Thursday 27 December 2012

Heaven


Judul : Heaven
Penulis : Agnes Jessica
Tebal : 512 halaman
Penerbit : Pustaka Hermon

Fang mengira akan menjalani hidupnya sama seperti orang-orang lain, lahir, dewasa, menikah, punya anak dan meninggal. Mungkin akan sama persis seperti ibunya, yang miskin, lelah, menderita dan tua sebelum waktunya. Tapi ia tidak mau.

Ketika ia lari dari pria yang tidak dicintainya yang akan menikahinya, Fang tertabrak bus Transjakarta dan meninggal dunia. Mati dan tiba di surga? Ternyata belum waktunya. Ia harus kembali ke bumi untuk melanjutkan hidupnya. Tapi sebuah kekacauan yang terjadi mengubah seluruh hidupnya. Mendadak ia menjadi buronan nomor satu seantero langit karena harus dibuat lupa akan apa yang telah dilihatnya di surga. Demi mengejar cinta dan pertanyaannya tentang hidup ini, Fang berusaha membawa ingatannya itu selama mungkin untuk menyibak rahasia besar yang ingin diketahui semua orang di jagad raya, yang menyangkut masa depan seluruh umat manusia di bumi.

Kesan:
Creepy. Itulah pendapat saya tentang buku ini. Saya baca buku ini secepat mungkin supaya selesai dan nggak menggantung di tengah-tengah. Soalnya ada adegan pembunuhan dan pelakunya memiliki julukan "Black Death". Saya harus tahu siapa pembunuh misterius itu karena kalau nggak, dijamin saya nggak bakal bisa tidur. 

Seperti judulnya, kisah ini mengungkit-ungkit soal surga. Ada beberapa kesaksian yang pernah saya dengar dari orang-orang yang tidur dan rohnya pergi menjelajah ke surga. Setelah bangun, mereka menceritakan apa yang mereka lihat dan berharap orang di dunia tahu dan segera percaya dengan Tuhan. Nah, buku ini menceritakan orang-orang seperti itu, mereka yang pernah mati suri dan sempat terjebak sebentar di surga. Tokoh utamanya, Fang mengalami hal seperti itu dan dia tidak lupa dengan kejadian yang ia lihat di surga sehingga ia menjadi buronan malaikat yang menjaga rahasia kehidupan di surga. 

Terus-terang saya terkejut dengan teman cerita yang ditulis Agnes Jessica kali ini. Sangat fantasi. Penulis menggambarkan surga itu ada banyak jumlahnya dan nama-nama surga itu seperti nama planet. Kalau diartikan mungkin maksudnya surga tingkat ke-1, ke-2, ke-3, dst. Bagi orang-orang yang belum memenuhi syarat masuk ke surga tingkat tertinggi, roh mereka akan belajar tentang kebaikan di surga-surga cupu tersebut sebelum bereinkarnasi lagi ke bumi supaya bisa menjalankan kehidupan yang jauh lebih baik. 

Karena ini novel Agnes Jessica, pasti ada romansanya. Sang tokoh pria, Francis adalah manusia yang pernah tinggal di bumi dan meninggal. Ia masuk ke surga tingkat bawah dan berdiam di sana terus-menerus saking betahnya. Ia tidak mau kembali ke bumi untuk menjadi manusia dan memperbaiki nasibnya. Tapi kekacauan yang terjadi pada Fang membuat Francis harus turun ke bumi dan menjalankan misi pencarian "Black Death", seseorang yang telah memulai semua kekacauan itu. Kalau Francis berhasil, ia mungkin akan diberi kesempatan masuk ke surga yang tingkatnya lebih tinggi. 

Pencarian itu membawa Francis dan Fang keliling dunia untuk menemui orang-orang yang pernah mati suri dan ingat dengan apa yang dilihat mereka di surga. Namun satu demi satu, orang yang mereka temui mati terbunuh tanpa penjelasan. Siapakah dalang dari semua itu? Saya tidak mau spoiler, tapi sekadar untuk memberi tahu kenapa saya merasa buku ini creepy... "Black Death" itu ada hubungannya dengan iblis. Dan saya itu paling nggak tahan baca tema iblis, setan, dan pembunuhan. Tatut... (iya, saya tau kalau saya itu cupu banget... masa sama begituan takut? =.=)

Anyway, buku ini cukup seru. Terutama bagian misterinya. Agak bikin deg-degan juga dan parahnya saya baca di waktu malam. Duh!

4/5

Tuesday 25 December 2012

Fifty Shades of Grey


Title : Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1)
Writer : E. L. James
Number of Page : 514
Publisher : Vintage

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

In my opinion:
Since this book was originally made as a fan fiction of Twilight, I would compare a little bit about those two in this review. Although I think they are both different.

It was not surprising that I liked Fifty Shades more than Twilight. It was more real (vampire was just a myth) and the characters were more likable. Edward the perfect boring vampire vs Christian the complex and tortured billionaire. Bella was selfish, plain, boring, and weak. Ana, on the other hand, was quite strong, brave, responsible, and witty. And the most important: Ana cared about her father, her mother, and her friends. Bella? She left her father to be with Edward. She didn't even like her friends, nor care about them. =.= However, the repetitive and juvenile words in Ana's naratives made her look dumb and immature.

