renpuspita's reviews
1354 reviews

The Hacienda dubbed as mix of Mexican Gothic and Rebecca. Fortunately (or, unfortunately?), I don't read both, even I have Mexican Gothic on my TBR. The premise itself remind me of Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro's movie that pretty much I think influenced by Rebecca. The tropes are there. The female lead, Beatriz, married a widower named Rodolfo Solorzano, while Rodolfo's first wife was died of unknown cause (is it typhus? is it true that she was killed by the highwaymen?). There's a huge building with historical value, in this book, it's a hacienda located in San Isidro, Apan. There's a male lead, not the husband of course, that will help the female lead. The atmosphere is pretty much gothic, the Hacienda residence didn't trust the female lead, including Rodolfo's sister, Juana, and their cook, Ana Luisa. More importantly, seems like the hacienda have a dark past and the ghost is start to haunting Beatriz. 

What make The Hacienda interesting is, how Isabel Canas also input her social critic/commentary about Mexico after the Independence war with its casta system. Set in 1823, pretty much after the war and also after Mexican Inquisition end, Canas presents the glaring problems that revolve around hacienda, hacendados (owner of hacienda) and people on the village whom lived around them. So, basically beside a gothic and horror filled with mystery, The Hacienda can be categorized into historical fiction as well, albeit not in a traditional way. This book also heavy on religious contents, with the male lead, Padre Andres Vilabollos, is a man of the Church. The religion content didn't bother me a little bit, I welcomed Canas's critique about it tho. For me, it's ring true, regarding the religion. Some of Andres's inner turmoil, about his double identity, as a priest but also a witch with power come from local folk magic, pretty much resonate with me. I liked Canas's presentation about religion, through Andres, and didn't fell that it's judging at all.

The Hacienda is told from both Beatriz and Andres's Pov, interchangeable. Usually, first PoV from multiple characters can drive me nuts, since all the voice feel the same. It's not the case with The Hacienda, I can differentiate both Beatriz and Andres. While at the first glance, Beatriz might be look like a high and mighty girl with her determination to be the Solorzano's Dona and claim Hacienda San Isidro as her domain, the reason was explained in a way that make me sympathize with her. I also like how in the end Canas make Beatriz amend her error way in the first. Of course after the haunting that happen to Beatriz in the first place, lol. The girl was pretty much tortured by the ghost! The haunting factor is pretty chilling, the effect of it give me a heebies jeebies. The description of the ghost and its apparition make me hold my breath. The idea of house with its own souls is not new, but Canas can execute it well and add her own twist on it.

While it's not romance per se, there's a romance in The Hacienda, although just a little. But, boyy...as a romance reader, the romance in this book is pretty much bittersweet. It's of course have forbidden romance in it, with Beatriz is a married woman, while Andres is a priest. Yet, the trust that come between them, the pining, the longing and the yearning, OMG, so chef's kiss! I can accept their ending because I know that this book is not a romance in the first place, but I will lying if I said I didn't enjoy the romance aspect, lol. It's suit the book tone, tbh. In the other side, the mystery that surround the Hacienda and also Rodolfo's first wife death is pretty much easy to guess. I liked how they executed and I liked how Canas write the characterization of the major characters in this book beside Beatriz and Andres. Sadly, for Rodolfo, I think his character is barely there since he's mostly spend his time away from Beatriz.

Even not 5 full stars, The Hacienda become one of my top read this year 2023. For a debut, this book captivating me and that's a compliment since sometimes I'm too chicken out to read a full horror book with ghost on it. I recommend The Hacienda if you want to read a horror book with gothic atmosphere, written by a diverse author also set outside America and with historical settings. 

