Bangkok: The Journal [Review]

Playing with filters and Line stickers and ended up with a washed-off effect on this photo. Not my best edit. The book is actually colored magenta and cyan. Very, very eye-catching. By this time you probably have known that I give Brown and Cony stickers in all the book pictures.

Anyway I read this book while waiting for my plane (I brought this book on my cabin baggage thinking that I'd read it on the plane. Turned out I slept like the dead on the plane. I fell asleep even before the plane took-off. I was really tired.)

★★★★★

I like this book. I'm not really into romance stories, so when I found out this book tells a journey, I was automatically pumped to finish this book.

Bangkok tells a story about two brothers. One is a successful architect who left his family to pursue his dreams, the other stay true to who he is and made a big change on himself. After their mother's death, the brothers, Edvan and Edvina are given their mother's legacy; a journey to find her diary all over Bangkok.

I think I like it because it tells more about the journey, not the romance. Sure, Edvan (the eldest brother, the architect) met a Thai girl, who's also his guide, named Charm. I've never been to Thailand, so when I read this book, I went "Ooh" everywhere. The author did a great job on explaining the places, the culture, even the ladyboy terms. [Ladyboy is a male who change gender into female. Yes, Thailand is famous for their beautiful ladyboys.]

Of course, I was positively sure the brothers will eventually find all the diary entries. And yep, they found it.

Actually I give this number of stars because of the brilliance of the story. Few points I'd like to make are here again.

• I know Edvan is a grown man, so I understand that he probably had a dirty grown mind. But the author put too much dirty jokes on the book. Not blaming that the author is a male, but again, much readers also come from ages between 13-19, in simple words; teenagers. Putting dirty jokes on a book which teenage reads; probably not very wise.
• Brilliant journey, almost too good to be true. In irony, Edvan in the book kept saying how almost impossible his search is. It is, actually. Looking for some pieces of diary in Bangkok, from his mother's journey couple of decades ago, almost impossible. Yet they made it at the end. Too good to be true. [If I were to hop into the story, I'd pat Edvan in the shoulder and said with Morgan Freeman's godly voice; You'll find it. You're the main character so it's the rule that you'll find it. Don't you worry, my child. Don't you worry.]
• Charm got cancer. I SEE THAT COMING, DUDE. I actually kinda hope Charm is also a ladyboy so Edvan would have to be surrounded by ladyboys in his life. Her "I'm not as good as you think I am", "You don't deserve me" and "You don't know me" has led me to conclude her illness. But, cancer? Charm got bald? Okay that's a little bit too melodramatic. I've seen too much on soap operas.

In the end, the book led me to so many what-ifs. I think about the possibility of Edvan becomes gay. Or the possibility of Charm is a ladyboy. Or that the mother's journal is never found. So many possibilities.

The story is good and brilliant, but in irony it's also predictable. If you're not too much about romance and love the idea of exploring another country via book, you should try this one.
Edvina in this book said something that really caught my heart; "Family help family". Sound a little bit Singlish for me, but it's true that family is the most beautiful treasure one will ever have on earth.

P.S. I actually kept imagining that Edvan would look like Taylor Lautner. Or with less muscles, Ryan Higa. Their similarity? Tan, dark haired, and small eyed.

P.S.S. I think this is the first book that really tells the city. Really explores it. In my opinion, though. Okay, see ya.

Paris: Aline [Review]

Hey there. I've been home in Pasuruan for a week now, enjoying every little things here and there. The weather is acceptably nice here, except some nights with heavy rains. I had to turn off my TV because I was afraid the lightning would hit our parabola or something... yep, small city problem. 

Anyway. Paris is written by Prisca Primasari, one of the Indonesian authors I've seen the names often, but never read any of her books. Paris is published by GagasMedia, and along the book came a bookmark and a postcard of Eiffel Tower. (At this point I figured that GagasMedia books came a postcard while Bukune books came with a flipped card, both with the picture of tourist attraction of the country it presents.)

★★★★★

Paris tells about a girl named Aline. She's an Indonesian girl living in Paris, and one day she met a man named Sena. Sena is an odd man since he asked to meet Aline in Bastille at 12 P.M., but his oddness has made Aline more curious of him. This book is a light journey of Aline's adventure.

I have to say that reading this book is like having a gulp of Sprite while drinking a glass of cold lemonade. It's fizzier, but basically they have the same taste. (My comparation is weird. I know.) But you got it, right? There's no aftertaste. Sure, it was sweet, but after you're finished with the book, that's it. You're finished. You don't feel sad or anything because the book has reached it's ending.

What more do I say here? I honestly don't know. Sure, I like this book, but more points to be criticized, maybe no. From the beginning I pick this book because it has a very vintage cover, and I don't expect the book to be hard and dark. "No expectations, no disappointment" rules here.

If you just finished an intense book, or any book that give you that hard-to-move-on after you finish it, Paris is not one of those books. Worth try reading though.

P.S. I found myself in love with the design of GagasMedia books. Don't judge a book by its cover, the proverb say, but sometimes we do judge books by their covers, right? Maybe I'll buy the Beijing one by Bukune just because I want to read how Beijing is pictured there. Maybe.

Okay see ya.

Last Minute in Manhattan [Review]

Hello.