So, the major problem with this novel was the language. I always thought that English was such a beautiful language that all English books would be comfortable for my eyes to read. But, Fifty Shades was horrible. Very horrible. Too many repetitive words: Oh, my ; Oh, no ; Holy fuck ; Holy shit ; hot ; grey eyes ; mutter ; murmur ; crap... Please, stop it!!!!! I love Ana in the dialogs, but I hate her in the narratives. Since the story was told in the first POV, I really suffered reading this thick novel. 514 pages, for God's sake! The description was no better.

I would probably gave this book four stars out of five, if I ignore the stupid language. I really like damaged and broken characters. I was intrigued with Christian Grey. Honestly, at the beginning I felt like reading horror books. Christian was so creepy. Every words he said were so polite and polished, like he had used them many times to fool many women. He was a crazy control freak, controlling all aspects of Ana's life even in eating. He was always angry when Ana ate so little. Obsessive, possessive, intense, dominant, and sick! And when he showed Ana the Red Room of Pain; full with chains, whips, kinky toys, canes... I was shocked. How eerie was that? I didn't know how Ana could handle it with such a calm attitude. If it was me, I would have fainted.

At first, Ana was attracted to Christian because of his looks. It was normal, I meant who didn't like a handsome guy? It was the same as an admiration to beautiful arts. Furthermore, Ana still had common sense and told herself to forget Christian. But, the problem was Christian. He was a stalker and he showed up many times in front of Ana, gave her expensive gifts... Some more, Ana didn't have any relationship experiences before. She was so naive, she was easily fooled by Christian charms. Yes, we should blame Christian. He had ruined a young and respectably raised girl.

There was something weird about this novel. Ana had two sides in her brain. Subconscious and inner goddess. Subconscious was the kind and angelic side whereas inner goddess was the devilish and sexual-addict side which liked Christian very much. Both sides were depicted as Ana herself with strange expressions, for example: her inner goddess could do somersault and dance if it was happy, her subconscious would glare fiercely at her if it was angry. I hadn't found a single novel told in first POV which used this trick. Something new and quite unique. 

Continue...

Christian introduced Ana to the world of BDSM. He asked Ana to sign the relationship contract. Well, Ana should be angry with this. The contract was an insult. However, Ana had already loved Christian when she knew about his abnormal habits. Blinded with love, she agreed to try although she didn't sign the contract. (*rolling eyes) She wanted to change him, understand his terrible past, and heal his wounded soul. Also, although she knew that Christian was not a heart-and-flowers-type of guy, she asked him to try to be that guy. And he did try.

I enjoyed the emails shared between them. They were funny and Christian was seemed normal here. I really loved the childish and carefree sides of him. I also liked that Ana didn't always say "yes" to anything that Christian wanted. She challenged him all the time, made Christian frustrated. No wonder Christian slowly respected her and treated her like equal (except in the Red Room of Pain, of course).

I could not comment about the BDSM part. The only BDSM novel that I read was The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A. N. Roquelaure and I didn't like it. The BDSM pictured in Fifty Shades was not that cruel and I still considered it as normal. 

At the end, Ana left Christian because she couldn't accept the real sadistic part of him. I felt kinda sad for her. She wished too much for Christian, she loved him truly, but Christian was too fucked-up to endure. It was a very good decision, though. Hard, yes. Breaking her heart, yes. Yet, she should leave for her own sanity so that she wouldn't follow the dark path of Christian.

Nice story and complicated characters.

3/5

Sunday 23 December 2012

Tender Rebel


Judul : Tender Rebel (Malory Family #2)
Penulis : Johanna Lindsey
Tebal : 464 halaman
Penerbit : Dastanbooks
Lady Roslynn Chadwick harus segera menikah demi menyelamatkan diri dan warisan keluarganya dari tangan sepupunya yang tamak dan kejam. Oleh karena itu, ia pergi ke London untuk mencari suami. Tapi, Roslynn sudah bertekad tidak akan jatuh cinta pada pria tampan namun berkelakuan buruk yang digila-gilai kaum wanita, karena ia tahu itu sama saja dengan membiarkan hatinya hancur berkeping-keping. Dan semua kualitas itu ada dalam diri Anthony Malory. Tapi siapa sangka Roslynn justru “tertawan” pada pria itu, meskipun ia tahu bahwa Anthony adalah lelaki paling ditakuti sekaligus bujangan paling diminati para wanita di London.

Anthony Malory, yang bertekad akan membujang seumur hidup, tidak rela membiarkan Roslynn jatuh ke pelukan pria lain. Tapi hanya ada satu cara untuk mencegahnya, yaitu dengan menikahi Roslynn. Sanggupkah Roslynn mengatasi ketakutannya untuk mengikuti kata hatinya dengan menikahi Anthony? Dan sanggupkah Anthony mengambil risiko terikat dalam pernikahan demi mendapatkan wanita yang selalu mengisi pikirannya?

Kesan:
Saya baca buku ini karena penasaran sebenarnya. Banyak yang bilang kalau Johanna Lindsey itu bagus banget, terutama seri Malory Family. Kebetulan saya suka historical romance, jadi harus nyoba baca dong. 
Satu-satunya buku Johanna Lindsey yang pernah saya baca itu adalah Savage Thunder dan kesan buku itu buat saya biasa-biasa saja. Tadinya sudah nggak mau coba baca karangan dia lagi, tapi saya dikasih pinjam buku ini. Jadi, sudah pasti dibaca.