The author said that Forged by Magic can be categorized into cozy fantasy that will left reader in warm and fuzzy feeling. However, after I finish reading, this book is not too cozy imho, more like the usual fantasy romance that I'd read although with much simpler world building, smaller setting (a little island) and low to medium stakes. It did have some warm moments, found family trope, and grumpy x (almost) sunshine pairing between Rivelin, a grumpy elf blacksmith with violence past and Daella, a reluctant half-orc mercenary. The fantasy setting feel like mix-mash of fantasy creatures. From elf, orc, demon, faeries, ice giants. Plus point, there's DRAGON. Dragons is always my catnips and I liked that the dragons also play important roles in the story. Although, the simple world building kinda have its drawback. See, the setting is just in one island, while the map show a world that seems complex. Also there's no more explanation behind Daella's half orc background. There's no description from what side she inherited her human side, since she's pretty much an orc and I believe her late mother were also orc. So maybe, her father was human? Sadly this tidbits didn't explained thoroughly.

There's also steamy sex scenes, so if you like your romance to be steamy or spicy, this might be up to your alley. But, if you prefer fade to black, maybe just skip it. This book is also pretty low in angst and the misunderstanding trope to add more drama is still bearable. Both parties are guilty since at first their relationship start by mistrusting each other so the misunderstanding after both realized their own feeling is kinda a given. The romance is pretty okay and I did enjoy reading how love blossom between Daella and Rivelin; that from his description alone, I suspect Wolfhart get his inspiration from Geralt of Rivera. Silver hair with huge and tall appearance. I just hope authors stop to write first PoV from both male and female, just focused to one side or maybe write it all from 3rd PoV. This is just a matter of my preference of course.

Forged by Magic is pretty much stand-alone although part of series. It's also the first book I read by Jenna Wolfhart and I looking forward to read more story from the Fables Island.

 In just one month, I had read 3 foodies title and two of them featuring celebrity chef or cooking competition reality show, including A Taste of Heaven. A coincidence? I think not. What make A Taste of Heaven feel different is this is the second I read romance featured people in their 50-ish. Both Sophia Brown and Elliot Adamson is past of their forties. Both are widow and widower. Elliot have three ex-wives that with reader follow the story, they know that Elliot sacrifice his family for his career. Sophie is still grieving for a year after her husband dead, her taste become dull and her world just become gray. Her daughter decide to enroll her to the cooking reality show for amateurs (think Master Chef) in hope to liven her up. We also know that half of her life, Sophia is your perfect picture of an obedient housewives. So, when she got into competition with Elliot, things get awry so fast since the core them of the competition is to paired up amateur chef with the professional ones and to said that Elliot was pissed of is an understatement.

Two people with different upbringing and clash each time when the cooking theme announced. Yet, Sophia manage to tame Elliot's temper and Elliot bring the best of Sophia. I liked the banter between Sophia and Elliot and to see how Sophia changed to be a woman that dared to voice her opinion yet still manage to be gentle and motherly is fascinating. However, Elliot is still...Elliot. Still hot-headed, temperamental almost to the end while his character development feel like too fast. I also don't get his hot and cold attitude and when he seduce Sophia somehow it feel come out of nowhere since he spent his time in this book by angry all the time and become a grumpy Scottish. Although his behavior in seducing Sophia get explained in the end. If you a fans of slow burn, both Sophia and Elliot is anything but. They got entangled very fast and just in matter of days. Yep, pretty much insta-love and insta-lust. While I know both Sophia and Elliot is in their almost fifties, reading their sex scenes didn't feel icky or like reading your parents have sex, lel :P.

The strength of this book is in the relationship between Sophia and her two daughter, Cady and Emilia. Reading the positive mother-daughter relationship make me green with envy, lol. I love how supportive Cady and Emilia to Sophia, and also how they can accept Elliot and in the end help that grumpy Scottish. I also liked the description of the food that Watson write. A warning, don't read this book in the middle of the night since they will make your stomach grumbling and your mouth salivating while you try to resist the temptation to eat past your bed time, lol. Although, the theme of the cooking competition with its continuous twists make me rolling my eyes while I know it's purpose is for TV ratings.

