The Girl of Ink & Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Tags

adventures, children, cover lust, debut, english, fantasi, fiction, middle grade

Judul: The Girl of Ink & Stars

Penulis: Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Penerbit: Chicken House (2016)

Halaman: 228p

Beli di: Book Depository (IDR 103k)

Kisah ini terjadi di sebuah pulau bernama Joya. Duluuuu sekali, Joya adalah tempat yang menyenangkan. Pulau ini selalu berpindah-pindah tempat, mengapung di lautan, tak pernah ada hari yang membosankan dari kehidupan di sana. Terdiri dari hutan, sungai, pantai dan beberapa desa yang penduduknya ramah-ramah, Joya bisa dikatakan menyerupai Taman Firdaus.

Namun, suatu hari Pulau Joya berhenti bergerak. Kehidupannya menjadi suram. Menurut legenda, ini karena adanya makhluk mengerikan bernama Yote yang menginginkan Joya untuk dikuasainya sendiri.

Sejak saat itu, Joya menjadi pulau yang menyedihkan, terlebih setelah kedatangan seorang Gubernur lalim yang mengisolasi Joya dari dunia luar, bahkan melarang hubungan antar desa dan mengklaim daerah-daerah di luar perbatasan sebagai daerah yang terlarang.

Isabella adalah anak seorang pembuat peta yang tinggal di desa Gromera yang dikuasai oleh sang Gubernur. Ia bersahabat dengan Lupe, anak Gubernur tersebut yang baik hati, tidak seperti ayahnya.

Keinginan terbesar Isa adalah bisa memetakan seluruh Pulau Joya, bahkan bagian-bagiannya yang dinyatakan sebagai daerah terlarang, karena memang, belum ada satu pun peta yang berhasil menggambarkan keseluruhan Pulau Joya. Namun ia tahu, cita-citanya itu bisa dikatakan mustahil, terlebih selama Gubernur masih berkuasa.

Suatu hari, insiden menghampiri kehidupan Isa saat Lupe tiba-tiba menghilang. Isa bertekad untuk mencari Lupe, meskipun itu berarti ia harus pergi menghampiri tempat-tempat yang selama ini terlarang baginya.

Mengandalkan kemahirannya membaca dan membuat peta, Isa pun terjun ke dalam petualangan tak terlupakan di Pulau Joya. Namun- siapa yang menyangka, pencarian tersebut berubah menjadi petualangan yang menyeramkan, ketika tiba-tiba saja Yote si makhluk dari legenda Joya muncul kembali?

The Girl of Ink & Stars adalah jenis buku petualangan fantasi untuk middle grade yang menyenangkan, seru, dan memiliki setting yang amat menarik. Tidak seperti kebanyakan fantasi middle grade, pengembangan karakter di buku ini dilakukan dengan cukup serius.

Isabella bukan sekadar tipikal karakter anak perempuan yang berani dan nekat, tapi punya flaws sendiri: tidak percaya diri, ragu-ragu, dan suka menyimpan ketakutan. Namun ia optimistis dan setia kawan, dan nilai-nilai itulah yang semakin ditunjukkan selama petualangannya berlangsung.

Saya juga suka dengan karakter-karakter pendukung di buku ini, terutama Lupe sahabat Isa. Karakternya bukan stereotype anak orang kaya yang menyebalkan, tapi memiliki kelebihan-kelebihan yang membuat persahabatannya dengan Joya semakin unik.

Buku ini juga memiliki ending yang pas menurut saya, tidak terlalu diburu-buru dan penyelesaiannya pun cukup realistis (untuk ukuran buku fantasi, hahaha).

The Girl of Ink & Stars adalah karya debut yang menjanjikan dari penulisnya, dan saya berharap akan mendengar lebih banyak lagi tentang karya-karya Kiran Millwood Hargrave. Sepertinya sekuel tentang Joya dan petualangan Isabella masih mungkin akan terdengar kembali 🙂

 

Wishful Wednesday [156]

Tags

adventures, children, cover lust, meme, wishful wednesday, wishlist

Hello! Happy Wednesday 🙂

Hayooo siapa yang seneng karena besok libur? Tapi sedih karena Jumatnya hari kejepit nasional? 😀

Daripada pusing, mari kembali berandai-andai..