Mungkin penulis satu ini bukan tipe saya deh. Saya suka sih dengan Anthony dan Roslynn. Karakter mereka berkembang sangat kuat dan jelas. Dialog-dialognya juga lucu dan menarik. Chemistry-nya bagus banget malah. Dan saya jadi bingung. Kenapa saya nggak suka sama buku ini ya? Pokoknya ceritanya nggak bikin saya greget dan bahkan saya lupa sebagian besar jalan ceritanya. Bahkan James Malory yang katanya tokoh paling asyik dari keluarga Malory pun tidak bisa menarik minat saya sama sekali. Biasanya saya suka tokoh jahil model James, tapi saya malah menganggap dia agak aneh. Masih mending si Anthony jauh. Sikap kekanak-kanakannya selalu bikin saya ketawa. 

Jadi, saya hanya bisa menyimpulkan kalau gaya penceritaan penulis tidak cocok buat saya. Tidak jelek sih, hanya kurang berkesan. Yang berkesan cuma Anthony-nya saja yang memang sangat charming, hehe...
3/5

Thursday 20 December 2012

The Iron Knight


Title : The Iron Knight (The Iron Fey #4)
Writer : Julie Kagawa
Number of Page : 394
Publisher : Harlequin Teen

"I will always be your knight, Meghan Chase. And I swear, if there is a way for us to be together, I will find it. No matter how long it takes. If I have to chase your soul to the ends of eternity, I won't stop until I find you, I promise."

At the end of the previous book, Ash had made a promise to come back. Meghan was now an Iron Queen and he couldn't be beside her because iron meant death to him. If he wanted to live in the Iron Kingdom, he should find a way to become immune of that metal. And it meant he had to find a soul and become a human.

This book was about a journey, an adventure to search a soul. With Puck, Grimalkin, Wolf, and someone from his past, Ash traveled to the end of the world. The tests were hard and challenging. As a fairy, he was soulless and feeling-less. Now he had to deal with the ghost of his past and his cruel mistakes to prove that he deserved to get a soul. 

In my opinion:
I'm trying to take a breath now. This book is so intense and I haven't overcome the after-effect. I couldn't even write a longer synopsis because it was full of so many amazing parts that I don't want to spoil them all.

I like various fictions, but I mostly enjoy romance because it's light and I don't need to use my stressful brain to digest most of the dialogs. I also love fantasy because I'd like to know other people's imaginations. If I want to read romance, I can find a lot of romance books out there to satisfy my needs. But when I want to read fantasy, I rarely find books that match my taste. I had to read so many reviews before I dare to read the book. I don't want to waste time with annoying novels. What I want is a little bit of romance in the fantasy books that I read. A little, not much. The fantasy should be more emphasized and it would be good if the characters are also lovable. 

And I had found those books. The Hunger Games series, Eon series, The Iron King, The Iron Queen, and now this. The Iron Knight.

I could list many weaknesses of this novel. It was written in Ash's point of view and yet it felt like reading a depressed teenage girl. Not really that different with Meghan's voice actually. There was a love triangle, another girl. And it seemed that Ash was not so sure about his feeling toward Meghan, he had loved the other girl once and still loved her until now. Really, Ash? You wanted to become human for Meghan and now you had doubts just because a girl? The ending for that other girl was so typical, she was dead at the end so that Ash could live happily ever after with Meghan. Of course, it was not that simple. Ash would carry the burden throughout his lives and I knew very clearly that regret was a nasty thing that nobody wanted to carry on ever. 

However, those weaknesses were not important. The joy, the thrill, the excitement of the adventures were so amazing that I didn't see the bad sides anymore. The journey and the tests for getting a soul in this book were probably not something that creative or original. But, the description was. I could set all the places, creatures, situations in my head in 3D! (not exaggerating, really). I felt the fear, eeriness, anticipation, nervousness, and everything. It was so real like watching movies. 

I could know Ash better in this book. He was not perfect and unrealistic as in book one and two. He had his issues, his grief, his dilemma, and he--like many other people--had done so many mistakes. He wanted to change his past, he didn't want to be the cold and heartless faery who killed many innocents, and if only he could protect Ariella (her fiancee)... she would not die. I could not imagine what it was like to have so many regrets. Ash wanted to die just because of that, he couldn't bear facing the evils inside him. And I can't help myself to feel sympathy for him. So sad being him.

Had I told you how I like Puck and Grimalkin? Yes, I ranted about these two in the previous reviews. I thought that was enough. Simply put, Puck and Grimalkin are the best characters ever. And I didn't even miss Meghan. Ash, Puck, and Grimalkin were enough for me.

As always, the saddest thing is that I finished reading all books. *sigh

Some favorite funny scenes:

“I’m going to kill you one day,” I told him as we hurried after Grimalkin, back into the swampy marshland. It was not an idle threat.

Puck just laughed. “Yeah. You and everyone else, prince. Join the club.”
(I believe most people had been tricked or had faced Puck's pranks, he was that exasperating)

One of the challenge in the journey was to duel with the evil reflections inside them. Ash dueled with his cruel twin who knew his weaknesses, his moves, his thoughts. Puck and the others were also the same. But Grimalkin...

"Interesting." Grimalkin appeared in front of a mirror. " I do not know which is more annoying, the real Goodfellow or the reflection."

"Well, considering they are one and the same," said a second, identical Grimalkin, materializing next to the first, "we should be thankful that there will only one left when this is all over."