This book is pretty much low in angst. So it's perfect if you want to read a contemporary romance with cooking competition or foodies romance in general. 

While I liked how Fisher incorporated some of Irish myths into The Absinthe Earl, I wish this book was written in omniscient 3rd PoV, rather than 1st PoV from FMC and MC that goes back and forth in one chapter. It's feel jumbling and lessen my enjoyment. I also didn't get why Fisher choose the tale of Diarmuid, despite his legend that loved Grainne that result in his death, to end it with him in the end choosing Cliona. Maybe that's why the series called Rehistory, because it's different from the Celtic myths that I knew. I do like some Irish myths like Tuatha de Danann and their everlasting battle with their foe, The Formorians. There are some myths that I just know like Finvara, the King of Faeries, Cliona, the queen of the banshee and many others. Fisher also make more mash up with add Grace O'Malley, the famous pirate from 16th century to the mix.

However, I don't get the romance, although the reincarnation/incarnation thingie is one of my catnip. The love is pretty much insta-love (or insta-lust) since at first the attraction between Edward Donoghue, Lord Meath, and Ada Quicksilver is because of their ancestor. Edward that got influenced by Diarmuid since he's his descendant and Ada's by Cliona. Like I stated at first, seems weird. I, at first, think that Ada's past incarnation is Grainne herself, but it was Cliona. The battle against Formorian is okay. I do like the mad Queen, Isolde and also Duncan O'Malley, Finvara's descendant that will be a potential for another suitor. But the love triangle didn't happen though, since Ada is pretty much paired with Edward. Oh, forget to add that Diarmuid is pretty much asshole and also selfish, although he got his own reasons.

A pity, since I pretty much liked the Irish mythology and how Fisher decide to spin it with her own take. It's just the romance feel lacking. 

 Under the Kitchen Table adalah satu dari novel lini metropop yang mengusung tema yang sangat sensitif buat orang Indonesia terutama ibu2 atau wanita, yaitu perselingkuhan. Walau begitu, Desy Miladiana cukup piawai dalam membawakan tema sensitif ini dan (mungkin) membuat pembaca untuk sedikitnya bersimpati sama tokoh utamanya. Sadewa Hartanto atau akrab dipanggil Dewa, adalah chef seleb yang dalam benak gue mirip2 kayak Chef Juna mengingat doi galaknya setengah mati kalau jadi juri acara masak di TV. Dewa yang cinta mati sama istrinya, Amanda, langsung terpotek hatinya setelah memergoki Amanda having sex sama cowo lain dan parahnya mereka ngelakuin di dapur rumahnya. Dewa yang ngungsi ke Ubud, malah ketemu sama Arkadewi atau Dewi, yang adalah teman dekat adiknya Dewa. Dewa dan Dewi, ga butuh waktu lama buat mereka untuk cinta lama bersemi kembali karena ternyata Dewi dulu jatuh cinta sama Dewa sejak mereka masih SMA, dan Dewa pun setelah bbrp saat juga ngaku kalau dulu dia suka Dewi. Masalahnya, Dewa masih suami sahnya Amanda dan Dewi sendiri adalah ibu satu anak yang abis cerai walau sama mantan suaminya, Pradipa, masih bersahabat. Dewa yang seorang seleb, tingkah lakunya banyak diperhatikan orang banyak dan suatu saat sebuah gestur Dewa kepada Dewi menjadi bola liar di dunia sosial media.

Dewi dituduh jadi PELAKOR.