Minggu ini, gara-gara kebanyakan browsing sana-sini, jadi banyak menambah wishlist nih.. Salah satunya, yang bikin ngiler, masiiihhh buku anak-anak sih (never too old to read child lit hehe).

The Doldrums (Nicholas Gannon), yang cover maupun sinopsisnya bikin mupeng abis.

Archer B. Helmsley has grown up in a house full of oddities and treasures collected by his grandparents, the famous explorers. He knows every nook and cranny. He knows them all too well. After all, ever since his grandparents went missing on an iceberg, his mother barely lets him leave the house.

Archer B. Helmsley longs for adventure. Grand adventures, with parachutes and exotic sunsets and interesting characters. But how can he have an adventure when he can’t leave his house?

It helps that he has friends like Adélaïde L. Belmont, who must have had many adventures since she ended up with a wooden leg. (Perhaps a crocodile ate it. Perhaps not.) And Oliver Glub. Oliver will worry about all the details (so that Archer doesn’t have to).

And so Archer, Adélaïde, and Oliver make a plan. A plan to get out of the house, out of their town entirely. It’s a good plan.

Well, it’s not bad, anyway.

But nothing goes quite as they expect.

I’m definitely ready for some adventures!

How about you? Let’s share your WW 🙂

• Silakan follow blog Books To Share – atau tambahkan di blogroll/link blogmu =)
• Buat posting mengenai buku-buku (boleh lebih dari 1) atau segala hal yang berhubungan dengan kebutuhan bookish kalian, yang jadi inceran kalian minggu ini, mulai dari yang bakal segera dibeli, sampai yang paling mustahil dan hanya sebatas mimpi. Oya, sertakan juga alasan kenapa buku/benda itu masuk dalam wishlist kalian ya!
• Tinggalkan link postingan Wishful Wednesday kalian di Mr. Linky (klik saja tombol Mr. Linky di bagian bawah post). Kalau mau, silakan tambahkan button Wishful Wednesday di posting kalian.
• Mari saling berkunjung ke sesama blogger yang sudah ikut share wishlistnya di hari Rabu =)

 

Wishful Wednesday [122]

Tags

cover lust, fantasy, fiction, historical, meme, wishful wednesday, wishlist

Hai hai! Hampir lupa kalau hari ini ternyata Rabu! Sori guys for a quite late post 😀

Minggu ini, lagi pingin buku yang judulnya The Miniaturist (Jessie Burton).

On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office-leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist-an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .

Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand-and fear-the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?

Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.

Semacam gabungan kisah fantasi dan sejarah yang seru, plus covernya ituuuu bikin ngiler berat XD Semoga segera keluar versi paperbacknya 🙂

covernyaaaaa XD

Share WW mu minggu ini yuk 🙂

• Silakan follow blog Books To Share – atau tambahkan di blogroll/link blogmu =)
• Buat posting mengenai buku-buku (boleh lebih dari 1) atau segala hal yang berhubungan dengan kebutuhan bookish kalian, yang jadi inceran kalian minggu ini, mulai dari yang bakal segera dibeli, sampai yang paling mustahil dan hanya sebatas mimpi. Oya, sertakan juga alasan kenapa buku/benda itu masuk dalam wishlist kalian ya!
• Tinggalkan link postingan Wishful Wednesday kalian di Mr. Linky (klik saja tombol Mr. Linky di bagian bawah post). Kalau mau, silakan tambahkan button Wishful Wednesday di posting kalian.
• Mari saling berkunjung ke sesama blogger yang sudah ikut share wishlistnya di hari Rabu =)

 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Tags

america, cover lust, english, fiction, name challenge 2014, review 2014, romance, teens, young adult

look at that GORGEOUS cover!

Title: Eleanor & Park

Writer: Rainbow Rowell

Publisher/Edition: St. Martin’s Press International Edition (2013)

Pages: 328p

Bought at: Kinokuniya Nge Ann City (SGD 16.91)

Please meet Eleanor: red hair, big bones, reaaally white (a bit pale), awkward, weird clothes, screaming “poor” all over, and in short, white trash.

Now please meet Park: Asian-American, handsome, cool but reserved, self conscious, always thought that he couldn’t live to his father’s expectation.

In an unexpected circumstances, Eleanor (a new girl at school) has to sit with Park (who always sits alone) in school bus every day. Awkward and shy at first (especially because Park feels afraid that people will get him for being friends with the misfit Eleanor), slowly they become closer, through music and comic books.

