young adult
Not Here to Stay by N.F. Afrina | Book Review
5.02.2025

BLURB: Sarah Amani is a Worldsmith. At eighteen, she accidentally conjured a mythical world she called Lagenda from her mind with the help of a past lover, Malik.
Five years had passed and she was on a straight path to healing and moving on. She made sure nobody could enter Lagenda again and only allowed people to come in as wanderers by giving them petals as tickets. It was her way of ensuring that Lagenda remained hers without destroying it. Just when she thought she could leave her past, she was invited back into the world with a note saying "You know what to do. -M".
She had to go back to Lagenda to make sure the person who sent her the note could not take the world from her. What Amani found is that Lagenda was not as abandoned as she thought it was. Determined to save her world from being exploited and smeared more than how it already is, she sets to burn every door and relic holding the world together. If she cannot keep Lagenda, nobody should. But it seemed that the person who sent her the note had other plans.
Together with her trusty dagger, Misya, her sister, a stubborn historian called Najmi and all the misfits she never dreamed of collaborating with, she would find herself propelling straight to her dark past and beloved world.
Erasers are nice and pretty. But in life, sometimes you have to take a pen and write over the things you want to fix. Just cross out the things you don't like and write a new string of words. There is no time to erase, not enough erasers in the world. No time for perfection in moving on, just action.
Author: N.F. Afrina
Genre: Young Adult, Magical Realism, Fiction
Goodreads rating: 3.87
Pages: 585
Publication: February 22nd 2022 by Whitecoat Group Sdn. Bhd
Goodreads rating: 3.87
Pages: 585
Publication: February 22nd 2022 by Whitecoat Group Sdn. Bhd
Review type: Non-spoilery
Blood Depiction, Death of a Father, Depression, Domestic Abuse, Forced Sex, Marital Rape, Mentions of Self-Harm, Miscarriage, Panic Attacks, Toxic Living Situations, Trauma
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I wrote a review right after I finished reading this book on Goodreads at 12.00AM, but it was not well thought out, so here I am rewriting a review for this book because this book was very meaningful for me to not be mentioned in my blog.
This book was a deeply emotional book that centres around the topics of healing, finding your way back to yourself and God, what closure really looks like, forgiveness and letting go. Interestingly, this book is also a magical realism, set in a world with people with knacks, and some even have the ability to create a whole other magical world. And for this book specifically, we have the main character, Amani, who created a world called Lagenda.
First and foremost, despite being a magical realism, this book is a fictional self-help book at its core. With so many touching lines about healing and the way some important topics, such as abuse, relationships and forgiveness with one's self were beautifully written, it was proven that N.F. Afrina has a way with words. There was so much power imbued in the way those important topics were written, but they are also written in metaphors and pretty lines, which enables the book to touch the souls of us readers, but also delicate enough to not break those who can relate to the main character's experiences. For me personally, these topics were well done and are the highlights of this book.
The beauty of this book was also its curse; it was not the plethora of metaphors that became a problem, but the disorganised way they were laid out. It's one thing to have niche writing, and it's one thing to have a disorganised one, to the point that the readers have problems in recognising where we were in the story, and understanding the world and its magic system. Personally, I think it's fine that the author spent so much time inserting metaphors here and there. I agree that those will beautify the book, but at the same time, the world-building felt a little bit abandoned. Whilst the magical part of this book blended so well with the real world, which is applaudable, the details on that magical part was not exactly well-written, which sucks for us fantasy lovers.
Other than that... despite this story being character-driven, the main character herself was not so lovable, not in the I-hate-her-so-much way but I-don't-know-her-well-to-love-her way, as everything was written more in 'told' way than 'shown'. Like, I loved Amani's journey towards healing, but not Amani herself, and it was a bit disappointing that we didn't get to learn more about side characters such as Misya, Najmi and the others. This book was written in Amani's POV with other characters' POVs here and there, but those other characters' POV were written in a very rushed way that made them feel very two-dimensional with no lovable or interesting qualities.
With that being said, if this is the first book out of a series, it is a promising one. Especially after reading the short story at the end, I definitely would buy the sequel. Additionally, having read the A/N saying this book was written when she was 18 explains the way this book was written. I am never going to say poorly written because I could never write a book with emotional depth like this book when I was 18. And this book was already this good without proofreading, are you kidding me? You can definitely see the author's growth in the short story, which is why I am so rooting for her and this world.
Recommended for people who love: magical realism, self-love, empowered women, religious stories
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern | Book Review
10.25.2021
BLURB: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart (Goodreads).