Berita perselingkuhan mau ga mau selalu jadi juicy gossip di ranah dunia maya. Di buku ini pun authornya juga mengulik hal itu. Walau mengambil dari sisi, gimana kalau yang sebenarnya dituduh pelakor itu dan juga perselingkuhan yang terjadi, ada alasannya. Menurut gue, pembaca bisa diajak bersimpati sama kondisi Dewa dan Dewi, karena Amanda yang pertama selingkuh dan ternyata sifatnya pun jelek. Gimana kalau malah rumah tangga Dewa dan Amanda baik - baik aja dan ternyata Dewanya yang emang selingkuh? Hehe, tentunya buku ini ga bahas itu lah ya, entar ceritanya malah jadi yang lain. Selain tema perselingkuhan, tentunya Desy Miladiana juga memakai trope seperti cinta pertama di masa sekolah dan juga jatuh cinta sama sodara sahabat sendiri. Dieksekusinya cukup oke, bahkan angstynya dapet. Sayangnya, menjelang paruh akhir cerita konfliknya dibuat berbelit - belit. Gue curiganya sih, for the sake of drama aja, makanya jadi mayan gregetan. Sinetron banget! 

Walau gue bilang sinet, penulisan authornya rapi dan enak dibaca. Sayangnya, walau dialog antar tokoh beberapa cukup renyah dibaca, dialog antara Dewa dan Dewi suka kadang - kadang agak kaku. Gue sampai mikir, ini gue ngomong sama orang mau sesopan apapun juga kayaknya ga bakal baku deh XD. Just a matter of preference tho. Gue sukanya, walau Dewa dan tokoh - tokoh lainnya ada ngomong in English, tapi porsinya ndak lebay. Hanya beberapa kali dan dengan porsi yang menurut gue cukup pas tanpa harus gue merasa apa saat ini gue lagi di Jaksel dan sekitarnya. Karakterisasi Dewa dan Dewi pun cukup oke, walau gue lebih condong menyukai Dewi ketimbang Dewa. Menurut gue Dewa emang emosional banget ya, sampe Dewi jadi kelihatan sedikit lebih dewasa. Tapi gue apresiasi sama authornya pas nulis adegan Dewa yang lagi nangis karena putus asa abis tahu Amanda selingkuh. Gue emang agak lemah ya baca adegan cowo yang lagi nangis :'). Cuma nih, ketimbang Dewa dan Dewi, MVP novel ini tuh, Upi! Upi yang managernya Dewa ini emang luar biasa deh. Walau kerasa seperti your typical gay character, gue suka baca dialog - dialognya Upi dan kerasa kalau Upi tuh dukung Dewa banget. Secara ga langsung juga Upi yang jadi penyelamat di buku ini, pokoknya bener - bener pahlawan tanpa tanda jasa!

Untuk bacaan ringan walau dengan tema cukup kontroversial, buku ini lumayan oke sih. Dunia kulinernya pun menurut gue ga cuma sekedar tempelan dan pengarangnya cukup oke dalam mendeskripsikan suasana di Ubud dan Nusa Penida. Sayang aja karena konfliknya bertele - tele jelang akhir jadi terkesan agak ruwet penyelesaiannya walau ya semua dapat happy endingnya. 

 The Lucky Ones adalah salah satu novel Tiffany Reisz yang diterjemahkan di Indo oleh Elex, setelah Elex nerjemahin The Siren dan The Priest. Nah, dua judul terakhir itu bikin gue terpana, karena gue tahu Tiffany Reisz itu penulis erotica. Isinya jadi kayak gimana kalau diterjemahkan XD. Pun gue ga baca versi terjemahannya karena toh udah punya versi aslinya. The Lucky Ones sendiri adalah salah satu novel standalone karya Reisz, walau gue baca - baca review ternyata buku ini ada sedikit keterkaitan dengan novelnya yang lain yaitu The Bourbon Thief. Tokoh utama buku ini, Allison Lamarqe adalah wanita simpanan/gundik Cooper McQueen selama 6 tahun, dimana Cooper McQueen adalah salah satu tokoh utama di The Bourbon Thief. Cooper sendiri putus dari Allison setelah wanita yang dikencaninya satu malam mengandung anaknya. Jadi bisa dibilang kisah di The Lucky Ones ini setelah The Bourbon Thief walau menurut gue ga perlu baca buku itu juga. Toh gue juga ga baca :P

