The End of August by Yu Miri

This book has a lot to offer as a valuable window into Korean history. The End of August is a semi-autobiographical of the author's grandfather, Lee Woo-Cheol from 1925 until he died in the late 1970s. The story begins with the scene of called forth for her ancestors through ritual (thanks to kdrama!). How the author put down their last moments together is phenomenal and like a closure for me.

Lee Woo-Cheol was a long-distance runner in Korea. His dream was robbed because the Tokyo Olympics were cancelled in 1938. Furthermore, he has mouths to feed and is trapped under Japanese rule. Despite all that, he was a philanderer, and his wife left him leaving their children behind. The rest of the story is quite sordid like everyone in the family has such a terrible fate.

Considering everything, it's a remarkable and thought-provoking exploration of a Japanese invasion, women's exploitation, and communism through the lasting impact of dramatic backstories. I give 4.5 ⭐️

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

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#donereading #TheEndofAugust by #YuMiri #bookstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendations #igbooks #igreads #goodreads #emabaca #malaysiamembaca 

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Thanks to @definitelybooks #pansing for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

Jacinta Cross and her husband, Gabriel Medway conduct a security system for a living. But something unusual when she came home late from work one day. She confronted the most traumatic experience, Gabe was found dead with his throat cut. It's not a burglary gone wrong or a case of mistaken identity, clearly.

The nightmare was only just beginning. The police didn't seem happy with her timeline and thought it was suspicious. Plus the huge insurance policy was taken up before Gabe died. Someone was setting her up for Gabe's murder. She has to prove herself innocent. Her only mission is tracking down who and why someone killed Gabe to that extent. She's been on the run since then.

Ruth Ware is another author I've been curious about for years. I love her writing style. They're full of tension, and intrigue with a bit of techy stuff (I haven't a clue of 🤭). The plot is pretty decent but I love the main characters, Jack and her sister, Hel drive the story forward in time.

The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner

The truth did not always set you free. Sometimes it bound you to dark, bloody deeds and cost you the people you loved. 

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Melanie Stoke had been abandoned as a child at City General Hospital with no memory of where she came from. She had been adopted by the rich parents whom she loved. The real daughter of Stokeses, Meagan was murdered before Melanie arrived by a serial killer, Russell Lee. He was sentenced to death for kidnapping, torturing and murdering other six small children. 

After twenty-five years, Melanie suddenly has a sense of dejavu, a black void, and voices. Someone who knows what happened to the family got a tip from an anonymous caller saying that she was Russell's daughter and there are a lot of unanswered questions about the death of Meagen. 

I am pretty confident that these promising premises could fulfil my expectations. For me, the disappointment of the romance dynamic between the characters itself became an unnecessary element of the story. However, nothing about these characters is to be trusted and I have to go through their 'messy' lives. The Other Daughter was originally published in 1999. I cannot believe it is the first time I've read anything by Lisa Gardner. Somehow, this is my crime fiction explorations and still kept my interest.

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

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#donereading #TheOtherDaughter by #LisaGardner #igreads #igbooks #bookstagram #goodreads #bookrecommendations #bookreview #emabaca #malaysiamembaca