missed! : The Myriad Hues of Souls", Mridula has created a collection of short stories and a poem on love and loss. Each story is told from a distance, from an angle that triggers emotions, pain, and that can even be healing. Mridula presents memorable stories which are intriguing and offer food for thought at the same time. The stories may be sad, and even make you cry - but they give you the opportunity to reconsider your usual take on things.

This is a book for you if you like another take on loss, on life, and if you appreciate food for thought.
246 reviews12 followers
May 5, 2019
Highly recommended! as this book is a collection of 14 short stories and 1 poem will take you all to a journey of different genres of life and death. The beginning of the novel is with the life a blooming flower and the end will take you the final destination..where everyone finds salvation.
While reading this novel you may find some instances where you stop and read the lines once again just to feel the emotions portrayed by the author..which gives the true essence of life.
Let's explore different ways of living life..and experiencing death.
Profile Image for Manali.
315 reviews12 followers
April 23, 2019
That moment when a collection of short stories makes you feel so much that you need to take a break, that's when you know it's worth it. This book is so tots overflowing with emotions that it should come with a warning, emotional road ahead. I really liked it. It kinda helped me get peace. In short it was a very cathertic read for me.
Ps I liked the poem best.
Profile Image for Mohit Goyal.
294 reviews4 followers
May 9, 2019
Cover- 5 stars
Title- 4 stars
Blurb- 3 stars
Narration: 5 Stars
Plot- 4 stars
Characters: 4 Stars
Writing and Presentation- 5 Stars
Final Rating- 4 Stars

The cover is so beautiful to see. It has that Royal Classic Look which every reader wishes to keep in his/ her collection.

The title may seem very positive. But most of the Stories talk about the Dark side of Life. This is one of its kind type of novel.

The blurb talks about some intriguing question about life, which inspires a reader to pick this novel.

This book is kind of an anthology of 14 short stories and a poem.

The way this book talks about things is different. It's such a relatively new perspective. All the stories were gripping and engaging. I was so engrossed in the book, that I ended up reading all the stories in a single sitting.

The stories were not only amusing, but very wittily tried to answer a lot of curious questions which all of us has thought about atleast once.

The language used is really standard, the vocabulary and grammar used was really good.

I would love to read his work in Future. Looking forward to her Next Novel. And I hope she publishes soon.
Profile Image for Venky.
995 reviews371 followers
December 27, 2019
Bleak, Dark, and introspective, "Still Loved...Still Missed! The myriad hues of souls" by Dr. Mridula, is pastiche of emotions, expressed in a refreshingly novel manner. A reflective Sepal brooding over its selfless services to a petal, a weakened and famished spider striking a treacherous conversation with an unsuspecting bee, and a woman with an inveterate obsession for both the spectacle of the sky and the surge of flight are some of the stories that contrive to weave an interesting web of passion, remorse, inevitability, illusion and enchantment.

"Still Loved...Still Missed! marks a bright debut for Dr. Mridula. The narrative keeps the reader honest and the plot is crafted with both sincerity and dexterity.
Profile Image for Sharanya.
80 reviews13 followers
May 31, 2019
❇  This book is a collection of 14 short stories and a poem.Each story has a deep message with it.


❇The title "still loved still missed.." is the title of one of the short stories. The subtitle "The Myriad hues of souls " befits the storyline.


❇I loved all the stories but my most favorite among them are "The sepal " , Bluebells in the Woods… & "And Quiet Flew the Little Birds…".


❇The author's writing style is distinctive and attractive.She conveys her message flawlessly.


❇I came to know that the author is a nemophillist and it is evident in her writing. I adore her description of the environs .

 

❇I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend everyone to give this book a try.