Gue kira awalnya genre buku ini adalah misteri, tapi sebenarnya The Lucky Ones lebih ke drama keluarga. Misterinya sendiri walau cukup bikin bertanya - tanya sebenarnya ga terlalu sulit ditebak siapa pelaku sebenarnya yang mendorong Allison sampai jatuh dari tangga dan melupakan masa lalunya saat dia diadopsi seorang dokter bedah otak bernama dr Vincent Capello. Ceritanya sendiri dimulai dengan adegan Allison yang putus hubungan oleh McQueen. Karena ini Reisz, walau awalnya Allison menolak buat having sex untuk yang terakhir kalinya sama McQueen, ujung2nya dia mau juga. Walau kelihatannya kayak gampangan, tapi gue mikir ya pasti akan susah nolak sama cowok yang udah macarin kamu selama 6 tahun lebih kan. 

Skip skip, Allison ternyata dapat surat dari Roland, salah satu anak adopsi dr. Capello untuk balik ke rumah mereka, The Dragon, setelah 13 tahun Allison pergi. Allison yang datang ke The Dragon, ga butuh waktu lama buat ingat masa lalunya dimana dia dan Roland sempat tertarik satu sama lain dan melakukan hal yang ga seharusnya dilakukan anak umur 12 dan 17 tahun, yaitu saling ciuman. Karena ini Reisz (again) dan dia hobi menulis tema - tema tabu tapi dekat dengan keagamaan, maka di adegan reuni Allison dan Roland, mereka akhirnya having sex juga. Mungkin karena udah menahan lama rasa yang terlarang. Parahnya lagi, Roland ini biarawan di gereja lokal XD. Apakah Roland ga selibat? Sepertinya sih ngga, walaupun gua juga kurang paham sama aturan - aturan di biara. Okay, setelah adegan bab - bab awal yang menurut gue cukup wadidaw, gue ingin bilang walau Roland itu anak adopsinya dr Capello dan Allison pernah tinggal bareng, mereka GA ADA hubungan darah. Karena Allison sendiri juga ga pernah diadopsi secara resmi. Di The Dragon, tidak cuma Roland dan Allison saja, karena dr Capello juga mengadopsi dua anak lain, Deacon dan Thora. Keempat anak ini punya masa lalu yang indah, ga perlu lama buat mereka untuk jadi keluarga lagi setelah 13 tahun pergi. Masalahnya, Allison penasaran siapa yang dulu mendorong dia dan rahasia apa yang disembunyikan di rumah itu?

Tema tabu terkait hubungan seksual antara Allison dan Roland (dan juga ada lagi yang lain) menurut gue cukup jinak dan dari terjemahannya sendiri, kayaknya sih diperhalus (gue ga bisa bandingin sama edisi asli). Tapi hal yang paling penting dari The Lucky Ones sebenarnya terkait dengan dunia kesehatan yang diulik cukup mendalam di buku ini. Sampai batas mana seseorang bisa bermain - main sebagai Tuhan? Membaca buku ini memang cukup bergidik karena apa yang terjadi di The Lucky Ones sangat mungkin terjadi di dunia nyata. Meskipun begitu, gue suka baca buku ini karena trope found familynya dieksekusi dengan baik oleh Reisz. Gue sangat iri dengan kedekatan Allison dengan Roland (yang berujung romantis), Deacon dan Thora. Mereka semua ga ada hubungan darah, tapi mereka jauh lebih dekat daripada sodara kandung. Dialog - dialog antar tokohnya sangat cerdas dan renyah. Gue ga bisa ga simpatik sama Allison, karena kepribadiannya sebenarnya cukup menyenangkan dan gue suka karena dia juga berani buat memperjuangkan kisah cintanya sama Roland walau di mata orang lain mungkin terlarang. Kekuatan utama buku ini emang di relasi antar karakternya walau misterinya sendiri ga sesusah itu. Selain itu karena Allison ini gemar mengutip puisi, ada puisi berjudul Kubla Khan gubahan Samuel Taylor Coleridge yang sedikit banyak cukup menggambarkan buku ini

