"People decide what you're like before they even get to know you. They think they know all about you. Except you're never who they think you are."
"People decide what you're like before they even get to know you. They think they know all about you. Except you're never who they think you are."
Seriously, I didn't know I would be reading a story so deep and gloomy like this one. I thought it was just a common YA with a little touch of mystery in it. Really, I myself forgot how I came up with such supposition. In fact, it's not a YA. Not pure YA, at least. It's the story about a family. A fragile one. It happened in 1977, and that just added to my bad. It's a historical fiction as well!!!
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This book described how Chinese people were treated back then. Though they weren't physically tortured, but I could feel that all those prejudice, curiosity and negativity could be devastating for some people, like what happened to James Lee. And how being a woman could limit yourself in pursuing your dream to become a doctor. Everybody underestimated your capability. Like how they had overlooked Marilyn's.
James and Marilyn. Two people of different race decided to tie the knot. Not knowing how their unfulfilled dreams and traumatic childhood would affect their family in the near future. Until one day their most beloved daughter were missing and found dead. And it led to both moment of revealing and healing of this family.
This book is a real page-turner for me. Lydia's death did make me so curious. Was it a suicide or something else. It's full of narration but I found it enjoyable to read. The time setting was made between the past and the present. And there I was shown how's the surrounding affected one's personality. One thing I found a bit disappointing was the truth about Jack. I just hated it, that's all....more
I always like books about suicide. Not that I want to do it, but somehow I've always drawn to it. I'm always curious what's in their minds, what they'I always like books about suicide. Not that I want to do it, but somehow I've always drawn to it. I'm always curious what's in their minds, what they've been through that the suicidal thoughts occurred to them. Is it merely their personality or the social pressure is away too heavy for them to bear? Until I found the best reason to this question in this book:
"You don’t know what went on in the rest of my life. At home. Even at school. You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything . . . affects everything."
So this book is mainly about losing trust in others. I think this is the worst moment in one's life. And this is exactly what happened to Hannah Baker.
On the early tapes, I found Hannah was pretty annoying and whining. As if her death wasn't enough to shock people who knew her, she also revealed petty bad things other have been done to her. It was so sarcastic and kinda childish to me. Where was her gut when she was alive? Do you need to die first before you can stand up for yourself? Well, I'm being sarcastic too. Sorry. But that was my first impression about Hannah's story on the early tapes. After that, it was different. Really different. Hannah was still sarcastic as before, sometimes, but the things she told started to get more harrowing and heart-rending. I was so shocked and disturbed when I read the part when she was at the party with Clay, and the next tapes, too. What a life Hannah's been through. Finishing this book really got me like:
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I also adore the connection Asher built between the characters. Just amazing. It's like connecting the dots and in the end you'll find that everything really affects everything. You really should read this book. It's great. ...more
This book was pretty much a page turner but the story itself was a mediocre. The friendship was more interesting than the romance. And since I didn't This book was pretty much a page turner but the story itself was a mediocre. The friendship was more interesting than the romance. And since I didn't know about Zoella until I read this book, I guess I could understand why Penny was totally in the dark about the Brooklyn Boy she dated.
Novel ini berkisah tentang seorang blogger anonim bernama Penny dan Girl Online adalah nama penanya. Isi blognya seputar kecemasan yang biasa dihadapi cewek remaja, mulai dari urusan penampilan sampai urusan cinta. Ketimbang romancenya, aku malah lebih suka mengikuti kisah persahabatan Penny dan Elliot. Padahal kalau dipikir-pikir, Noah itu cowok yang keren. Udah jago main musik, ganteng pula. Tapi entah kenapa kisah romancenya dengan Penny seperti dibuat-buat demi terlihat romantis tapi nyatanya gagal. Yang ada malah garing. Twist yang terkait Noah pun menurutku agak sulit diterima akal meski mungkin aja itu terjadi.
Hal bagus soal novel ini adalah settingnya yang kuat dan gaya bahasanya yang ringan dan mengalir jadi nggak berasa beban bacanya. Meski sederhana, kisahnya tetap asyik untuk diikuti. Awal-awal sih agak kaku tapi setelah itu lumayan. Novel ini juga mencoba menyajikan konflik yang berkaitan dengan cyberbullying, di mana sekarang lagi marak terjadi di Indonesia tercinta ini. Pesan-pesan yang disampaikan Penny di akhir cerita sangat wajib dipraktekan. Ingat, guys, jempolmu harimaumu.
Btw, awalnya aku kagum dengan bakat menulis yang dimiliki Zoella. Tapi pas tahu kisahnya dari YouTube, duh, aku sangat menyayangkan keputusannya. Yah, setidaknya itu menunjukkan kalau Zoella bukan seorang manusia di mana segala bakat yang amazing menumpuk dalam dirinya. Tuhan tahu manusia itu mudah iri. Jadi harus dibagi-bagi dong biar adil. Iya kan? Haha.
If I was Your Girl is my second book that deals with transgender theme. My first one is Lily and Dunkin. So, reading this book is like reading Lily'sIf I was Your Girl is my second book that deals with transgender theme. My first one is Lily and Dunkin. So, reading this book is like reading Lily's transgender life only she's more grown up and her name here is Amanda. Both Lily and Amanda got bullied at school. They also has a forbearing and understanding mother but an intolerant father.
What's new from this book for me is that now I got to see how a fully transgender people like Amanda socializes at high school where no one knows her story. How she had a crush on a boy like Grant and finally how they make love. Of course it's not easy for Amanda. She always says to take it slow when it's not the only reason.