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Young Adult, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction
Goodreads rating: 4.03
Pages: 490
Publication: September 13th 2011 by Vintage Books, Random House
Goodreads rating: 4.03
Pages: 490
Publication: September 13th 2011 by Vintage Books, Random House
Source: Preloved Carousell
Book links: Book Depository | Amazon | Google Books
Reading format: Paperback
Book links: Book Depository | Amazon | Google Books
Reading format: Paperback
Review type: Non-spoilery
Blood, death, animal cruelty, animal death, mention of suicide, parental abuse, alcoholism, fire
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
OHHHHHH OH OH THIS BOOK IS SO BEAUTIFUL, THIS IS THE MOST BRILLIANT BOOK I'VE EVER READ, MY FAVOURITE MAGICAL REALISM BOOK EVER, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO READ IT. I'm speechless. I don't know what to say, my brain is gone. What I'm currently feeling is totally indescribable. It's not possible to write a review that does justice for this book.
This book is so hauntingly beautiful and magical in ways that have never been done by all the magics I've read about before. It's a fairytale with a haunting vibe I can never describe. The ending of this story made me feel the way I felt when I watched the final episode of The Haunting of Hill House; those bittersweet and other kinds of feeling. The prose was so beautiful but it didn't confuse me even a bit. I did sometimes get confused when the circus performances were described but none of them was truly un-understandable. Everything was magic in this book that I want to go to Le Cirque des Rêves just to witness the magic happen with my own eyes.
I was truly scared that I wasn't going to like this book at first-, because I felt like the first 100 pages were a bit slow-paced. However, as I was reading the book, I saw that the slow pace was needed for the world-building, in order to truly suck the readers into the story as it proceeded. I grew to not mind the pacing so much because the writing was so beautiful and I was so sucked in that it felt like I was dreaming as I watch these things happen in the book.
The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.
The characters were, needless to say, the most wonderful characters. Despite this book being not exactly character-driven (but compared to plot-driven, it's more character-driven), which is usually the main reason I like a book, all of the characters still find their way to be glued to my heart. I love all of them. They are all magical beings to me. Although there were so many characters, I wasn't confused with who's who at all, since each of the characters was characterized with unique qualities, so they were really easily distinguished. But the main character wasn't one of the characters, but the circus itself. Like I said, the story was magical and it was mainly because of how full of life the circus was (which is a weird thing to say about inanimate stuff). It captivated me and left me with this longing of wanting to be one of the lucky people who get to visit the place.
You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words.
I won't recommend this book to people who want a fast-paced read but I will recommend it to people who want to be captivated by beautiful prose with a detailed narrative, whimsical stories, who wants a dreamy read, fantastic world-building and a book that touches your soul.
Misfit in Love by S.K. Ali | Book Review
9.01.2021
BLURB: Janna Yusuf is so excited for the weekend: her brother Muhammad’s getting married, and she’s reuniting with her mom, whom she’s missed the whole summer.
And Nuah’s arriving for the weekend too. Sweet, constant Nuah. The last time she saw him, Janna wasn’t ready to reciprocate his feelings for her. But things are different now. She’s finished high school, ready for college…and ready for Nuah.
It’s time for Janna’s (carefully planned) summer of love to begin—starting right at the wedding.
But it wouldn’t be a wedding if everything went according to plan. Muhammad’s party choices aren’t in line with his fiancée’s taste at all, Janna’s dad is acting strange, and her mom is spending more time with an old friend (and maybe love interest?) than Janna. And Nuah’s treating her differently.
Just when things couldn’t get more complicated, two newcomers—the dreamy Haytham and brooding Layth—have Janna more confused than ever about what her misfit heart really wants.
Janna’s summer of love is turning out to be super crowded and painfully unpredictable (Goodreads).
Throughout our lives, pain visits us in turns. There isn't a human alive that hasn't been touched by pain. We all carry scars and wounds, but only some rise to the surface to be seen and commented on. Simply put, the story of pain is common to us all.
Author: S.K. Ali
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Goodreads rating: 4.00
Pages: 301
Publication: 2021 by Simon & Schuster
Goodreads rating: 4.00
Pages: 301
Publication: 2021 by Simon & Schuster
Review type: Non-spoilery
Racism, mentions of sexual assault, mention of loss
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I should just say that S.K. Ali is one of my favourite authors by now. She always manages to craft a lighthearted, fun story with some important discussions in her book and I will always love her for that. This is a sequel to her debut, Saints and Misfits which was one of my favourite books of all time. In this book, we enter Janna's story again; her brother, Muhammad is finally getting married and she might start her own love story after all! Compared to the first book, the topics in this book were much lighter and the vibe was much more fun. I highly anticipated this one, not just because I loved the first book but also because this sets around a wedding, AND I LOVE BOOKS ABOUT WEDDING because with weddings come chaotic fun and huge familial themes that will make me smile and laugh, and we've established that I love me some good laughings.
Let there be all kinds of love. And taking first steps. And changing my world.