Tiffany Reisz sekali lagi membuktikan kalau dia emang salah satu author fave gue (walau gue blum baca The Siren hahaha), karena penulisannya yang bagus dan karakterisasi tokoh - tokohnya yang memorable. Terjemahannya sendiri lumayan oke, dengan bbrp typo. Kalau mencari stand alone dengan bumbu misteri dan hubungan yang rada tabu (walau ga sampai bener - bener tabu), buku ini bisa dicoba.

 Kondensasi adalah novel pertama yang gue baca dari Poppy D. Chusfani meskipun kalau buku terjemahannya Mbak Poppy ya gue udah banyak baca. Gue milih judul ini karena tipis aja hehehe. Walau di GR dibilang genrenya thriller, sebenarnya Kondensasi lebih tepat dibilang novel horror dengan element survival. Mbak Poppy juga memakai mitologi Irlandia yaitu bean shide atau yang lebih kita kenal dengan nama banshee, makluk mitologi berwujud wanita dengan aura suram yang akan berteriak kencang ketika ada kejadian buruk atau orang yang akan mati. 

Buku ini ternyata melebihi ekspektasi gue. Walau tipis, the book pack quite a punch! Malah mendingan tipis jadi ga terlalu bertele - tele, walau kelemahannya juga ada beberapa hal yang menurut gue kurang jelas. Baca Kondensasi ibaratnya nonton film horror. Trope horrornya sendiri cukup banyak yang dipakai, sekumpulan orang - orang yang memutuskan buat menyendiri ke pulau terpencil tak bernama dan ga tahu dimana juga untuk menyelesaikan proyek penulisan naskah untuk kemudian diincar oleh sebuah entitas jahat dan berakhir dengan mereka yang berusaha untuk survive. Tokoh utamanya Aislin, blasteran Indo-Irlandia, penulis naskah yang punya kemampuan bak empath, bisa menyerap energi dari orang lain. Aislin ditemani oleh temannya, Citra, untuk menyelesaikan penulisan naskah. Bersama mereka berdua ada Latika atau Tika, anak baru yang diperbantukan dan juga Uksan, cowo yang digosipkan terlibat pencurian uang di rumah produksi. Seorang aktor ternama bernama Rama yang ga ada kerjaan pun ngikut mereka pergi ke pulau itu. 

Lima orang, tiga cewe dua cowo, bener - bener salah satu arketipe cerita horror yang sering dipakai dan sejujurnya ga pernah failed. Gue suka sama Mbak Poppy dengan kemampuannya untuk mendeskripsikan tempat dan narasinya. Gue bahkan lumayan terkejut baca dialognya yang mengalir dengan cukup natural, walaupun deskripsinya agak kayak buku terjemahan mentang2 Mbak Poppy penerjemah XD. Walau tokoh utamanya itu Aislin dan semua hal yang terjadi di pulau itu seakan berpusat ke Aislin, tapi tokoh - tokoh lain juga ikut dijabarkan lewat interaksi mereka dan juga masa lalu mereka yang ternyata cukup kelam. Gue merasa semua tokohnya diceritakan dengan baik dan gue ga merasakan perasaan kesal yang sering banget muncul kalau baca novel - novel author Indo (lebih kayak ke karakterisasi yang nyebelin sih). Baik Aislin, Citra, Tika, Uksan maupun Rama ada potensi bikin gue kesel, apalagi Aislin yang juga seolah unreliable narrator, tapi endingnya gue cukup bersimpatik sama kondisi mereka. 