"Agreed. Two Goodfellows would be more than anyone in this world could take."

"I shudder to think of the implications."


"You are not so helping, Grimalkin!" the real Puck called, ducking beneath a savage head strike. "And we're not here to have tea with our evil doppelgรคngers! Shouldn't you two be trying to kill each other?"

The Grimalkins sniffed. "Please," they said at the same time.   (imagine the note and the expression when they said "please"... this becomes my favorite line now, gonna say this to annoy someone :p)

The Iron Fey Series:
1. The Iron King 
2. The Iron Daughter 
3. The Iron Queen 
4. The Iron Knight

5/5

Monday 17 December 2012

Earth


Judul : Earth
Penulis : Agnes Jessica
Tebal : 512 halaman
Penerbit : Pustaka Hermon

Meyvioline tinggal bersama nenek, kakek, dan ayahnya. Mereka semua hidup pas-pasan karena ayah Mey yang adalah pendeta menghabiskan banyak uang mereka untuk disumbangkan. Walaupun kesal, Mey tidak bisa berbuat apa-apa. Ia hanya bisa bekerja mencari uang dan mengurus rumah seperti yang seharusnya.

Mey menyukai salah satu personel band Garlic yang sangat terkenal di kalangan anak muda. Namanya Lintang. Ia sampai bela-belain datang ke konser band itu di Bandung hanya demi melihat Lintang. Ia bahkan berbohong pada ayahnya soal itu. Masalahnya, ayahnya terlalu mengekang dan memingitnya di rumah. Selain bekerja, ia tidak boleh ke mana-mana.

Tapi sialnya, ada kehebohan dalam konser itu yang membuat Mey terluka dan diselamatkan oleh personel lain band itu yang bernama Garnet. Kebetulan cowok kaya yang arogan itu sedang ngambek dengan anggota personel bandnya yang lain. 

Garnet pernah bertemu dengan Mey sebelumnya dalam keadaan yang sangat memalukan. Ia juga tahu kalau Mey punya rasa suka terhadap sepupunya, Lintang. Demi membalas kekesalannya pada Lintang, Garnet pun sengaja menyandera Mey di rumahnya sendiri. Namun ternyata hari itu supir keluarganya menyegel rumah itu untuk mengurung ayah dan ibu Garnet yang saling bermusuhan. Tujuannya agar kedua orang itu berbaikan. Tapi bukan hanya ayah dan ibunya, Garnet dan Mey juga ikut-ikutan terkurung.

Mereka bekerja sama menjebol rumah itu dari dalam. Pertengkaran dan adu mulut terus berlangsung sepanjang hari hingga membuat keempat orang itu kesal. Dan peristiwa itu mengubah segalanya. Sebuah rahasia masa lalu terungkap, rasa benci menguap, dan sebuah keluarga utuh kembali.

Kesan:
Saya selalu suka karya Agnes Jessica karena dia pengarang favorit saya. Saya sudah cocok dengan gaya bahasanya, dialognya yang menyenangkan, dan juga adegan-adegannya yang mengalir lancar.

Saya menikmati setengah bagian pertama buku ini. Terutama bagian saat keempat tokohnya terkurung dalam satu rumah. Adu mulutnya itu bener-bener bikin saya ketawa. Ampun, deh. Ngeselin tapi lucu. 

Kalau sudah bicara Agnes Jessica, dia pasti selalu menyisipkan sedikit romance di ceritanya. Sudah ketahuan dari awal kalau Mey bakal suka sama Garnet walaupun keduanya berantem melulu. Saya dapat merasakan chemistry mereka tapi perubahan perasaannya terlalu cepat menurut saya. Dan sayangnya semakin ke belakang ceritanya menurun drastis. Konflik sampingannya agak nyebelin sih, sangat tipikal sinetron. Anak tertukar =.= Padahal konflik itu sama sekali tidak perlu.

Seperti seri Pelangi, seri ini juga berbau rohani. Hanya saja tidak terlalu kental dan tidak terlalu mengganggu.

3/5

Saturday 15 December 2012

The Iron Queen


Title : The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey #3)
Writer : Julie Kagawa
Number of Page : 358 
Publisher : Harlequin Teen 

After being banished from Nevernever, Meghan and Ash could be together now in the human world. Meghan thought they could stay in her old house. However, they met iron feys in their journey and she realized that she could not went home, she could not endanger her family. She had to kill all iron feys first.

Meghan still had one thing to do before hunting the iron feys, she wanted to free her (human) father from Leanansidhe. But, she had to collect her memory first so that she could remember all about her father. 

Puck--who was also banished from Nevernever due to following Meghan--joined them in Leanansidhe's house. Grimalkin too. At that same time, Meghan learned that it was Puck who ordered Leanansidhe to kidnap her father because Queen Titania wanted to kill him. 

Meghan was angry. She ignored Puck and focused herself in combat training with Ash. But, the problem was she could not use her magic without feeling nauseous because in her blood there were both iron and summer magic. Both magics were not compatible to each other. And it made her frustrated. How did she kill iron feys if she could not even control her magic? 

Wanting to be with Ash forever, Meghan ask him to be her knight. Ash made an oath, gave up his true name, and swore to protect Meghan in any conditions. If she died, he would die too.