Yes, romance is one of the subgenres of this book. Yes, it revolves around love. But it's so much more than that (which is always the case with S.K. Ali's books). I thought it was only going to be another cute halal romance as I saw in her second book, Love From A to Z. I would not say that this is a romantic book per se, but relationships and love were discussed, and in a much deeper way than I expected. We follow Janna as she tried to start 'something' with Nuah, which has been one of her closest friends and also gets to know dreamy Haytham and brooding Layth. Sounds like a love triangle drama, but I promise you, it wasn't. But there were a lot of other dramas, mainly familial, which was everything I wanted (seem diabolical but I WASN'T, OKAY).
Besides the drama in Janna's love life, she was also dealing with her mother finding love after divorce and her father's prejudice towards Nuah. This book also discusses racism, eurocentrism, prejudice across cultures in the Muslim community, which I don't personally see a lot.
I was a Nuah-Janna shipper since book 1, so it was so disheartening when I saw that ship slowly dissolve in this book. But it was also fun getting to know Layth and Haytham; at one point, I wasn't sure who I shipped Janna with😂 The Janna's love life plotline was very well-crafted, in my opinion. Some people argued that young teens that read this might get more confused about love while reading this, but I think that's the whole point. LOVE IS CONFUSING, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE A TEENAGER. You won't know what you want from the get-go. You might think you like someone, and then question your feelings for them after getting to know someone else. You might like someone and thought they also share the same feeling for you but you did not end up together. Love, lust, admiration are interchangeable especially in the teenage phase of one's life, and in Janna's case, she reached the perfect conclusion, which is summed up in the quote below:
But, I ask my stupid heart, do you actually like him in that way?No, I don't, my stupid heart answers. He's cute but we're on different wavelengths.Then why make a narrative, a love story, a world in your head? If your heart isn't officially ready to participate in one in real life?
I can relate, Janna, I can relate. And I'm sure a lot of teenagers and young adults can too. Why force a love story just for the sake of having a love story, if you're not actually ready?
NGL I had a little epiphany moment when I was reading those lines. |
As mentioned above, the discussion of prejudice across cultures in the Muslim community was constantly shown in the book. The most apparent one was, of course, the prejudice of one of Janna's family members towards her love interest, Nuah, which was a Black Muslim. The root of the prejudice across cultures, how common it actually is, the way people avoid the discussion of racism when it is done by the closest ones were discussed and described very nicely from conversations between Janna and Nuah, another separate discussion with her mom, and discussions with the other characters. It makes me think whether I can see a similar pattern happening in my own culture (yes it does, and I have to learn more about this to stop being blind).
To sum it up, I love this book so much, as much as I loved the first one although this one was much more fun for me due to the wedding setting. I cried a few times, laughed a lot, felt very seen, loved the ending and everything. I would give every star in the world to this book if I could.
Recommended for people who love: a story set around a wedding, self-discovery of a teenager trying to find love, accurate Muslim representation, a diverse set of characters with diverse representations of Muslims, heavy familiar theme and loveable characters.
Puteri Bunian Bulan oleh Aliff Mustafa | Ulasan Buku
11.07.2020
BLURB: Alam raya ini bakal menyaksikan perubahan keramat menjelang era pengakhiran akhir zaman. Maka satu per satu khalifah di Nusantara pun mula dibangkitkan. Bukan di alam nyata sahaja, malah di dunia sebelah sana juga.
Ini ialah kisah kelahiran seorang puteri yang suatu hari nanti bakal mengubah status hierarki beraja di seluruh alam. Lahirnya di sebuah pulau dari Pantai Timur Malaysia.
Ini juga kisah seorang putera yang sangat sayangkan maruah umat manusia sehingga sanggup menghancurkan segala-gala dengan bara apinya.
Dua manusia berdarah istimewa ini akan melaga keazaman mereka, kepercayaan mereka, tekad dan raksa kersani mereka demi satu matlamat agung untuk membebaskan tanah kelahiran mereka dari terus jahil di dalam permainan syaitan. Kesudahannya akan membuka mata semua makhluk bernyawa. Mereka ialah bukti hidup yang segala-galanya ada di sekeliling kita!
Kita masih manusia kerana kita mengharungi ujian. Manusia yang hidup tanpa ujian sama sahaja seperti mati, hati tidak akan terasah untuk menghargai. Apabila kita kehilangan sesuatu, kita akan sedar yang kita sayangkan sesuatu tu lebih daripada apa yang kita pernah tahu. Tapi untuk kau, dan juga aku, yang sudah lahir ke dunia ini bersama dengan tanggungjawab untuk menjaga Laila, harus lebih daripada itu. Kita ada amanah, dan kita sanggup mati kerananya.