But before them, laid the huge problems: Eleanor’s family, her mean step dad, her bunch of brothers and sisters, her helpless mom who’d been abused all the time by the step dad. Meanwhile, Eleanor tried so hard to fit into Park’s family, an ideal household with cool Mom and Dad and a nice brother. And together, they embraced the first love as if it’s a dangerous minefield, filled with tears, challenges, unknown future, and broken hearts. But they took their risks, because hey! There are sweet memories too, the feeling of first kiss and loving a person as if it’s your last chance.

I remember putting Eleanor & Park in one of my Wishful Wednesdays long long time ago, before it’s getting huge and becoming a best seller everywhere. And I’ve just had a chance to buy the paperback when I went to Singapore last month. I love this cover version and was glad to buy this edition.

Actually the story is okay for me. It’s cute and has an 80s vibe that’s quite catchy (although the 80s actually only showed through the walkman and song choices in the entire book).

But again, probably because I’ve read it when I’m in my 30s (like I feel with so many YA books nowadays), the vibe doesn’t quite catch my heart that much. It feels a bit stale for me, like reminiscing my first love with some mismatched circumstances. Anyway. I like the idea of trying to fight for your first love- however impossible it seems. But there are some things that I couldn’t really grasp from the book:

1. The impression of this book that wants to show that Eleanor and Park are both the “outsiders” – the misfits of the high school. But actually, Park is not an outsider. Sure, he’s a minority, being Korean-American in a suburb in Oregon in the 80s was not easy. But he’s handsome, can do martial art, and even the popular girls fell in love with him.

2. Park’s parents: I just don’t understand why they let Park go at the end of the book (no real spoiler here) instead of going to the police and reporting what happened in Eleanor’s house. Maybe because it’s a small town or because it’s the 80s? But I just couldn’t grasp the decision they made- as a parent, I’ll do it differently.

3. The ending: I actually love the ending- it created a sense of longing for me. But I hope there won’t be sequels. Please, it will ruin everything.

Overall, I think Eleanor & Park is a sweet love story of two kids from a very different background. It contained two main themes: first love, and complication of family problems. But the thing I don’t really feel from this book is the smooth transition between the two main themes.

Rowell seemed to write about two different things: sweet high school love story (complete with the thrilling of first kiss or first time exploring each other’s bodies), and bitter family story (especially in Eleanor’s house, where abuse and bullying happened all the time- without any real explanation of why those things happened).

It feels too extreme for me- jumping from teenage lovey dovey scenes to serious, dark scenes of sexual harassment and other related issues. I wish Rowell could present it in different way, or choose only one theme to make it not as pretentious and/or too innocent as it is.

But relax, I don’t give up on Rainbow Rowell though- I guess I’ll try one of her adult books after this 🙂

Submitted for:

 

Wishful Wednesday [94]

Tags

cover lust, meme, series, wishful wednesday, wishlist

Trip singkat ke Kinokuniya Singapur kemarin ini menghasilkan lusinan Wishful Wednesday baru yang sepertinya bakalan sanggup mengisi Rabu-Rabu selanjutnya sampai berbulan-bulan 🙂

Yang mau tampil di Wishful Wednesday minggu ini adalah lanjutan dari Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs), yang sempat jadi cover paling keren versiku beberapa tahun lalu.

Buku sekuelnya, Hollow City, melanjutkan petualangan anak-anak aneh yang menyerupai para anggota X-Men tersebut. Covernya masih spooky, meski sekarang aku sudah tidak akan tertipu lagi dengan isinya. FYI, buku pertama sama sekali nggak horror, meski covernya lebih seram daripada kebanyakan buku horror yang ada 🙂

The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience.

Kalau kamu, apa wishmu minggu ini?

