Jobin by Pidi Baiq

Ini kisah yang berlatar sekitar tahun 2009 ketika Vera masih di bangku SMA. Pertemuannya dengan Jobin Alimusa terasa tidak disangka-sangka namun memberi kesan besar kepada keduanya. Vera digambarkan sebagai remaja ceria yang sentiasa dikelilingi rakan-rakan. Jobin pula merupakan vokalis band indie bernama Eidenberg yang menjadi idola di kalangan rakan Vera. Bermula daripada rasa ingin tahu hasil rekomendasi mereka, Vera akhirnya meminati Eidenberg dan secara perlahan tertarik dengan dunia Jobin.

Penulis menceritakan kisah cinta ini bersama humor yang bersahaja, dialog santai dan latar scene underground serta budaya indie Bandung yang hidup. Hubungan Vera dan Jobin berkembang secara natural tanpa paksaan. Mereka rapat namun perhubungan mereka tidak pernah benar-benar diberi label atau hala tuju yang jelas. Bagi saya, ketiadaan konflik besar menjadikan cerita ini terasa jujur dan sesuai dengan usia serta fasa kehidupan wataknya.

Endingnya tenang dan agak boleh dijangka, namun persoalannya bukan pada apa yang berlaku secara zahir. Sebaliknya ia terletak pada apa yang Vera cuba yakinkan kepada dirinya sendiri melalui coretan terakhir. Ada ruang tafsiran yang membuat saya berfikir, seolah-olah tersimpan sesuatu di sebalik kelancaran hubungan mereka. Sebuah kisah ringkas tentang remaja, memori dan perasaan yang tidak semuanya perlu dijelaskan. 

Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer

I’m shocked. What did I just read 😂 Gentle reminder please read with care. Please.

This genre is not my usual forte, yet I dove in headfirst because the romance fantasy was simply irresistible. And wow, the enemies to lovers trope here is sugar sweet. I was fully invested until about halfway through the book. Then the story takes a turn that quietly breaks everything I was rooting for.

Why would the author choose that path for the characters? I refuse to explain why I changed my mind about giving this a full five stars. If you know, you know. 😂 This is the kind of book that makes you pause mid page and whisper, “no, don’t do this.”

The premise is solid. The tactical strategies are easy to follow, and the magic is genuinely mesmerizing. Truly one of the book’s strongest elements.

Astranza, Incendar, and Draegonis share one continent. King Theodore of Astranza, gifted with weather manipulating magic, is aging and ill, leaving his kingdom vulnerable. To secure peace, a political marriage is arranged between Princess Marjoriana and King Maddox Kyronan of Incendar, meant to be nothing more than formality. Yet fate intervenes, and Princess Jory and Prince Ky fall in love at first sight.

Everything falls apart when Asher, Princess Jory’s childhood friend and a Hunter Guild assassin, is hired to kill the royal couple. Refusing the job is not an option. Asher loves Jory and wants to flee with her, but Jory cannot abandon Prince Ky. With traitors lurking in both kingdoms, trust becomes a luxury they cannot afford.

Romance, betrayal, magic, physical abuse, and yes, an LGBTQ theme woven naturally into the story. Enter at your own emotional risk, especially if you get attached easily.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Laura 'Lo' Blacklock is a travel journalist whose career feels stuck. When she’s offered an assignment aboard the Aurora, a boutique super luxury cruise liner sailing through the Norwegian fjords on its maiden voyage, she sees it as a chance to reset everything. What should be a dream trip, however, quickly turns unsettling.

Before boarding, Lo’s flat is burglarized. She’s exhausted, struggling with panic attacks, and dependent on antidepressants. Her fragile mental state follows her onto the ship, which is filled with high profile guests including journalists and influential figures such as Lord Richard Bullmer, the owner of the Aurora Borealis, and his wife Anne, who is battling cancer.

Lo is staying in cabin 9. One night, she is jolted awake by a disturbance coming from next door, cabin 10. She hears a violent splash and catches sight of what appears to be a body sinking beneath the black water. When security investigates, cabin ten is claimed to have always been empty. No passenger is missing, and no one remembers seeing the woman Lo recalls so vividly.