Penulis: Aliff Mustafa
Genre: Fantasi, Mitologi Melayu
Rating Goodreads: 4.00
Pages: 401
Penerbitan: 2020 oleh Mahakarya (Imprin Patriots Publishing)
Sumber: Shopee
Format pembacaan: Paperback
Jenis Reviu: Tanpa spoiler
ulasan
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This review was long due, aku habis baca buku ni dalam dua minggu lepas tapi balik-balik tangguh taip reviu buku dan hujungnya, dek kesibukan awal semester, hari ini baru dapat aku ada motivasi dan masa sikit untuk post reviu ini. Sedikit disclaimer, ini reviu buku pertama aku tulis dalam Bahasa Melayu dan post di blog, jadi kalau bunyi janggal sikit, faham-fahamlah ya hehe.
Puteri Bunian Bulan mengisahkan seorang remaja perempuan, Laila Dahlia yang kehidupannya berubah 360 darjah pada malam ulang tahunnya yang ke-17. Buat pertama kalinya, Laila bertemu dengan makhluk ghaib selain hantu, yang mendedahkan kebenaran tentang identiti Laila dan kewujudan kerajaan ghaib yang ada kaitan dengan identiti Laila. Trope ni biasa nampak dalam novel-novel fantasi macam Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, basically majoriti novel fantasi yang aku pernah baca dan penggunaan trope ni dalam Puteri Bunian Bulan tidak kurang hebatnya dengan novel-novel fantasi Bahasa Inggeris yang aku pernah baca. Tambahan lagi sebab cerita ni berkisar tentang cerita mitologi Melayu dan aku sendiri membesar dengan cerita-cerita rakyat yang lebih kurang dengan tema buku ni, rasa macam lebih real dan dekat dengan diri aku sendiri haha. Yang lebih menarik, disebabkan latar masa untuk cerita ni. Bayangkan prosa tradisional yang biasa kita baca dalam KOMSAS Bahasa Melayu dulu-dulu tapi dalam dunia moden. A modern take of Malay traditional prose. Disebabkan aku masih kurang baca novel fantasi Melayu, ini ialah benda baru bagi aku jadi aku rasa cerita ni sangat unik dan menarik.
Gaya bahasa dan olahan cerita oleh penulis tip top. Cerita-cerita tentang makhluk ghaib di Alam Melayu selalunya ditulis dengan gaya naratif macam dalam prosa tradisional yang agak sukar untuk difahami dan perlukan masa dan fokus lebih untuk fahamkan ceritanya dan kenal satu-satu watak yang ada. Tapi, dalam Puteri Bunian Bulan, meskipun gaya penceritaannya bukanlah santai macam novel kontemporari yang selalu aku baca, tetap mudah difahami. Dan yang paling aku suka, mudah faham dan keindahan bahasa masih terserlah dalam penulisan. Teknik penceritaan buat aku tak boleh berhenti membaca dan cerita ni juga penuh dengan aksi, membuatkan aku dapat habiskan lebih separuh buku ini dalam masa sehari. World-building dan sistem magisnya pun mudah difahami, tak pening. Kesalahan tatabahasa dan ejaan yang aku dapat tangkap pun hanya sikit, itu pun bahagian belakang-belakang dan bukan kesalahan major. Aku boleh terima kesalahan sikit-sikit sebab faham yang syarikat yang menerbitkan buku ni bukan syarikat penerbitan yang besar. Malah patut dipuji sebab dengan syarikat kecil pun dapat terbitkan buku berkualiti macam ni, story, editing and writing-wise.
Dan sekarang sampai ke bahagian yang aku paling suka untuk tulis dalam semua reviu aku; tentang watak-watak buku ni. Watak utama buku ni ada dua, Laila Dahlia dan Putera Andika dan bagi aku, both of them are solid main characters. Laila is hands down, salah satu watak utama perempuan yang paling aku suka in my history of reading. Dia sangat bijak merancang strategi dan tak buat keputusan terburu-buru dalam situasi genting, dan ciri-ciri ni hanya kadang-kadang aku nampak dalam watak utama seumur Dahlia (I'm looking at you, Clary Fray). Dia juga ialah seorang yang amat baik, tinggi kepemimpinannya dan penyayang. Putera Andika, watak utama yang kedua, juga sama hebatnya dengan Laila. Walaupun dia lebih agresif dan bertindak lebih teburu-buru berbanding Laila dan nampak macam watak antagonis dalam buku ni, setelah mengenal sisi lain Andika, barulah nampak yang rupanya dia juga salah satu watak protagonis. Andika ada visinya yang tersendiri dan semangatnya untuk mencapai visi tersebut amatlah tinggi. Dia sanggup lakukan apa sahaja untuk capai visi tersebut dan jika Andika ialah watak jahat sebenar dalam cerita ni, dia patut digeruni. Dinamik Laila dan Andika amat menarik, tapi aku tak rasa dan nampak sangat interaksi antara mereka berdua. Chemistry itu sudah ada, it just need to be explored more. Aku ship Laila dan Andika tapi aku tak tahu nak ship both of them as a possible couple or friends haha. But I know that I'm rooting for them as co-leaders! Dengan sikap penyayang Laila dan tekad Andika, they can totally kick their enemies' butt.