• Silakan follow blog Books To Share – atau tambahkan di blogroll/link blogmu =)
• Buat posting mengenai buku-buku (boleh lebih dari 1) atau segala hal yang berhubungan dengan kebutuhan bookish kalian, yang jadi inceran kalian minggu ini, mulai dari yang bakal segera dibeli, sampai yang paling mustahil dan hanya sebatas mimpi. Oya, sertakan juga alasan kenapa buku/benda itu masuk dalam wishlist kalian ya!
• Tinggalkan link postingan Wishful Wednesday kalian di Mr. Linky (klik saja tombol Mr. Linky di bagian bawah post). Kalau mau, silakan tambahkan button Wishful Wednesday di posting kalian.
• Mari saling berkunjung ke sesama blogger yang sudah ikut share wishlistnya di hari Rabu =)

Book Kaleidoscope 2013: Top Five Best Book Covers

Tags

2013, best cover, cover lust, kaleidoscope

Yeaaay, this one is my favorite part 😀 I’m a cover junkie, and I think I can be counted as a person who judges a book from its cover ;p I don’t mind to spend a bit more to have a book with prettier cover.

So, after contemplating for a long, long time….These are my choices:

5. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)

I love the color combination of blue, red and gold. I also love the detail artwork of the keyhole. And the bluish Paris in the background is so beautiful. This cover compliments the amazing illustrations inside the book.

4. Skippy Dies (Paul Murray)

The story is not as engaging as I hoped, but the cover paid off my disappointment. The eclectic design is really eye catching, with the solid colors like red and green. The title font is also perfect to illustrate the quirky story of this book.

3. Summer and The City (Candace Bushnell)

The cool sequel of Carrie Diaries told the story of how Carrie Bradshaw first fell in love with New York City. This incredible cover, with luscious pink color and the imitation design of branded purse, could really capture the lightly summer feeling that dominates the book.

2. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (Robin Sloan)

Mr. Penumbra’s is one of the most current, hip, and trendy books I’ve read this year. It’s full of recent technology, up to date gadgets, and the life inside Google company. No wonder its cover tried to catch up with the content. With shocking yellow that could glow in the dark, Mr. Penumbra’s cover has successfully caught my eyes 🙂

1. Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling)

Yes, I proudly put a cover designed by an Indonesian designer at the top of my list 🙂 The translated version of Just So Stories has an incredible cover, better than most of the cover of English editions. I love the comical tone and the green color. The whale story is not the most famous one from this short stories collection, but luckily the designer chose this to capture the whole book. And he made a right decision!

If you want to share your version, please click Fanda’s blog for more info.

A Discovery of Witches

Tags

cover lust, english, fantasi, fiction, paranormal, romance, what's in a name

Title: A Discovery of Witches

Author: Deborah Harkness

Publisher: Penguin (2011)

Pages: 579p

Bought at: Periplus Setiabudi Bandung (IDR 55k)

Plot:

Diana Bishop is a young scholar from Yale in the field of alchemy history, and has a grant to do research in Oxford. Diana came from a family of witches, but she tried so hard to deny her fate, and almost never uses magic in her life. Until one day, she encounters a long lost manuscript in Oxford library- a manuscript filled by magic and said to have an answer of the everlasting questions: the creation of the world, humans, witches, vampires and daemons.

This discovery lures all kinds of creatures into Oxford- and into Diana’s life, forcing her to face her fate as a witch. One of the creatures is an ancient, rich and handsome vampire name Matthew. And despite all the odds, Diana and Matthew quickly realized that it is their destiny to try finding out about the secrets of the manuscript, and journeying into the past together.

Why this book does actually have a good premise:

-Interesting topics about alchemy, history, and magic. I always love history and alchemy, and it seems this book has pretty good idea about the mystery of creation and its relation with alchemy.

-Lovely description of the setting: especially Oxford, I love how the old little campus town had been described in details- I guess it’s because the author- who was also a scholar, had been there before.

And why this book does not actually live to my expectation:

– Typical characters: a witch who was in denial and didn’t want to use her power, turned out has the greatest power ever. Plus, a vampire who is handsome, rich, smart, successful and dangerous. Sounds familiar, Twilight lovers? 😀

– Forbidden love: it’s a cliche, but actually I can accept cliches, if it’s been written well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any of the romance plot in this book fascinating at all. It’s too predictable, slow, lots of unnecessary details and boring descriptions. And I can’t help but hating both the main characters.

– Another cliche: Over protective/ possessive vampire and the witch who always rejected his help- trying too hard to prove that she’s not a damsel in distress- but always failed!

– Too many unnecessary details: boring everyday mundane routines, described in long and torturing ways: taking bath, having breakfast, taking nap, rowing boat, running, etc etc- it’s too descriptive without being interesting.