Meanwhile, the Iron Kingdom was expanding. The iron feys attacked the summer and winter faeries. Hopeless, Queen Mab and King Oberon decided to forgive the exiles. Meghan, Ash, and Puck would be accepted again in the world of faeries if they helped them killing the Iron King. Such a fake. King Oberon was Meghan's father and he forgave her just because he needed her help. 

The three of them said yes. With Grimalkin as their guide, they traveled to Iron Kingdom once again. But, the time was limited. The amulet that protected Ash, Puck, and Grimalkin from the iron magic would not last forever. Moreover, the Iron King had powerful armies storming toward the centre of Nevernever. Could Meghan do it? She was nothing and her magic was useless, yet she had to succeed or else all people that she loved would die.

In my opinion:
I am a sucker for fantasy genres. There. I said it. Thanks to The Hunger Games series, now I am addicted to young adult fantasies. Few years back, I would have said that I hate fantasy because it always left me with bitter and empty feeling. Everything is not real and it was just nothing. I prefer stories which could happen in real life. 

But now I like the empty and bitter ending. Okay, it is annoying. Those feelings would haunt me over and over, and I could not think anything other than the book. However, those stories are the ones that I would remember for a long time. 

The Iron Fey series would probably be my most favorite fantasy series for now, especially after I read this third book. I was practically lost to the faery world, enjoying the adventures with all the characters. What I enjoy the most from a book are the descriptions and characters. I like vivid imaginations and I like creating the whole scenes in my head. And with her words, Julie Kagawa brought me to the magical world of faeries and I fell in love with it. Definitely epic.

About the characters... well, I could not wish for lovable characters every time I read. Even characters made mistakes and stupid decisions. I didn't really like Meghan, but I didn't hate her too. She was normal and nothing special. Well, at least she was not whiny and weak. She made initiative to learn protecting herself. Prince Ash was also an ordinary character, not super kind like Edward Cullen or super rich and powerful like typical heroes in romance novels. He had his own problems, he could be angry or jealous or cruel and vengeful. What I liked most from him was his faithfulness although sometimes it made him look unreasonable and stupid. For faery who had lived thousand years, Ash was also quite childish. But, these ordinary characters were much much much better than super perfect characters. I hate perfect characters.

I had said in the previous book that I like Grimalkin. The cat was a constant funny, geniously annoying, and proud character. It was very amusing. I loved the banter between it and Puck. They both produced smart and funny dialogs throughout the book. Oh, of course. I loooooved Puck. Best character ever. Not love in fangirling mode. I wasn't Team Puck. Let Meghan be with Ash because Puck was just too cool for her. I would like to have a friend as funny and carefree as him. He was exasperating and childish, but he was very shockingly mature sometimes, much more suitable for the age than Ash.

“Jealousy isn't something we deal with well, but some of us have been around long enough to know when to let go, and what is most important. The happiness of my two best friends should be more important than some ancient feud."

Learning to let go from Puck! Most secondary male characters in young adult fantasies that I read were stupidly hoping that they could get the girl. Even when the girl said 'no' and obviously loved the other guy, they just could not let go and they let themselves being used as 'crying shoulder' (like Jacob in Twilight =.=).

Some favorite scenes : 

“Looks like nobody’s home,” Puck said, turning in a slow circle. “Hellooooooooo? Anybody here?”

“Be quiet, Goodfellow,” Ash growled, peering into the shadows with narrowed eyes. “We’re not alone.”

“Yeah? How do you figure that, prince? I don’t see anyone.”

“The cait sith has disappeared.”

“ … Crap.” (the coward Grimalkin always disappeared if there was a danger)


When Meghan was asking why Puck stupidly let himself  to be banished by the king just to follow her into the human world...

“Puck’s eyes gleamed, feral and menacing. “Oh, I don’t know, princess. Maybe it was because I was stupid enough to care about you. Maybe I actually thought I had a chance. Silly me, thinking that one little kiss meant anything to you.”  (cool answer, not sappy)

"You," Puck said, locking eyes with me, "are extremely difficult to track down, princess. Good thing Grimalkin came and found me. As usual, it looks like I have to rescue you and ice-boy from something. Again. This is starting to become a habit."

Ash rolled his eyes, though his attention didn't leave the fey surrounding us. "Stop yapping and get down here, Goodfellow."

"Goodfellow?" Glitch stared at Puck nervously. "Robin Goodfellow?"

"Oh, look at that, he's heard of me. My fame grows." Puck snorted and leaped off the roof. In midair, he became a giant black raven, who swooped toward us with a raucous cry before dropping into the circle as Puck in an explosion of feathers. "Ta-daaaaaaaaa."   (I can't imagine his expression when he said the last word)

Last, about the ending. It was supposedly sad ending, but Julie Kagawa changed her mind and write the fourth book. Well, I prefer the sad ending. It would show how difficult the choice and sacrifice that Meghan had to make; Ash or her duty. And it was more heartbreaking. But, I couldn't stand seeing Ash tortured like that. And of course, I could have one more chance to see my Puck and Grimalkin. :)

5/5

Friday 14 December 2012

123 Kutipan Film OK


Judul : 123 Kutipan Film OK
Penulis : Hikmat Darmawan
Tebal : 112 halaman
Penerbit : Plotpoint 

"All the love in the world can't be gone. All the need to be loved can't wrong."  --Happy Feet (2006, George Miller & Warren Coleman)
 
Buku ini adalah salah satu dari seri 123 yang adalah kumpulan tips praktis dan lucu. Isinya sangat ringan seperti komik, bahkan ada ilustrasi gambarnya. Dan sesuai dengan judulnya, isi buku ini adalah kalimat-kalimat yang ada di dalam film. Semuanya tidak saling berkaitan dan bisa dibaca secara acak. Ada yang berkesan, lucu, dan bahkan ada pula yang konyol. Ada yang berasal dari film kartun, film komedi romantis, film fantasi, dan ada juga yang dari film horor.