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That Laila and Andika's fight scene reminded me to one of the fight scenes in Mr & Mrs Smith |
Watak-watak sampingan juga solid. Tema kekeluargaan, persahabatan dan percintaan semuanya ada tapi yang paling jelas aku nampak ialah tema persahabatan. Persahabatan antara Salmi dan Laila yang ternyata ada kisah di sebaliknya, persahabatan antara Laila dan Elfa, Laila dan Izma, semuanya ada keunikan sendiri dan aku teruja untuk lihat perkembangannya di novel sekuel.
Another bonus point for this book for how well the relationship between the fantasy element and religious element is done. Elemen fantasi dan keagamaan selalu diasingkan dalam cerita-cerita fantasi Barat sebab lebih selamat untuk tak kaitkan agama langsung dalam cerita fantasi, dan aku selalu tertanya-tanya macam mana pula dengan novel fantasi Melayu, sebab umum sedia maklum yang agama sememangnya sukar dipisahkan daripada mana-mana cerita Melayu, apa lagi cerita-cerita tentang makhluk ghaib. Jika diasingkan, akan terasa sangat ganjil tapi untuk kaitkan juga susah sebab isu agama sangat sensitif dan jika ada satu perkataan yang salah, satu buku boleh salah terus. Tapi buku ni menjawab persoalan aku dengan sangat baik sebab elemen fantasi dan keagamaan digabungkan dengan sangat baik dan tak bercanggah dengan apa yang aku tahu. Novel ni tetap fantasi yang sudah pastinya tak boleh percaya macam benda ni ialah nyata, tapi elemen agama digunakan dengan sangat baik.
Tabik dan tahniah kepada penulis dan semua yang terlibat, berjaya menghasilkan penulisan dan cerita yang unik, menarik dan berkualiti. Tak sabar untuk baca novel seterusnya!
3 months long hiatus reading update
9.05.2020

My first catch-up post would, of course, be my reading update. With the number of bookish posts I posted for the last few months, I may as well turn my lifestyle blog into a book blog. Nah I'm not gonna have a fixed niche, that would be too much pressure on my lol. It was an undoubtedly three slow reading months because of all the assignments and exams and classes we needed to cover but I managed to read 7 books, which are better than zero! I also managed to complete my Goodreads reading challenge (40 books this year) which is an accomplishment I look forward to each year. I actually thought of increasing my reading challenge to 50 books but since my semester starting again in October, I want to read books with no pressure at all with this one remaining month.
the 7 books I managed to finish during my hiatus:
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Remarks: After my medium feeling about My Plain Jane, I didn't have a high expectation for this one. In fact, I accepted the fact that My Lady Jane would be my favourite book out of the three because I know that the era that My Lady Jane sets in is my favourite era. So, the fact that I liked My Calamity Jane was actually surprising to me and I'm delighted that it surprised me!
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Remarks: Just like her previous book, this book was unapologetically Malaysian and it was really nice to see a Malaysian representation in Middle-Grade. It is a story about a girl who's only friend was a pelesit (a kind of ghost in Malay mythology) that she inherited from her witch grandmother and made a haunting read that gave me chills the whole time I was reading it. Accompanied by the author's beautiful writing and friendship as the main theme, this was a very heartwarming read for me. If you're interested in knowing more, here's my review of this book.
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐|⭐⭐⭐⭐|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Remarks: If last year was my Cassandra Clare year in terms of my bookish year, this year is definitely Rick Riordan's. After finishing Percy Jackson & the Olympian and Heroes of Olympus series, I just couldn't get enough of his stories in my system. I tried starting Trials of Apollo but I was tired of reading about Greek Mythology (watching Greek gods screw up, again and again, does get tiring after ten books) so I opted for The Kane Chronicles and guys, it was a very enjoyable read. I grow up reading stories of pharaohs so it was really interesting to see how Riordan make those stories his own.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Remarks: I was trying to diversify my read and this was the first book that came up in my recs and so without reading the synopsis and just looking at the author's name, I decided to read this book. IT WAS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. It was about a woman who sought validation through intimate relationships and the premise seemed very promising at first. I wanted to see how her character grows past that and to be honest, the ending didn't achieve what I wanted to see. It felt like the author had so many messages to include in this book but couldn't express everything she wanted with words (?).