As doubt tightens around her, Lo’s grip on reality begins to feel increasingly fragile. Surrounded by disbelief and a lack of evidence, she finds herself isolated, clinging to what she knows she witnessed while the world onboard quietly insists it never happened.

The pacing is admittedly slow in the first half, but the atmosphere is tense and claustrophobic. The writing is sharp, and the ending genuinely made me smile. 4.5 ⭐ for a thriller that lingers quietly before it strikes. 

 

Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray

At first glance, the cover and title already hint at a modern werewolf story, so I went in without overthinking and just let the story unfold. Vanessa Hart is an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl who goes to a party with her best friend, Celeste, and never comes back the same. They are attacked by a monster. Both are bitten, but only Celeste dies. Vanessa survives, confused, terrified, and suddenly taken to Castle Severi for her own safety.

Something feels wrong. Unnatural. The transformation begins. Fangs appear, claws tear through her fingers, fur spreads across her body, and her eyes glow purple. Vanessa becomes a werewolf and is imprisoned, cut off from her previous life. From that moment on, all she wants is answers and revenge for Celeste. She feels stronger than before, yet completely lost in a world she never asked to be part of.

In this new world, every werewolf who completes their First Rite must belong to a Wolf Court. Vanessa’s rare purple eyes and unknown abilities make her impossible to ignore. After the Rite, she becomes Vanessa Hart the Truthseer, gifted with the ability to know when someone is lying. That power turns her into a threat rather than a blessing.

When a murder happens with the same method as Celeste’s death and no sign of human involvement, suspicion falls on the Court itself. A traitor may be among them, and Vanessa’s search for the truth begins.

This isn’t my usual genre, but I genuinely enjoyed it. I could feel Vanessa’s loneliness, confusion, and anger, and how unfair it is when innocence is given no choice.

There will definitely be a sequel, and I’ll be waiting 😅📖

Warga Kesunyian by Kannika Claudine

Warga Kesunyian menghimpunkan beberapa watak yang hidup dalam fasa paling rapuh dalam kehidupan mereka. Marya bekerja di sebuah hotel dengan menjaga buku log hilang dan jumpa, memikul trauma kehilangan anak serta keluarganya dalam satu kebakaran.

Gemma pula kembali bertemu ibunya, Ching, selepas dua puluh tahun terpisah akibat salah faham. Pertemuan itu tidak membawa kelegaan sepenuhnya kerana Ching kini menghidap Alzheimer.

Via tenggelam dalam kesedihan selepas putus cinta. Pertemuannya dengan Randall, yang kehilangan isteri, membuka ruang tentang duka dan proses memulihkan diri, walaupun tidak sembuh sepenuhnya.

Ronald, bekas banduan terpaksa berpisah dengan anaknya sekali lagi. Persahabatannya dengan seorang kanak-kanak membuatkan dia menyedari betapa banyak masa lalu yang telah disia-siakan, dan betapa sukarnya untuk melafazkan kata maaf yang tertangguh.

Cindy pula kehilangan cincin pertunangannya selepas keguguran, satu kehilangan kecil yang membawa kepada renungan besar tentang kehidupan. Sementara itu, Dan Ian menerima mesej misteri yang kandungannya seakan membaca isi hatinya sendiri.

Kesemua watak ini berkongsi satu persamaan, hari-hari mereka berlalu tanpa makna yang jelas, dan orang yang singgah dalam hidup mereka hadir bukan untuk kekal, tetapi untuk menyedarkan mereka tentang sesuatu. Warga Kesunyian bercerita tentang manusia yang terperangkap dalam sunyi, dan proses perlahan untuk berdamai dengan takdir. Sebagai novel debut, struktur ceritanya tersusun dan konflik batin wataknya terasa hidup dengan tema universal tentang kehilangan, dan keterasingan. Walaupun terjemahannya kadang-kadang terasa janggal dan ada pilihan frasa yang kurang sedap dibaca, keseluruhannya masih boleh difahami dan meninggalkan kesan yang mendalam. 4.3 ⭐

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