At first, with the appearance of Chloe, Anna, Layla and the outsider Bee in Amanda's circle, I thought this story were going to be something like Mean Girls, with Amanda as Cady. Because she's so popular in her new school. Everybody wants to be like her. Every boy's dying to be her boyfriend. And as the homecoming party getting closer, suddenly I smelt the plot of Carrie, which was a bit similar, in fact. But after (view spoiler)[the spill of the "dark secrets" (hide spoiler)], what I thought before was completely wrong. This is no Mean Girls wanna be.
I like the story telling. It's told between the present and the past but not bewildering. The process of transgender is described in a light and uncomplicated way and it is a satisfactory for me. Through this book I found out that once a transgender surgery is done, one doesn't immediately become a woman. Like Amanda said:
"It was going to be hard. I was going to have to pretend to be a boy for a little while longer. No matter how much I tried to hide it, classmates and family members were going to notice my body change. The bullying would probably be worse than ever..."
I can't imagine if I were Andrew/Amanda. I don't think I would be as strong and brave as she is. Though she once tried to kill herself, she's still a brave girl. I'm so glad with the ending. It's kinda cliffhanger but I'm pretty sure how Grant would react after reading all Amanda's story. And just like Lily and Dunkin, there's a happy and heartwarming ending between Amanda and her father. The message is crystal clear:
“Anything, anyone, is better than a dead son.”
Oh, by the way, though there is a girl model as the cover of this book, but I have my own Amanda's in my mind and that person is:
OMG, udah lama banget nggak update bacaan di Goodreads. Yah, aku emang lagi jarang baca juga sih belakangan ini. Dan buku ini sebenarnya udah lama banOMG, udah lama banget nggak update bacaan di Goodreads. Yah, aku emang lagi jarang baca juga sih belakangan ini. Dan buku ini sebenarnya udah lama banget selesai kubaca tapi baru sekarang sempat kureview.
Nggak nyangka tulisannya akan sekecil itu, tapi aku suka sama font-nya. Gaya berceritanya agak-agak sulit dipahami tapi aku paham sih maksudnya. Ceritanya pun sebenarnya bagus dan terbilang dark. Makanya dibilang beda dengan genre teelit lain pada masanya. Yang aku suka, penulisnya suka spill judul film yang bikin aku pengen nonton, salah satunya film Elephant. Buat cewek seusia itu saat menulis buku ini, pengetahuan Farida terlihat lebih luas dari remaja seusianya. ...more
Just realized I read the first book in December, two years ago. The same month I started reading the second book. I forgot most of the story in the fiJust realized I read the first book in December, two years ago. The same month I started reading the second book. I forgot most of the story in the first book. I just know that I kinda loathed it. But I gave it 3 stars for the fabulous ending. So, compare to the first book, I liked the second more. Although I'm a bit confused how Lara Jean and Margot finally made up.
I appreciate how Jenny Han includes cyber bullying (cmiiw) in this second book as well as a few lesson about sex education and high school love. How old friends grow apart is also among great things from this book. Lara Jean has become more confident about mostly everything in her life, and so with Kitty. She's still my favorite character from this series. Can't wait to see her change in the third book. About the ending, it's pretty satisfying. I don't hate it but I don't really like it either. I guess it just shows how convincing Han's writing is. It did enthrall me.
Honestly, this book didn't provide me with lots of thrill or excitement I used to get when I read a mystery book. It's pretty boring to me. But then IHonestly, this book didn't provide me with lots of thrill or excitement I used to get when I read a mystery book. It's pretty boring to me. But then I realized that this book tried to describe the realness of a murder investigation. How the police or detectives jump from one investigation to another but none of them leads to anything matters to the case. What a hard work and that's just how the case could be so boring and frustrating, just exactly like what I felt when reading this book. Where is this going to? What if it's never gonna be revealed? But of course it's finally revealed. And I'm glad there's a dog (a wolfdog) in this book that made the reading process less boring. Still, I like this book and appreciate some information the author gave me about police investigation and especially about a wolfdog.
Penggambaran keadaan di Afghanistan sangat bagus. Jadi paham konflik apa yang terjadi di sana. Jangan sampai kondisi itu terjadi di negara Indonesia. Penggambaran keadaan di Afghanistan sangat bagus. Jadi paham konflik apa yang terjadi di sana. Jangan sampai kondisi itu terjadi di negara Indonesia. Nasib Amir dan Hassan benar-benar mengharukan. Amir memang mendapat kesempatan besar untuk menebus kesalahannya, tapi aku berharap mereka bisa bertemu meski sekali. ...more
These Dawson parents really ruins my kind of perfect memory of Dawson's Creek, lol. How could they be so cruel to their own daughter, Victori3,5 Stars
These Dawson parents really ruins my kind of perfect memory of Dawson's Creek, lol. How could they be so cruel to their own daughter, Victoria, and make fun of her like she's a family joke! It makes me think, what's the point of being born in some kind of rich family if you don't feel like you belong there, at all. I'm so happy at least her adorable sister, Gracie, always looks up to her, although at some point she started to become someone Victoria hated so much, her parents.
This novel really tells you the story from A to Z of Victoria's life. From where she was still a little girl until she's a grown up woman. Not so much dialogue at some parts, but I like how Danielle Steel tells the story. Not boring and it makes me laugh and sad when it's needed. Plus a little tell of homosexuality and a visit to a psychiatrist was a good combination for me. I also enjoyed Victoria's life journey. How she tried to start her new life away from her horrible parents, meeting new people, falling in love, and finally found someone really made for her. Happy ending, indeed, hehe.
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