My rating: ⭐⭐
Remarks: I was sent a digital review copy by the publisher a few years ago and I wasn't planning to read this book ever because I read the first one and the story wasn't for me. I love the world, I mean come on, multiple types of shapeshifters living in a town? That is an amazing idea. However, the story focused too much on the romance and the romance was so physical and too much alpha male-ish which isn't the type of romance that I like. I only read this one because I'm planning to finish all the eARCs I ever got lol.
books I'm currently reading:
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Progress (by September 1st 2020): 39%
Remarks: I'll be honest, I was expecting something The Book Thief-ish when I bought this book. Everyone kept saying that this book is disappointing but I'm stubborn and was curious to see what I think about this book. The first few 100 pages were boring, I admit. It gets better when you get to page 150 or so, at least for me it did. Penelope Dunbar's chapters were definitely my favourite, seeing those are the one with historical fiction elements.
Gantung by Nadia Khan
Progress (by September 1st 2020): 26%
Remarks: I seriously need to finish this book, I believe the last time I continued reading this was in May. I keep putting off to continue my read because the ghosts are creepy and I'm a chicken. This book was a real hype during my secondary school years and it deserves all the hype it gets. Even 26% in, I can see why everyone says it's good. It's so different compared to all other Malay books I read.
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
Progress (by September 1st 2020): 30%
Remarks: It's so fun seeing Apollo panicking because he's a mortal (maybe) now. Greek gods are annoying and it's nice to see one of them in a vulnerable state. I would love to see Zeus cursed into being a mortal or something because he's the most annoying but seeing Apollo that way is good enough.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Progress (by September 1st 2020): 66%
Remarks: By the time this post is up on the blog, I'm most probably going to be finished with this book already. It's nice to reread and see all the Easter eggs that are so obvious but I missed before and most of all, it's really nice to see the characters that I love so much after so long. I'm rereading this before continuing with Call Down the Hawk because I feel obligated to do so hahaha but I'm actually really invested with the story because I forgot like 30% of the story already.
reading plan for September:
○Finish a few more ARCs. I won't specify which books I want to because every time I list my TBR, I ended up reading the book like 2 years later due to my unknown internal issue.
○Finish rereading The Raven Cycle and start reading Call Down the Hawk.
○Finish all the books in my currently reading list on Goodreads.
○Get to 50 books (?).
How about you guys? Do you mind sharing your reading plan or TBR for September?
Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali | Book Review
5.30.2020
BLURB: There are three kinds of people in my world:
1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. They’re in your face so much, you can’t see them, like how you can’t see your nose.
2. Misfits, people who don’t belong. Like me—the way I don’t fit into Dad’s brand-new family or in the leftover one composed of Mom and my older brother, Mama’s-Boy-Muhammad. Also, there’s Jeremy and me. Misfits. Because although alliteratively speaking, Janna and Jeremy sound good together, we don’t go together. Same planet, different worlds. But sometimes worlds collide and beautiful things happen, right?
3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O’Connor’s stories. Like the monster at my mosque. People think he’s holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen him under the mask. Except me (Goodreads).
Some people have nice-looking husks with nothing inside. Some people have dried husks but there's fruit and even a nice kernel in there.
Author: S.K. Ali
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Goodreads rating: 3.80
Pages: 328
Publication: 2017 by Simon & Schuster
Goodreads rating: 3.80
Pages: 328
Publication: 2017 by Simon & Schuster
Reading format: Paperback
Review type: Non-spoilery
Sexual assault, death of a loved one, one aromisic comment (unchallenged)
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is one of those books that I already read a few times in the past few years, is one of my favourite books of all time, and yet haven't posted a single thing about it besides a mention in a reading update post. I remember reading this in 2017 literally a day before my English SPM paper and I never regretted doing so because the impact this book had on a teenage me was very huge. It affected my reading preferences and my view on a lot of things and that is why I'm posting the review of this book on my blog, although I can never do justice to this book.
There were so many important issues that were tackled in this book; sexual assault, the dismantling of the idea that "all Muslims must be perfect" and that someone who looks religious outwardly are all good inwardly and one's relationship with their faith and religion. I did not expect all of these. I was only expecting a simple cute romance with a Muslim representation, which this book was and also was not (that doesn't make sense but you'll get me if you read this).
In 2017, as a teenage Muslim girl myself, I relate a lot to Janna, the main character. She experienced the typical teen girl struggles such as body image and boys problems as well as other religion-related struggles such as her faith, relationship with the hijab and the Muslim community around her. Although we were not in the same surrounding, with a quite different upbringing, my struggles as a teenage girl were similar to her and that was why I had such a good experience reading this book the first time. However, having read this book another two times afterwards, I can say with absolute certainty that even an almost-adult me can also relate to her, especially when it comes to the religious stuff. Janna is one of those book characters I wish every teenager to know, especially Muslim girls like myself because I felt so seen when I read her story. She made bad decisions and was able to learn from them and be better. She grew from someone who was scared to tell people around her about what happened to her to this brave person that was able to face her assaulter and stand up for herself.