I know I barely ever wrote about books despite of my love of them. Lately I've been hooked to this new Indonesian series Setiap Tempat Punya Cerita. Or, in English; every place has its story. Basically this series is a collection of novels by various authors, each is an independent story, takes place in places around the world, and written by different authors. 

Last Minute in Manhattan is written by Yoana Dianika, publised by Bukune, which I have to say pretty disappointing because the story mainly takes place in L.A., not in Manhattan. I also have to confess that I didn't finish this book since it's too much for me. (tbh it's the first book I skipped... I never did that before.)

★★★★★
If I have to rate this book, I'd rate this book 1/5. Why do I rate it that low? Because I hardly find anything worth loving in this book. It's completely a rip-off for me. (One star is for the card with the Empire State building, thanks! And the quality of the paper too, I guess)

Here goes the story in a nutshell.

Callysta (Cally in short) graduates from high-school but she doesn't know what to do next. Her boyfriend cheated on her, and her father remarries again. Her new mother is American woman named Sophie, and with the marriage she got a new step-brother named Mark. Because she didn't have any future plan ahead (?), Sophie took Cally to live with her in L.A. In L.A., Cally met Vesper (Vessy in short), an emo guy who's also a drug-addict. Cally fell in love with Vessy like Isabella Swan to Edward Cullen.

I didn't read until the ending so I don't know how it ends with them... But I'm sure Cally ended up being Vessy's girlfriend or something like that.

Some points I'd like to criticize from this story.

• Cally's life is too easy. No future? Okay I'll take you to live in L.A. for free, said no mother ever. Even a rich birth-mother wouldn't do that. It's a waste of future for the daughter, duh. Making a visa for living in States without plan is hard, moreover because Cally didn't have any university or anything attended there. The writer should make Cally's life more realistic... Or else the story became a complete rip-off.
• The story sounds too amateur. I didn't know if the writer has ever been in L.A., or she's just finding information in the web, but I personally think the description of things sounds a little bit too unprofessional. A big help from Google, maybe?
• No one in the story has a strong character. Cally is just a lucky girl who's not over her ex. Vesper is just a drug-addict that needed love. Mark is no more but a wingman for Cally and Vesper. Sophie is just a super kind, too-good-to-be-true stepmother who has a lot of cute dresses. Cally's father is just a figure Cally would talk in the phone when she's broken-hearted. Cally's friends (how much of them, again?) is a bunch of young folks who probably don't know how to send a private e-mails so they just send emails altogether in one email account. Like this is the 90s huh? No one has a personal internet connection? Every one is a "just", no one has a bold character worth rooting on.
• I found the quotes from Japanese boyband Hey!Say!Jump! is out of place and irrelevant. You wrote a novel about America, girl. You should put quotes from American songs, at least. And worse, HSJ is a cheerful boyband, and the songs may be too cheerful for the melodramatic background in the book.
• Image editing has many flaws. It's good to put drawings so the book doesn't seem too monotone, but I think the responsible ones should have edited the drawings well. It doesn't take an expert eyes to see how the images' resolution is broken and blurred all over. Nice try, though.

In the end (not quite end though) I am disappointed by this book. Way too bubbly, too much non-sense I couldn't take it anymore. Wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

I opened Goodreads and wondered why this book has the same rating with the Paris book, because I think the two are quite different. Either Paris book is underrated... or the worst case which I hate, this book is utterly overrated. Tsk.

I have read the second book Paris, and will probably post an update in couple of days. Jaa ne.

Once upon a time, we burned bright

I'm at Jakarta again; permanently. And in feeling both excited and scared. My past three years at high school was amazing! I mean, I'm kinda scared, what if university isn't as much fun as high school?

Okay I've only got a little time to put my thoughts, so here they are. I'm leaving to Beijing in few hours. Only for a few days, though. My grandpa wanted to see the Great Wall, and so we're going. I also got a new book; The Time of my Life by Cecelia Ahern. I don't know, but Ahern never fails to amuse me... I found her books magical and her story-lines unpredictable. So I'm rooting on this book.

Things that must've been there in my bag.

And I just watched the music video of Princess of China. Seeing Rihanna in those Chinese costumes. Not to say she doesn't look very Chinese to me *sarcasm*. Anyway I loved this song, although I think this song has no relation to China... I mean, of hundreds of countries, why China?

The thing is, Rihanna used to be my favorite singer. She inspired me; being beaten but rose again stronger. Being a wild child. Being a rebellious flower. I love how tough she stood up after being abused by her boyfriend (at the current time), Chris Brown. I think it's not easy seeing your beaten-self photos spread widely while you're actually still hurt and fragile. She inspires me to be strong.

However, I couldn't take her last album; I honestly thought her last album isn't the old Rihanna anymore. I couldn't stand to listen to the songs don't get me wrong, I like Rihanna. She's still an inspiration for me... I just don't get her music.

But because Princess of China is basically Coldplay's song, and I love Coldplay's music, so I love this song.

The music video is quite creative and movie-like, though.

Okay. In ten minutes I'll be heading to the airport. Hope to have great time, this is my playlist lately. (it's my July playlist, I haven't got enough time to make the August playlist).

Okay bye. Wish me luck 'cause I'll probably be eating fried insects there. Jaa ne~