"Remember... hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."  --The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Frank Darabont)
 
"We're all worried; we're all in pain. That just comes with having eyes and having ears. But just remember one thing - it can't get any worse, it can only get better. High school is the bottom, being a teenager sucks, but that's the point, surviving it is the whole point. Quitting is not going to make you stronger, living will. So just hang on and hang in there."  --So Pump Up The Volume (1990, Allan Moyle)

Waktu saya dapat buku ini, saya langsung kaget begitu melihat tipisnya buku ini. Cuma 112 halaman. Covernya mencolok sekali karena warnanya hijau neon. Begitu saya buka sampulnya, ternyata kualitas kertasnya juga bagus. Saya langsung baca saat itu juga dan selesai dalam sekejap.

"Banyak sekali bagian dari hidup kita berhadapan dengan kutukan kita, kesialan kita. Bagaimana kita berhadapan dengan kartu yang nggak begitu bagus yang telah dibagikan pada kita. Apakah kutukan itu akan membuat kamu jadi monster, atau kamu bisa menjinakkannya entah bagaimana, atau kamu pasrah menerimanya serta pergi ke arah lain?"  --Wes Cravern (sutradara Nightmare on the Elm Street, Scream)

Buku ini cocok untuk dibaca bahkan oleh orang-orang yang tidak suka membaca karena buku ini tidak menyajikan banyak kata-kata, hurufnya besar-besar, dan gambarnya lebih besar lagi. Di bagian bawah setiap kutipan ada semacam meteran untuk mengukur seberapa penting kutipan itu untuk hidup kita. 

"Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up."  --The Karate Kid (2010, Harold Zwart)

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all."  --The Princess Diaries (2001, Garry Marshall)

Bacaan santai di waktu liburan... Saya cukup suka dengan variasi kutipan yang ada di buku ini. Dan terutama saya paling suka sama kutipan di bawah ini :

"Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become... habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become."

Catatan : Thanks buat Mas Tanzil atas kiriman buku ini :)

2/5

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Postcard from Neverland


Judul : Postcard from Neverland
Penulis : Rina Suryakusuma
Tebal : 280 halaman
Penerbit : Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Ami Siswoyo harus bekerja keras demi ibu dan adiknya setelah ayahnya meninggal. Ia yang putus kuliah dan hanya punya ijazah SMA cuma bisa mendapat kerjaan sebagai pelayan. Namun karena wajahnya yang cantik, ia terpaksa menerima pelecehan dari pelanggan-pelanggan pria. Sampai suatu hari ia tidak tahan dan menyiram air ke wajah seorang pelanggan. Jadilah, ia dipecat.

Diajak oleh sahabatnya, Ami pun melamar kerja di satu hotel yang baru akan dibuka. Tapi di situpun ia dilecehkan oleh manajer humas yang mewawancarainya. Untung saja, ada Joshua Leinard yang menolongnya.

Joshua adalah seorang duda bule beranak satu dengan usia 40 tahun. Ia meminta Ami untuk menjadi pembantu di rumahnya. Awalnya Ami menganggap Joshua sama saja dengan pria lain yang ingin tidur dengannya. Tapi ternyata bukan.

Perbedaan usia, status, dan budaya... Namun itu semua tidak mencegah Ami jatuh cinta pada Joshua. Tapi ia ingin menjadi setara dulu dengan pria itu sebelum mereka bisa bersama.

Kesan: 
Seperti biasa, karangan Rina Suryakusuma selalu tipis dan ringan untuk dibaca. Kebetulan saya baca ini di pesawat dan langsung selesai begitu sampai di Singapura.

Saya sudah membaca dua buku Rina, yaitu Lullaby dan Jejak Kenangan. Saya suka dengan kedua buku itu, terutama dengan ceritanya. Tapi saya jauh lebih suka dengan Postcard from Neverland ini walaupun ceritanya kurang detail dan penjelasanya terlalu terburu-buru. Ceritanya juga klise. Pembantu dan General Manager jatuh cinta. Tapi saya selalu suka cerita seperti itu. Apalagi saya suka dengan tokoh Ami yang tidak menyerah pada nasib dan terus berjuang. Bahkan ia mau bersusah-susah kuliah dan sukses demi bisa setara dengan Josh. Padahal dia bisa saja menikah dengan Josh dan tidak usah pusing-pusing lagi. Toh, si Josh kan kaya.

Yang agak mengganggu cuma bagian Dennis, anak Josh yang mengenal Ami karena pernah melihat gadis itu di restoran tempat Ami dilecehkan. Terlalu kebetulan. Dan agak geli sih waktu tahu kalau Dennis suka sama Ami juga. Ya, ampun. Papa sama anak seleranya sama. Lalu judulnya sepertinya tidak terlalu cocok. Postcard from Neverland adalah kumpulan postcard yang dikirim ayah Ami dan rasanya itu tidak berhubungan dengan apapun yang ada di dalam cerita, bahkan hanya disebutkan sambil lalu.