– Lots and lots of repetitions: For example, Harkness loved to describe what Diana wears everyday. But sadly, her choices of clothes are not interesting at all! Sweater, legging, socks- always the same, it’s pointless to even know what she wears that particular day. The same happened when Harkness described Diana’s activities – very details and boring. For example, when Diana is rowing, Harkness always explains the small steps she takes: taking boat, getting into one, rowing, going back to the boat house, etc without any important incidents. It’s meaningless!

– Slow and predictable plot. For a book that wants to capture its readers with the mystery and secret stories, it successfully failed. The mystery is too slow, there are almost no important incidents or any fast paced actions. Even the fighting scenes could make me yawn, and I lost count of how many times I actually rolled my eyes while reading this book. Probably the fact that the author is a professor explained a bit how this book turned out more like a report than a novel.

In short, this book was failed to impress me- I know that paranormal romance is not actually my cup of tea- but I tried it anyway. This book only convinced me more that this genre is really not my thing, and I won’t read the sequels. Even though, knowing the author had been a Fulbright scholar before, broke my heart a little bit!

Submitted for What’s in a Name 6 Challenge for “Lost/Found” category.

 

Wishful Wednesday [80]

Tags

cover lust, wishful wednesday, wishlist, young adult

Selamat hari Rabu (yang terasa seperti Senin setelah long weekend kemarin, tapi good newsnya besok sudah Kamis, hihi), welcome back to Wishful Wednesday!

Minggu ini wishku cukup banyak, tapi yang mau kushare disini satu dulu aja ya…

Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt.

Aku jatuh cinta mulai dari covernya yang keren, sinopsisnya yang bikin kepo, nama penulisnya yang catchy padahal belum pernah denger sebelumnya, sampai ratingnya yang aduhai di Goodreads.

1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life—someone who will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.

At Finn’s funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn’s apartment, and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she’s not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most.

Kalo kamu, apa wishmu untuk minggu ini?

• Silakan follow blog Books To Share – atau tambahkan di blogroll/link blogmu =)
• Buat posting mengenai buku-buku (boleh lebih dari 1) atau segala hal yang berhubungan dengan kebutuhan bookish kalian, yang jadi inceran kalian minggu ini, mulai dari yang bakal segera dibeli, sampai yang paling mustahil dan hanya sebatas mimpi. Oya, sertakan juga alasan kenapa buku/benda itu masuk dalam wishlist kalian ya!
• Tinggalkan link postingan Wishful Wednesday kalian di Mr. Linky (klik saja tombol Mr. Linky di bagian bawah post). Kalau mau, silakan tambahkan button Wishful Wednesday di posting kalian.
• Mari saling berkunjung ke sesama blogger yang sudah ikut share wishlistnya di hari Rabu =)

Wishful Wednesday [62]

Tags

bahasa indonesia, cover lust, wishful wednesday, wishlist

Helo! Sudah hari Rabu lagi yaaa ternyata 🙂 Saatnya berandai-andai. Kebanyakan Wishful Wednesday ku itu memang buku-buku luar, tapi tetep banyak buku-buku lokal yang bikin mupeng sebenernya…

Salah satunya adalah dua buah buku Ayu Utami yang terbit dengan cover baru yang sungguh menggoda iman. Sebenernya sih ada dua buku lain (Saman dan Larung) yang juga terbit dengan cover baru yang nggak kalah seru. Tapi mengingat aku nggak begitu ngefans dengan kedua buku itu (yang versi lamanya juga sudah kubaca dan kukoleksi), aku memutuskan untuk memasukkan dua buku saja di Wishful Wednesday kali ini: Si Parasit Lajang (yang aku sudah punya edisi lama-nya dan suka banget sama isinya), dan Pengakuan Eks Parasit Lajang.

Si Parasit Lajang:

Buku ini berisi cercahan pikiran seorang perempuan muda urban. Di akhir usia duapuluhan ia memutuskan untuk tidak menikah dan menyebut diri Si Parasit Lajang, satu istilah yang awalnya dilontarkan feminis Jepang. Sepintas lalu, ia terkesan sangat cuek tentang nilai-nilai di sekitarnya, tak peduli komentar orang sama sekali. Di pihak lain, ia sangat mengamati dan memperhatikan keadaan di sekelilingnya.

