Mara Dyer Trilogy (Book 1-3) – Michelle Hodkin [SPOILER, obviously]

Hodkin, Michelle. 2011, 2012, 2014. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, The Retribution of Mara Dyer. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Overall Rating 2,5 stars.

Sigh. Another stellar debut, another love to give. I decided to pick it up and read it, solely because of the amazing cover on the first book of this series, the other two are not very satisfying but I couldn’t care less after I finished the first book. I think that is the kind of cover that will always attract my attention. You know, mysterious, dark, sharp picture, and doesn’t show any particular face to be judged. Totally my type of cover, yes. Safe to say, I knew nothing about this book until I read it, I even didn’t know its genre.

I know now, I should never judge a series if I don’t read its whole series. By that, maybe I did an unfair judgment with Marked, but that is one awful book though, ugh. I love the first two book of Mara Dyer Trilogy, but after reading the final installment, my love was fading pretty fast. I’m bumped because I can’t give more than 2,5 stars for this series, believe me, I really want to love this more. But the last book crushed me, and not in a good way either. Despite the failed ending of this series (I’m getting to that later), I really like Michelle Hodkin’s writing style (she has good humor) and I still will pick up her future novels, I guess. Now, shall we talk about who Mara Dyer is?

Lucid - Adrienne Stoltz & Ron Bass

Stoltz, Adrienne and Ron Bass. 2012. Lucid. New York: Razorbill.

_­Rating 5 serious stars

This is a story about a girl who whines a lot more than I tolerate and a girl who is so lonely she often makes up stories about strangers around her. And I should say I am pretty shocked myself for being able to finish the story until the very last page, let alone crown it with a five-star rating.

It’s definitely not a happy story, but I smiled in some parts of it. It’s not a sad story either, but I cried anyway in the end, complete with an ache in my heart and all.

The Fault in Our Stars – John Green

Green, John. 2012. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton Books.

Rating 3,5 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

Why I read this in the first place?

This is my first John Green’s. I actually surprised myself because I willingly read this book. It’s against my own reading policy, really. But, here’s the story behind it. I was surfing in Youtube and stumbled upon this video. This girl in the video talks about The Fault in Our Stars. She highly praises it and clearly states that she literally bawled her eyes out while reading the book. And, here’s me, a type of reader who doesn’t find utter attraction into tragic fiction stories, or books that are purposely written to made its readers cry it a river.

A little out of topic, I never really have a solid reason to explain my reading fondness.... I guess, for most part in me, I read as an escape. That’s why I prefer a story with happy-ending. I want to feel happy, so I read books, I want to entertain myself. Well, the world has already given enough tragedy, so why do I want to spare time to read tragic fiction, right? It’s different if it comes to tragic non-fiction. I could easily accept it as a reality or a figment of human history, because I know that reality is not always beautiful but needed to be faced strong-heartedly nonetheless. And that’s why I feel unthrilled to give chance to tragic fiction books.

So, why the heck did I read this insanely famous tearjerker book? Again, the fault is in that Youtube video. The girl says, after reading The Fault in Our Stars, there’s a song came up into his head, it’s Forever and Always by Parachute. Being me, I was more curious to hear that song than to read the book. So I googled the song. (Illegally) downloaded it. Found the lyric too. Listened to it with lyric on screen. Cried my heart out. Listened to it again. Still made me bawled. Listened to it one more time. I STILL EFFING CRIED! Seriously. Until you read this review, I still will cry whenever I hear that song. It’s painfully beautiful and tragic beyond anything. I like that song so much. And somehow it made me felt responsible to also read The Fault in Our Stars, although both (the song and the book) are completely unrelated.

The Fault in Our Stars – John Green

Green, John. 2012. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton Books.

Rating 3,5 bintang
(review in English, click here)

Kenapa saya baca buku ini?

Buku John Green pertama saya. Saya juga heran kenapa saya mau-mau saja baca buku ini. Ini menyalahi aturan saya sendiri.... Jadi, waktu itu saya lagi nengok-nengok Youtube dan enggak sengaja sampai pada video ini. Dia mengulas The Fault in Our Stars. Komentarnya sangat positif tapi jelas-jelas dia bilang kalau dia menangis sepanjang buku ini. Dan, saya tipe pembaca yang enggak suka baca buku fiksi tragis, atau buku yang memang sengaja dibuat untuk bikin pembaca menangis.

Agak lepas dari topik, dipikir-pikir, sebenarnya saya enggak punya alasan yang solid sih kenapa saya membaca buku.... Sepertinya sebagian besar alasan saya membaca buku adalah sebagai pelarian. Makanya saya lebih suka buku happy-ending. Saya ingin cari senang, makanya saya baca buku. Yah, dunia yang sebenarnya sudah cukup tragis, jadi kenapa juga bahkan dalam dunia buku saya perlu cerita fiksi yang tragis? Kan? Memang beda halnya kalau saya membaca buku non-fiksi yang tragis. Saya bisa dengan mudah menerimanya sebagai kenyataan ataupun potongan sejarah karena memang kenyataan itu enggak selalu indah tapi harus tetap dihadapi dengan tabah. Makanya saya merasa enggak perlu menyediakan waktu untuk menghayati cerita fiksi yang tragis, karena itu toh bukan kenyataan.