❇My favourite line from the book

    "Some souls continue to love even after death".
Profile Image for Sayan Basak.
Author 7 books5 followers
April 30, 2019
Emotions being the major backdrop of the stories and the poems which are presented in this lovely book. Everybody has a home team: It’s the people you call when you get a flat tire or when something terrible happens. It’s the people who, near or far, know everything that’s wrong with you and love you anyways. These are the ones who tell you their secrets, who get themselves a glass of water without asking when they’re at your house. These are the people who cry when you cry. These are your people, your middle-of-the-night, no-matter-what people. While going through the author’s creation, I remember a saying which went like isn’t it odd how much fatter a book gets when you've read it several times?" Mo had said..."As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells...and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower...both strange and familiar.
Apart from emotions, the secondary dominant plot in all the stories were feelings. There is a relationship between the eye contacts we make and the perceptions that we create in our heads, a relationship between the sound of another's voice and the emotions that we feel in our hearts, a relationship between our movements in space all around us and the magnetic pulls we can create between others and ourselves. All of these things (and more) make up the magic of every ordinary day and if we are able to live in this magic, to feel and to dwell in it, we will find ourselves living with magic every day. These are the white spaces in life, the spaces in between the written lines, the cracks in which the sunlight filters into. Some of us swim in the overflowing of the wine glass of life, we stand and blink our eyes in the sunlight reaching unseen places, we know where to find the white spaces, we live in magic.
The stories tries to bind emotions with moments using feelings as the catalyst. There are moments in our lives when we meet someone and we feel as if we have known them all our lives. It seems astounding really to know that you can understand each other so well. It feels fascinating when you find out that you even if you both are meeting for the first time, there is already amazing chemistry happening between you two! And what is captivating is the depth to which you already know each other; almost like you both know each other inside out. When you both look into each other's eyes, you both already know what is going on in each other's minds. As if words are not needed at all to understand the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the other person. It feels as if you both know each other from centuries ago in time! It feels absolutely exhilarating when you do find this person in your life. And then your life becomes totally awesome and amazing.
As an epilogue, I would like to state that Life's harder, the deeper you feel things, was all I could think as I put the books away. Feelings, who needs them? Sometimes they're like a gift, when you feel love or happiness. Sometimes they're a curse.
Ratings of the Book- 4/5
Profile Image for Ishika Tiwari.
39 reviews1 follower
March 27, 2019
🍃SPECIAL REVIEW🍃Still Loved...Still Missed: The Myriad Hues of  Souls by Mridula
📑
The deep blue cover with swirling words gave an enchanting feel to the book and as I dived  into Mridula's words carved for loss, longing, love and the complex panorama of human life, I discovered a symbiosis of the instinctual self and the transcendental one; the human and the universe.
📑
These 14 stories and a poem have characters and creatures- living and non-living, invested with a life of their own and as a reader you shall be able to resonate with each of them- such as the maternal Sepal of the first story, or Tasha the dog, or the old man in search of his beloved death.
📑
Mridula highlights a world of coexistence. On one hand there is a sense of mourning and dystopia as the world advances into the future by forsaking the old wisdom and on the other are the dreams, hopes, longings for a fresh start.
📑
Seasons, stages of human life, cycles which ebb and flow through time is what constitutes the essence of these thoughtful stories. A plea for acceptance, a need for a loving self and an acknowledgement of our surroundings can be read in all other stories and poem along with the titular one.
📑
Memories are made; amidst partings and reunions nostalgia forms rivulets flowing from one sentence to another and Mridula's writes-
📑
“Certain relationships can't have a closure too. Some souls continue to love even after death.”
📑
I would rate it ⅘, the stories are short, easy to read, thought provoking and mesmerising. There's a rhythm in the writing and each reader shall be able to relate.
📑
Read it if- •You wish to know about Mridula's writing style •You like new and poetic short stories •You are planning to gift a book to a loved one •You wish to have different perspectives •You wish to see a reflection of yourself in literature!
📑
Reach this award winning nemophilist and writer here- trailblazer11.22.44@gmail.com
Profile Image for Apurba Ganguly.
186 reviews9 followers
May 15, 2019
First and foremost, I thank the author for giving me an opportunity to review such a unique work of fiction.

Still Loved...Still Missed is one of those very unconventional books that you may come across once in your life. It's quite surprising to know that this is the début work by the author, and I loved it dearly. Though the verse was nice in its crude way, the prose is what would occupy your attention greatly.

Everybody loves short reads. Specially those which have subtle plot twists. Still Loved...Still Missed is one such book. And to maintain that consistency is as tough as weaving out a plot twist. The author is successful enough in maintaining this equilibrium throughout this 78-page read. The second feature which astonished me a lot was the selection of the themes. The author chooses unconventional, unique themes to explore abstract elements such as trust, hope, love, faith, belief, desire, and the list goes on. And all these are presented in the most ordinary setting, inspired from real life. Thirdly, the protagonists are as varied as the themes they explore — a bamboo coracle, a dog, a young girl, and so on. And every one of them lets you in their psyche, allowing you to know more about them. It's a mild read, yes, but it speaks volumes for sure.

The poem, however, did let me down. After reading the short stories, j was expecting a lot more from the poem too. However, it turned out to be a messy conclusion of ideas and emotions. The verse is crude, and it needs some patchwork to be a lot more better.