I also really loved the way it was discussed that someone who appears good and pious in front of the public is not necessarily good, hiding their misdoings behind the name religion, that not everyone is as perfect as they seem. It's very true to my experience. The way the sexual assault was handled in this book was also done very well, we could see how Janna slowly dealt with it and I also loved the way it was handled by the adults after the truth was discovered, showing Janna's massive support system.
There were also familial and friendship themes in the book, which was executed perfectly. This book featured an adorable brother-sister relationship between Janna and her brother, their relationship with their untypical Muslim father, and Janna's friendship with Tatyana and Mr Ram, which was non-Muslim as well as her blooming friendship with the other Muslims; Perfect Sarah, Sausun and Nuah. Each friendship brought out different lessons, which were all equally important and all of these characters had very important roles in Janna's character development as well as the flow of the storyline, which is hard to do in just 328 pages.
And I think by this very imperfect review, you can see that this is not the typical Muslim-girl-falls-in-love-with-a-cute-non-Muslim-boy story, but so much more than that.
Recommended for people who want: accurate representation of Muslim community, a relatable and fun-to-know main character, important and cute friendships, a coming-of-age Muslim realistic fiction AND MORE. I recommend it to everyone, basically.
It Sounded Better In My Head by Nina Kenwood | Book Review
5.17.2020
BLURB: From debut author, Nina Kenwood comes a tender, funny, and compulsively readable novel about first love and its confusions, and all of the awkwardness of teen romance.
When her parents announce their impending divorce, Natalie can’t understand why no one is fighting, or at least mildly upset. Then Zach and Lucy, her two best friends, hook up, leaving her feeling slightly miffed and decidedly awkward. She’d always imagined she would end up with Zach one day―in the version of her life that played out like a TV show, with just the right amount of banter, pining, and meaningful looks. Now everything has changed, and nothing is quite making sense. Until an unexpected romance comes along and shakes things up even further (Goodreads).
On a really cold, wet day, you can hide everything but a sliver of your face. It is a joy. A freedom that people who aren't anxious about their bodies cannot understand.
Author: Nina Kenwood
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary
Goodreads rating: 4.03
Pages: 272
Publication: April 7th 2020 by Flatiron Books
Source: Amazon Kindle
Reading Format: E-book
Standalone/Series: Standalone
Review type: Non-spoilery
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It Sounded Better In My Head is about an 18-year-old girl going on 19 who is waiting for the result of her university application, going through with her parent's divorce, just starting her first love story and in the same time, struggling with insecurity with her body, skin especially, after going through puberty. I’m bad at describing books but this book is exactly that. It’s that one phase in her life where everything happens all at once. This book is very short though, so everything wraps up really quickly.
By the sound of how I describe the book, it might seem just like all other contemporary books you’ve ever read. Or at least for me, I thought it was going to be another 3.5 stars YA contemporary book when I first read the synopsis. In some ways, it is just like all the other good contemporary books; the story happens in a very short span of time too so this book might not sound as special as the other good contemporary books everyone had read but there’s one thing that makes this book shine: how it highlights the severity of effects from going through puberty on a teenager. As someone who still has one foot in the teenage door myself, I really found myself in Natalie.
She had this seemingly unreasonable insecurity of her acne, acne scars and her body and although I know that so many other people are suffering/suffered this thing, it was nice to be in Natalie’s head and know that she also thought the very same things that I always think about. It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only person in the world being mentally scarred ‘just because of acne’. The author also pointed out the way that having acne in the past or now can mess up with your mind. I really appreciate the length this book discussed this stuff because I never see these issues being in other books I had read. Her insecurity aside, Natalie was a very likeable main character. She was smart and sassy, and the fact that she was socially weird made her more relatable.
She had this seemingly unreasonable insecurity of her acne, acne scars and her body and although I know that so many other people are suffering/suffered this thing, it was nice to be in Natalie’s head and know that she also thought the very same things that I always think about. It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only person in the world being mentally scarred ‘just because of acne’. The author also pointed out the way that having acne in the past or now can mess up with your mind. I really appreciate the length this book discussed this stuff because I never see these issues being in other books I had read. Her insecurity aside, Natalie was a very likeable main character. She was smart and sassy, and the fact that she was socially weird made her more relatable.
One more thing that I love the most about this book was how balanced the familial, friendship, love and self-discovery themes were. All these themes were exactly the same percentage, there wasn’t really a main centre because the book discussed all the themes in the same amount and it’s rare to see this kind of balance in YA contemporary, especially being this short. Something always overshadows something but nothing overshadows anything in this book.
Maybe in another circumstance, I would say that this book was very mediocre and rate it 3.5 minimum or 4 stars maximum but for how much I enjoyed this book and the amount of relatable-ness, I would feel guilty if I give it less than 5 stars. This book is very simple but very unique too and I think that it’s important for all teenagers to read this. I would put this book up there with The Perks of Being a Wallflower in terms of the importance of this book for teenagers.
