Review of Every Last Girl: A Journey to Educate India's Forgotten Daughters by Safeena Husain

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Rating: 5/5

I picked up Every Last Girl because I wanted to hear, in plain words, how one person built something that actually reached girls who had been left out of school. The book starts with Safeena Husain’s own story and then takes you straight into the villages and classrooms where the work happened.

What the book is like to read

Reading it felt like sitting with someone who has been in the field for years and is telling you what she saw, day after day. The writing mixes small, sharp moments with clear explanations of how the program worked. There are personal memories, tough moments, and also everyday victories. The tone is hopeful, but it does not sugarcoat the obstacles.

Stories from the field that stayed with me

The chapters that stayed longest in my head were the ones with the girls and families. Safeena writes about meeting parents who had never imagined their daughters going to school, about local volunteers who knocked on doors, and about the small steps that slowly changed minds. Those scenes made the scale of the work feel human and real.

The idea of the last girl — why it matters to me

The central idea is simple and powerful. It is not enough to enroll the easy cases. True change comes when we reach the most forgotten girl in every village. That focus on the very last child made the book feel urgent and moral, not just technical. It made me think about who we leave behind when we celebrate averages.

How Educate Girls grew, in the book’s telling

The book walks you through how a small local effort turned into a national movement. It explains the methods used on the ground: local volunteers, door-to-door outreach, and supporting schools so girls could actually stay and learn. The impact numbers mentioned in the book and accompanying excerpts show the scale the movement reached.

What I took away from it

After finishing the book I felt both uplifted and moved to pay attention. Safeena’s story reminded me that steady, patient work in communities can bring huge change. It also reminded me that listening to people on the ground and trusting local volunteers is not a add-on, it is the point.

Who I think should read this book

If you care about education, about girls, or about how social change actually happens, this book will speak to you. It is for anyone who wants to understand both the hard parts and the small, repeatable things that lead to real impact.

Review of Lost Secret-The Hidden Truth of Nalanda by Akash Pasricha

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Rating: 4.5/5

When I started Lost Secret: The Hidden Truth of Nalanda I was looking for a fast, intelligent thriller that uses Indian history as more than just a backdrop. It delivered that in spades. The book is by Akash Pasricha and is presented as a historical-espionage thriller that sends its lead into the old sites of India on a modern, dangerous chase.

The plot in my words

From the beginning I was pulled in: Kabir, an intelligence officer nursing a personal loss, goes to Rajgir hoping for quiet but quickly gets dragged into a conspiracy after a sniper attack, a strange inscription, and the murder of an archaeologist. The stakes grow from local mystery to something with global implications, as clues link ancient wootz steel to a lost energy technology that powerful people want to control. The plot moves you across real historical locations and keeps switching between research, chase, and tense confrontations.

Characters I connected with

Kabir felt real to me — he is flawed, tired, and driven in a believable way. Reeya, the historian who teams up with him, brings heart and smarts, and their partnership is the emotional anchor of the story. Secondary characters — from mercenaries to shadowy agency types — do their jobs well and keep the danger constant, though a couple of them stay more functional than deeply explored. This never ruined the story for me, but I did notice it while turning pages.

The history and research part

What I liked most is how Pasricha uses real historical elements without turning the book into a lecture. The talk of Nalanda, archaeological finds, and the legendary wootz steel feel researched and woven into the mystery, not tacked on. The speculative jump from ancient metallurgy to a modern energy secret is handled as fiction, but it’s done with enough grounding that it feels plausible within the book’s world. If you enjoy thrillers that make you curious about history, this part will satisfy you.

Writing style and pacing

The language is clean and direct. Scenes shift briskly, which kept me reading long after I planned to stop. There are quieter moments that let the characters breathe, and then the action snaps back in. The author balances explanation and momentum well, so readers who like both research and action should be happy.

What I loved most

I loved the sense of place — the ancient sites and the way the book makes them feel alive in the present. I also enjoyed the blend of personal grief and global conspiracy; it made Kabir’s choices feel meaningful instead of just plot-driven. The pacing and the small reveals kept me guessing without feeling cheated.

A very small critique

If I have to pick one tiny thing, it would be that a couple of side characters could have used a touch more depth. Sometimes they read as engines to push the plot instead of people I wanted to know more about. That is a minor point and did not spoil my overall enjoyment.

Final thoughts

All in all, this book gave me a satisfying mix of history, smart puzzles, and tense thriller beats. It reads like a modern Indian thriller that knows its history and uses it creatively, and I found it both entertaining and thoughtful. If you like historical mysteries that care about archaeology as much as they do about a fast chase, this one is worth your time.