Yet, I believe, the book deserves much appreciation for venturing into allegories in a time when bookshops are only dotted with thrillers, fantasy, YA, and romance novels. It is indeed a great initiative by the budding author for coming up with such a good concept in her first work itself. I convey my best wishes to the author for her future endeavours.
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138 reviews597 followers
May 29, 2019
Non-living objects or inanimate things can be our best teachers. In our daily lives, we are so busy with all the race among all the moving things (including human being) going on around us, we rarely see what a simple coracle, our dreams, a flower or broken crayons can teach us. However, this book has brought many such things to life.
Still Loved, Still Missed! Is a collection of 14 short stories and a poem. The book has brought many inanimate things to life and teaches us morals through the stories of these things or objects. Not only this, it also touches upon some stories that make you question your love, your emotions and your perception.
The title of the book is the name of one of the short stories in the book. The title could have been chosen to be a better one, a more thoughtful story among the other 14. The look of the cover is as subtle as it’s content, very elegant and soulful yet simple.
The language is tough. When I say tough, I don’t mean that the words used are tough or it is tough to read. I mean to say that each story carries a message, a deep meaning to be deciphered and that can be tough for a few of you. You can read the book in two ways - like a bedtime storybook, not trying to get anything out of it except some good reading and smiles, or, it can be read as a book that gives you moral lessons at the end. The moral lessons, however, are tough to decipher.
The concept of the book is thoughtful. I can see the observational skills along with the creative quotient of the author in the content of this book. However, though the concept is amazing, the creativity in the writing was lacking and a lot more improvement can be done on that part.
It was a 50-50 book for me. I loves some stories, I loved the concept, but some stories lacked grounding and a firm base. However, in the end, I would recommend this book to people who want loved the bedtime stories as kids because this book is a collection of bedtime stories for adults.
5 reviews
March 16, 2019
With a beautiful collection of 15 short stories, Mridula is here to conquer hearts though her theme is more on souls. This first book stands out and we can expect many more such excellent books from this talented author
I read 15 heartwarming and quite clever and wonderful stories.
The author has cleverly entered into the mind of the reader, providing ample ammunition for fulfilling individual imagination.
With such clever styling, the book is ideal for the young readers, the grown ups and even older adults. With such beautiful description of nature’s gifts particularly those of flowers and pets, of love and marriage, one could say that its more for the women but for that the men have to be less romantic. The book is for all and very beautiful at that.
There is a story on nature’s law ‘everyone has a ‘destined role’. Another one is on passion, adventure and triumph even in tragedy.
Personal relationship and departure are finely covered. Sometimes stories are told by animals and things like a coracle
Once it was a word casually uttered by a stranger that gives out as to who was treating a kitten as baby. That’s too clever.
Then there is one story which I am still struggling to fully comprehend. It is a beautiful story but I don’t know why the test failed. Of course its is aptly titled ‘The Passing’.
Mridula’s skills are clearly demonstrated in the wonderful descriptions of casual items around the main story lines. For example ‘She could see earthworm castings everywhere, which h seemed like chocolate pastry’.
The title story is about a coracle and coracle is dear to me as I see fishing on it everyday from my balcony. That story with the book’s title is simply brilliant.
This is a beautiful book to read.
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46 reviews4 followers
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May 30, 2019
Title : Still Loved...Still Missed
Author : Mridula
No of Pages : 78
Genre : Fiction
Publisher : NotionPress
Stars : 2.5/5

Still Loved...Still Missed is a collection of 14 short stories and a poem. The stories dealt with hunger issues, undying love, grief, dreams, mystery, death, illusions, etc.
Amongst the 14 short stories, the ones which I liked were The Sepal, Hunger and Bluebells in the Woods.
The Sepal : This story gives a lesson that one day people will forget their mentors when they are on their own. We become so blind after achieving success that we often forget the ones who were by our side, guiding and nurturing us when we were nothing.

The Hunger : This story tells us that, during the times of severe difficulties how a living being can turn into a monster in order to satiate its needs.

Bluebells in the Woods : This story is about a girl whose Grandma leaves her forever with a promise to be there for her whenever she missed her. Her Grandma used to narrate fairy tales to her which made her believe in the fantasies, but people around her never did and considered her absurd and weird. One fine day, she hears her Grandma’s voice, who has come to keep her word.

Apart from these 3 stories I didn’t really enjoy reading other stories. The author’s effort is really good and her metaphorical style of writing is a cherry on the cake. Though I felt that she could have written more beautiful stories because her style of writing is really convincing, creative as well as simple at the same time. It’s a good book for beginners as the stories are very short and could be read in just one sitting.
Author 1 book3 followers
June 23, 2019
Still Loved, Still Missed

Mridula

Publishers: NOTION PRESS

"“Still loved...Still missed! The myriad hues of souls” is a collection of 14 short stories and a poem. These stories span characters and emotional states with canny details that touch the depths of your soul. Picturing the complexities of love, misery and mystery, the stories try to gnaw your heart like never before.
What does a flower teach us we often fail to see?
“The belly is an ungrateful wretch.” Is it true?
Once Tasha obtains a treasure in her garden, what happens next?
Ever wondered about the sparseness and illusions in life?
Does death put an end to true love?
Have all the ascetics won over their emotions?
With the power of simple language, this book transports the readers to a world scarcely thought of in our bustling lives. The allegories maintain an intense rhythm of life prompting the readers to perceive things from a unique angle.
“A whole bookful to make you think, cry, think again and move on.” "

My review:

A thought provoking tale of emotions, this book consists of short stories and a poem.

The cover made me read this book as soon as I came across the same.

Language used is subtle and easily understandable.

Title is really good and appropriate.

Each story teaches us a life learning lesson.

Every story is beautifully written with every sense of detailing done.

One minor issue while reading this book is that, it needs another round of editing.

Otherwise, this one is a must read.



Recommended for:

· Short story lovers

· Who like reading something which holds a deep meaning with it.



My ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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