If I'm Being Honest by Austin Siegemund-Broka & Emily Wibberley | Book Review
4.21.2020
High school senior Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: bitch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school—she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her cutting and brutal honesty. So when she puts her foot in her mouth in front of her crush, Andrew, she fears she may have lost him for good.
In an attempt to win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Katherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. First, she’ll have to make amends with those she’s wronged, which leads her to Brendan, the guy she labelled with an unfortunate nickname back in the sixth grade. At first, Brendan isn’t all that receptive to Cameron’s ploy. But slowly, he warms up to her when they connect over the computer game he’s developing. Now if only Andrew would notice…
But the closer Cameron gets to Brendan, the more she sees he appreciates her personality—honesty and all—and wonders if she’s compromising who she is for the guy she doesn’t even want.
You know, being yourself isn't permission to be a terrible person.
Author: Austin Siegemund-Broka & Emily Wibberley
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 384
Goodreads rating: 4.02
Publication: April 23rd 2019 by Penguin
Source: Google Play Books
Reading format: E-book
Standalone/Series: Standalone
Review type: Non-spoilery
review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So I read Always Never Yours by the same authors in 2018 and it instantly became one of my favourite contemporary books so when this book came out, the excitement was an understatement. I got it as soon as it came out and started reading it and even from the first chapter, I could see that the main character wasn't supposed to be likeable because I totally hated her. At first, I thought that okay, there's no way this character has no depth right? There must be a reason she's being so mean to people. However, I hated her so much that I stopped reading the book altogether. In addition to my hatred, this book makes a lot of reference to Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and I know absolutely nothing about that play so I planned to read the play first before reading this book.
The plan was a failure. Fast forward to April 2020, I still haven't read the play or even the synopsis of the play and haven't touched the book ever since that last time. OWLs Readathon hosted by @book_roast changed that for me. For the Herbology Exam prompt, I was supposed to read a book with a title that starts with the letter 'I'. Suddenly, this book shone so brightly on my e-reader library and I picked it for my OWL readathon. No regret, because I love love love this book!
It's easy to misjudge this story as a whole just by reading the synopsis and the introduction to the character. A mean girl trying to change for the better is an okay premise but 'A mean girl trying to change for better FOR THE BOY THAT SHE LIKES' IS ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS. Reading this book, I saw that I was wrong to judge the story just by what it is described on the surface because this story is just so much more than just a mean girl trying to change to get the boy she likes. It was her trying to be kinder to people and in the process, simultaneously learning to be kinder to herself.
Cameron might be unlikeable at first but as I read her in the process of her 'taming' herself, I learned a few things from her too. Cameron wasn't perfect but she was persistent, intelligent and honest which are my favourite traits of her. She was brave, never beats around the bush and always gets straight to the point. Her unflinchingly honest personality might make her look like she was being mean on purpose but as soon as she learned to be more sensitive about how her words might affect people, that previously annoying trait became her best. I really didn't see how I could ever like her but I end up really liking her in the end.
The friendship aspect of this book was also really wonderful, I love seeing the formation of a new friendship between the main character and her former enemy-kind-of and predicting as well as seeing how this affects her previous existing friendship. It was interesting to see how her changes affect her relationship with those around her; not just her friends but also with her family.
More than others, I really appreciate Cameron's self-discovery journey on how significant forgiveness is in order to not just improve herself but also in mending the bonds between her and people around her which opens up a lot of many positive possibilities in her future. It wasn't just forgiveness from other people that was highlighted in the book, this book shows that having the courage to forgive the people who hurt you and forgiving yourself are just as important.
Forgiveness is the release that washes the poison from my veins, the anger and envy I could never get rid of no matter how often I apologized. It's impossibly, beautifully easy.
I love that this book, despite being a YA contemporary romance, didn't really focus heavily on the romance and focuses more on the character's growth. Talking about the romance aspect, I'm totally living for it! I was happy that it wasn't insta-love. It's more to enemy-friends-lover trope which I absolutely adore. I love how both Cameron and Brendan just love each other for who they are and push each other to chase their dreams despite the expectation from their family or their own self-doubt.
Last but not least, the authors' take on Katherine was interesting. Katherine was initially introduced as a mean maiden who no one wants to marry because of her attitude which in the end 360° changed after she got married to this one man who claimed he abused her because he just wanted her to change, in the name of love.
Katherine’s not the villain of the play. It’s the people trying to change her.
I thought of giving this book 4 stars because of the problem I had when I first started reading it and what kind of contemporary romances get solid 5 stars, right, but this is my first really great YA contemporary read of the year and it does contain everything that I expect from a 5 stars YA contemporary book so I think it deserves those 5 stars.
You're gonna like this if you like: Mean Girls, 10 Things I Hate About You, non-insta-love trope, interesting family dynamic, new friendship, cute romance.
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