 

Pengakuan Eks Parasit Lajang:

Pengakuan: Eks Parasit Lajang (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2013) adalah autobiografi seksualitas dan spiritualitas Ayu Utami. Seperti Cerita Cinta Enrico, kisah nyata ini ditulis dalam bentuk novel, dengan tokoh A, seorang perempuan yang memutuskan untuk melepas keperawanannya di usia dua puluh tahun, untuk sekaligus menghapus konsep keperawanan yang baginya tidak adil. Selama tahun-tahun berikutnya, yang ia coba lakukan dalam hidup pribadinya adalah melawan nilai-nilai adat, agama, dan hukum negara yang patriarkal. Tapi, ia berhadapan dengan kenyataan bahwa patriarki adalah fakta sejarah.

Masih nungguin sedikit diskon untuk kedua buku ini 😀

Kalau kamu, apa Wishful Wednesday mu? 🙂

1. Silakan follow blog Books To Share – atau tambahkan di blogroll/link blogmu =)
   
2. Buat posting mengenai buku-buku (boleh lebih dari 1) yang jadi inceran kalian minggu ini, mulai dari yang bakal segera dibeli, sampai yang paling mustahil dan hanya sebatas mimpi. Oya, sertakan juga alasan kenapa buku itu masuk dalam wishlist kalian ya!
3. Tinggalkan link postingan Wishful Wednesday kalian di Mr. Linky (klik saja tombol Mr. Linky di bagian bawah post). Kalau mau, silakan tambahkan button Wishful Wednesday di posting kalian.
4. Mari saling berkunjung ke sesama blogger yang sudah ikut share wishlistnya di hari Rabu =)

Swamplandia!

Tags

america, animals, borrowed, contemporary, cover lust, english, fiction

Judul: Swamplandia!

Penulis: Karen Russell

Penerbit: Vintage (2011)

Pages: 397p

Pinjam dari: @ndarow

Buku ini memiliki segalanya yg menjanjikan premis menarik: (dan Swamplandia! memang ditulis dengan tanda seru, karena itulah nama taman hiburan yang dijadikan judul buku ini, lengkap dengan tanda serunya)

– Bersetting di sebuah taman hiburan bertema buaya di Florida, keluarga Bigtree mencari nafkah dengan membuat pertunjukan wrestling bersama buaya, berenang bersama buaya, dan pokoknya segala sesuatu yang berhubungan dengan buaya.

– Bintang dari keluarga mereka, mama Hilola Bigtree yang merupakan pegulat buaya yang tangguh, meninggal karena kanker dan keluarga Bigtree harus struggling mempertahankan bisnis keluarga mereka.

– Ava, anak bungsu tokoh utama buku ini, memiliki rencana besar untuk menyelamatkan Swamplandia!, tapi kedua kakaknya sibuk dengan dunia mereka sendiri. Kiwi, sang jenius keluarga, menyeberang ke taman hiburan saingan yang baru buka, World of Darkness, sedangkan Oscheola sibuk dengan dunia spiritual dan jatuh cinta pada makhluk halus dari masa lalu.

Namun premis menarik tadi sayangnya tidak diikuti oleh eksekusi yang maksimal:

– Ava adalah heroine yang menarik, tapi kecerdasannya kadang tidak diimbangi dengan tindakan yang sesuai dengan sifatnya. Beberapa kali Ava digambarkan sebagai anak polos 13 tahun, tapi lalu seolah ia menjadi anak yang sudah sangat dewasa. Kurang believable, begitulah.

– Sudut pandang yang berpindah-pindah, antara sudut pandang pertama Ava, dengan sudut pandang orang ketiga yang berfokus pada Kiwi, terasa cukup mengganggu di beberapa bagian. Harusnya konsisten saja, mau sudut pandang pertama atau ketiga?

– Konflik yang dibangun perlahan dengan suasana rawa-rawa yang cukup mencekam, akhirnya malah tidak diselesaikan dengan tuntas. Tidak jelas kisah ini mau dibawa ke mana: misteri, thriller, drama keluarga, atau coming of age story? Aku sendiri sempat dilema waktu menentukan buku ini masuk ke segmen dewasa atau YA.

 

PS: Baru tau juga kalau buku ini masuk dalam Nominasi Pulitzer 2012, namun karena satu dan lain hal (yang nggak begitu jelas juga), akhirnya tahun tersebut tidak dipilih pemenang kategori fiksi.