Dan nama tokoh cowoknya Josh. Aduh, itu nama favorit saya. Bahkan handphone pertama saya diberi nama itu. Hape saya yang sekarang sudah masuk ke edisi nomor tiga, jadi namanya Josh3. (saya tahu itu konyol, tapi jangan tertawa =.=) Tapi kenapa disamain sama Simon Cowell? Arrrggghhh... Langsung ilfil. (no offense buat penggemar Simon, hehe)

Saya akan menunggu karya Rina yang lain :)

3/5

Monday 10 December 2012

The Windflower


Judul : The Windflower
Penulis : Sharon & Tom Curtis
Tebal : 634 halaman
Penerbit : Gagasmedia

Merry Wilding dibesarkan bibinya dengan sangat ketat. Ia tidak pernah pergi ke mana-mana dan hanya diam melukis di rumahnya. Hari-harinya membosankan.

Suatu hari kakaknya datang dan memintanya untuk menjadi tukang sketsa wajah. Kakaknya bekerja dalam dunia militer dan sedang memburu penjahat. Merry pun setuju. Mereka berdua ditambah kedua temannya pergi ke bar dengan penyamaran demi bisa melihat wajah tersangka. 

Hanya saja Merry begitu sial karena hari itu kebetulan seorang bajak laut terkenal sedang berada di sana. Merry menarik perhatian adik tiri bajak laut itu yang bernama Devon Crandall. Mereka berkenalan dan sebuah ciuman pun terjadi.

Sejak saat itu, Merry yang polos dan naif tidak pernah lupa akan sosok Devon. Ia menganggap dirinya jatuh cinta pada sosok misterius itu. Ia berpikir kalau ia tidak mungkin bertemu Devon lagi. Tapi nasib berkata lain. Saat Merry dan bibinya pergi berlayar ke Inggris untuk mencari hidup baru, Merry diculik karena dikira wanita simpanan seorang bangsawan. Kebetulan si penculik membutuhkan bukti kejahatan bangsawan itu.

Dan ternyata penculik itu adalah orang suruhan Devon Crandall. Bayangkan betapa kagetnya Merry. Devon sendiri ternyata masih ingat dengan Merry karena gadis itu meninggalkan kesan yang besar bagi dirinya. Tapi Devon masih ragu dengan identitas Merry yang sebenarnya. Kenapa Merry bisa berada di kamar bangsawan yang diincarnya?

Antara tertarik dan benci... Devon tidak ingin jatuh cinta dengan wanita simpanan bangsawan yang adalah musuh bebuyutannya. Merry bingung dengan perasaan Devon yang sebenarnya. Ia juga bingung bagaimana ia bisa hidup terus di kapal bajak laut itu. Ia terjebak dan ingin pulang.

Di tengah konflik antara Inggris dan Amerika, Devon dan Merry tidak bisa menemukan kedamaian masing-masing. Apakah salah paham akan terus berlanjut atau rahasia mereka akan terungkap: bahwa Devon adalah seorang duke dan Merry adalah anak seorang bangsawan Amerika yang ternyata sudah dari awal ingin dijodohkan dengan Devon.

Kesan: 
Hal pertama yang terpikir di kepala saya saat melihat buku ini adalah ketebalannya. Romance dengan tebal 634 halaman. Saya jadi tertarik membaca karena buku tebal pasti banyak konfliknya. Dan kebetulan saya suka konflik. Selain itu, ada tiga pujian dari tiga pengarang terkenal di sampul bukunya. Johanna Lindsey, LaVyrle Spencer, dan Sandra Brown. Dua di antaranya adalah pengarang favorit saya.

Jadi, saya memutuskan untuk membaca. Halaman pertama masih oke, perkenalan dan deskripsinya boleh lah. Walaupun saya menemukan ketidaknyamanan dalam membaca edisi terjemahannya ini. Entah karena memang bahasa Indonesia-nya aneh atau memang pengarangnya menulis dengan bahasa yang tidak enak dibaca.

Saya terus membaca dan entah kenapa saya merasa bosan di bagian tengah. Memang penjelasan sejarah dan istilah-istilah barunya menarik tapi ceritanya terlalu berbelit-belit. Salah pahamnya terlalu banyak dan kebetulannya lebih banyak lagi. Bangsawan yang mensponsori pelayaran Merry dan bibinya ke Inggris adalah musuh Devon. Ternyata Merry ingin dijodohkan dengan Devon oleh bibinya yang ternyata mengenal nenek Devon. Kebetulan kakak Merry dan Devon mempunyai target penjahat yang sama.

Saya suka dengan awak kapal kakak tiri Devon. Mereka baik semua walaupun agak aneh sih. Seharusnya bajak laut kan awak kapalnya itu jahat dan kasar. Tapi mereka memperlakukan Merry dengan sangat baik. Yah, memang sih itu karena takut sama Devon. Tapi tetap saja aneh. Plotnya masuk akal namun terlalu lambat. Boleh dibilang petualangan Merry di kapal itu sangat datar. Lalu apa pentingnya Cat, kakak tiri Devon, dan awak-awak kapal lain? Mereka semua dijelaskan secara detail namun dialog semua tokoh itu tidak terlalu signifikan untuk cerita ini. Saat cerita mencapai klimaks, saya malah sudah kehilangan minat. Padahal Devon dan Merry adalah tokoh yang cukup menyenangkan.