Jadi, kenapa juga saya baca buku yang terkenal karena kesuksesannya membikin pembacanya pada menangis ini? Lagi, karena video Youtube yang saya tonton itu. Dia bilang, setelah membaca The Fault in Our Stars, dia terpikir tentang lagu Forever and Always-nya Parachute. Nah, saya malah lebih penasaran sama lagu itu. Jadi saya cari lagu itu. Download. Cari teksnya sekalian. Dengar lagunya sambil lihat teksnya. Nangis sesenggukan. Dengarin ulang. Tetap nangis. Coba dengar ulang lagi. MASIH BIKIN NANGIS! Serius. Sampai tulisan ini diturunkan, saya masih akan menangis kalau dengar lagu itu. Saya suka lagunya walaupun tragisnya enggak ketolongan. Jadi, saya merasa kayak semacam terbeban untuk baca The Fault in Our Stars karena saya begitu mengapresiasi lagu itu, walaupun sebenarnya keduanya (si buku dan si lagu) benar-benar enggak berhubungan.

Emerald City and Other Stories – Jennifer Egan

Egan, Jennifer. 2012. Emerald City and Other Stories. United Kingdom: Corsair.

Rating 2 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

 

Don't judge a book by its cover (reminding myself).

Why I read it in the first place?

Somehow, I never too fond of short story. I don’t have a valid reason why is that, and it bothered me a little (I’m annoyingly a reasonable person). And when I stumbled on this book at Periplus, I thought I’d give it a try. One, it’s on the bargain section, means I got this book much cheaper than it should.  Two, I like the cover, it’s really pretty. Three, I didn’t buy any romance book lately and I THOUGHT it is a lovey dovey romance book just like what I was looking for. Come on, from a cover like that you’ll judge like I did. But, I learn not to judge a book by its cover anymore. Such an old saying but I need to keep reminding myself that. Four, I saw this book gets high rating and great reviews in Goodreads. But from my rating, you know I kind of disagree with them. Five, its author, Jennifer Egan, is a Pulitzer Prize winner for her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad. I haven’t read that (now I don’t intend to) but she seems legit, people in Goodreads (again) repeatedly praised her for her works. So, why not, right? I have FIVE excellent reasons to buy it, I must not regret and beat myself too much (sigh).

Emerald City and Other Stories – Jennifer Egan

Egan, Jennifer. 2012. Emerald City and Other Stories. United Kingdom: Corsair.

Rating 2 bintang
(review in English, click here)

 

Jangan nilai buku dari sampulnya (ngomong sama diri sendiri).

Kenapa saya baca buku ini?

Enggak tahu kenapa saya enggak terlalu suka baca cerita pendek alias cerpen. Iya, enggak tahu kenapa. Artinya saya enggak punya alasan jelas itu tuh kenapa enggak sukanya, dan hal tersebut cukup mengganggu saya (soalnya saya tipe orang menyebalkan yang selalu menuntut alasan). Makanya ketika melihat buku ini di Periplus, saya merasa ingin memberi kesempatan lagi kepada cerpen untuk memikat hati saya. Satu, buku ini ada di bagian buku-yang-murah-sekali, dan memang saya jadi bisa beli buku ini jauuuh di bawah harga aslinya. Dua, saya suka sampulnya, menurut saya sangat cantik. Tiga, belakangan saya tidak pernah beli buku-buku romantis dan saya TADINYA mengira ini buku romantis seperti yang saya sedang cari. Lagian dari sampul kayak begitu, orang pasti bakal berasumsi sama dengan saya kan? Ah, tapi saya mesti ingat-ingat lagi ke depannya supaya enggak menilai buku dari sampulnya. Empat, saya cek di Goodreads, buku ini dapat rating bagus dan ulasan-ulasan bernada memuji. Tapi, dari rating yang saya berikan, jelas saya agak berbeda pendapat dengan mereka. Lima, si penulis, Jennifer Egan, adalah pemenang penghargaan Pulitzer untuk karyanya berjudul A Visit from the Goon Squad. Belum baca itu (dan sekarang memang enggak ada niat untuk coba baca itu) tapi kelihatannya Jennifer Egan ini boleh juga. Orang-orang di Goodreads yang sudah membaca karya-karyanya (berkali-kali) memuji-muji dia. Terus, saya butuh alasan apa lagi coba? Saya punya LIMA alasan bagus untuk beli buku ini waktu itu, jadi lebih baik saya enggak usah terlalu merasa sesal sekarang....