Mungkin saya bukan tipe yang suka cerita di atas kapal kali ya. Selama ini saya tidak pernah tertarik membaca romance antara bajak laut dan seorang bangsawan. 

Untuk penggemar historical romance yang ingin membaca petualangan yang berbeda, buku ini pasti cocok. Pertemuan kedua tokoh utamanya tidak bertempat di pesta dansa seperti biasanya.

2/5

Friday 7 December 2012

The Iron Daughter


Title : The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2)
Writer : Julie Kagawa
Number of Page : 359
Publisher : Harlequin Teen

Prince Ash had followed Meghan to Iron Kingdom. Now it was her turn to complete the contract. Meghan had to accept her fate as a prisoner of The Winter Court.

At first, Meghan didn't complain. She thought, as long as Ash was near, she was safe and happy. But, she was wrong. Ash acted differently. He was cold and cruel, and he broke her heart.

The faery world, Nevernever was in danger. Although Meghan had killed the Iron King, the false king emerged and threatened to destroy the faery world. And nobody knew it, except Meghan. When iron feys came and killed the first prince, Meghan was suspected as the culprit. She was punished and freezed in the ice forever.

But, Ash came to save her. He explained to her about his bad behaviour. He couldn't show his love because love was forbidden in the world of faeries. The Winter Queen, Mab would kill Meghan if she knew that her son falling in love with Meghan. And that was heard by Ash's brother. They dueled. At the end, Ash killed his brother and ran away with Meghan.

Summer and Winter decided a war. King Oberon wanted her daughter (Meghan) back and Queen Mab believed that the Season Scepter was stolen by summer feys. The truth was the Scepter was stolen by iron feys.

Meghan had to steal the Scepter back for stopping the war. Ash wanted to do it himself and he left Meghan. 

Now Meghan could only ask help from Puck, Grimalkin, and the new character: Ironhorse, the member of resistance toward the false Iron King. Could she succeed?

In my opinion:
I liked the first book better than this. The plot was quite slow at the beginning and it bored me. I always expected this book would be full of action and adventures. That's why I didn't like the beginning. Meghan was quite whiny, it annoyed me. She thought only about Ash and cried because he ignored her. Oh, drama as always.

The real action started when Ash saved Meghan from freezing spells. And then, Ash told Meghan to go back to Summer Court. He said they couldn't be together and it was dangerous, bla bla bla. Okay, I also hated this part. Puck came out and declared his love when Meghan was heartbroken. Meghan tried to find comfort in Puck although it meant that she used Puck. Graooo... My poor Puck, I really love this guy and Meghan hurt him. But, I still accepted it because I understood her feeling. I meant Meghan was only 16 years old, how mature could she be? But, what annoyed me the most was when Ash felt angry seeing Puck hugged Meghan. He drove Meghan away and now he was jealous? He didn't have rights.

Okay, enough for babbling.

I still love the description. I seriously fall in love with Julie Kagawa's writing. Most of the time, I didn't care about the story and I just read the passages many times. Beautiful words, really. (Weird, I know)

The journey was interesting as always. I like Ironhorse, Grimalkin, and Puck. And also Leanansidhe, the Queen of Exiles. She kept calling people using the word "pet" and "darling", it was amusing. 

The ending... Ash threw away his status, kingdom, and his home so that he could be with Meghan. Maybe if I read this book when I was 15 years old, I would find it romantic. But, now I don't think so. I thought Ash didn't think about his responsibility as a Winter Prince. I knew that the Winter Queen was evil but she was still Ash's mother. It was just wrong leaving family that way. But, what do I know? Meghan also followed Ash, declared her love, and agreed to be banished forever from the Nevernever. Ckckckck... love is just that crazy, huh?

Anyway, I love the faery world... So, annoying characters didn't matter.

4/5

Monday 3 December 2012

Free Book Giveaway

Jadi, ini book giveaway pertama saya. Karena tanggal 26 November kemarin saya lulus (akhirnya), saya mau memberi buku-buku gratis.

Langsung saja ya.

Hadiahnya ditujukan untuk tiga pemenang, berupa:

1. Paket buku seharga IDR 150.000
    Bukunya boleh satu atau dua atau tiga atau berapapun asalkan tidak lebih dari jumlah di atas.
    Ongkos kirim saya yang tanggung.

2. Paket buku seharga IDR 50.000 + Buku Kafka on The Shore karya Haruki Murakami (edisi terjemahan)

3. Dua buku karya Ahmad Fuadi yang berjudul Negeri Lima Menara dan Ranah Tiga Warna

*) Buku nomor 2 dan 3 semuanya masih baru dan belum dibuka plastiknya.


Cara untuk mengikuti Book Giveaway ini adalah sebagai berikut:

1. Harus berdomisili di Indonesia

2. Tulis komentar di post ini. Tulis nama kamu, alamat email yang bisa dihubungi, dan jawab pertanyaan : Apa yang membuatmu menyukai dunia membaca?

3. Mem-follow blog ini

Saya akan mendaftar semua nama dan memilih pemenang dengan menggunakan random.org.


Book giveaway ini akan berlangsung dari tanggal 3 Desember 2012 s/d 8 Januari 2013. Pemenangnya akan diumumkan tanggal 9 Januari 2013.

Feel free to spread the words to your friends :)

*pendaftaran sudah ditutup