Yang lucu, walau Aislin menganggap entitas jahat di pulau itu banshee, yang lain pada manggil "Mbak Kunti". Gue bukannya merinding malah pengen ngakak XD. Element horrornya sendiri terdiri dari kabut yang seolah punya nyawa dan juga Mbak Kunti/Banshee yang kemunculannya ga banyak tapi tetep bisa bikin jumpscare. Kondensasi ini emang movie material banget sih, apalagi ada bbrp aspek luar negeri seperti bapaknya Aislin yang dari Irlandia dan gue sukanya sih ga sekedar cuma tempelan aja. Kenapa Aislin mengasosiasikan entitas jahat di pulau dengan banshee yang notabene makhluk mistis Irlandia juga menurut gue cukup masuk akal.

Buku ini walau tipis, ada beberapa hal yang cukup bikin triggering seperti ada suicidal thought, deal with grief and unresolved past dll. Atmosfer horror dan rasa tidak nyamannya emang sangat kental, misteri tentang pulaunya juga bikin kita bertanya-tanya apalagi Mbak Poppy ga mendeskripsikan dimana sebenarnya pulau misterius ini berlokasi. Gue mikirnya kan awalnya di luar negeri, tapi begitu tahu nama tokoh2nya yang Indonesia banget, berarti ya di Indonesia lah ini hahaha. Buku yang cocok kalau kamu nyari horror tipis yang dibaca dibaca dalam sekali duduk 

 Ide yang ada di novel Not If I Save You First ini sebenarnya bukan hal baru. Malah gue sering nemuin di novel - novel buat pembaca dewasa kayak di novelnya Sandra Brown atau Linda Howard. Jadi, kalau ini adult novel tentunya adegan nyaris hipotermia ga cuma buka baju doang, pasti lanjut ke if you know what I mean, lol. Karena emang plot & pacenya mirip banget. Kejadian yang bikin sial terjadi dalam waktu singkat, kejebak di alam liar (dalam buku ini di Alaska), dikejar - kejar penjahat, close proximity, dulunya temenan tapi terus jadi jauh. Yang bedain cuma baik usia Maddie "Mad Dog" dan Logan yang masih baru anak SMA aja.

Yang bikin gue suka adalah karakter Maddie yang bener2 badass, karena 6 tahun tinggal di Alaska jadi ga langsung tahu - tahu jadi superwoman gitu aja. Karena emang udah tinggal lama, jadi bisa survive walau ya beberapa hal agak unbelievable buat gue. Maddie ini udah sempat ketembak, jatuh dari tebing, kena perangkap hewan liar, tapi masih oke2 aja. Mungkin emang ketahanan fisik remaja beda dengan katakanlah, gue yang udah 30-an lebih. Bahkan Maddie pun bisa kuat ngehajar pria Rusia yang lebih gede dari dia. Emang jatuhnya jadi rada - rada Mary Sue, mengingat Maddie juga satu - satunya tokoh wanita di buku ini (ibunya Logan ga dihitung). Sayangnya gue kurang suka sama Logan, yang menurut gue kurang banyak dieksplor di buku ini. Cuma dilihatin aja kalau dia ga deket sama ayahnya, tapi semuanya dijelaskan lebih ke telling and not showing. Pun kebanyakan hanya teriak-teriak supaya Maddie ga dihajar sama Stefan, pria Rusia lain yang pertama nyandera Logan. Untungnya, menjelang bagian akhir jadi terungkap siapa yang ngincer Logan dan alasan kenapa Maddie harus pindah ke Alaska. Walau ya, gue juga bingung, kenapa Alaska?

Ceritanya cukup ringan tanpa banyak mikir dan konfliknya emang khas remaja. Cukup lah buat bacaan sekali duduk karena tipis juga hanya 330an halaman. Kurangnya lagi ya, masih ada beberapa typo yang bertebaran walau terjemahannya is not that bad. 

 Covernya ternyata cukup menipu karena ceritanya memang ga seunyu covernya XD

Oke, sebenarnya dari blurb bukunya pun ada tanda-tanda kalau ceritanya nantinya cukup serius. Karena tidak hanya memecahkan misteri siapa yang membuang bayi yang sudah meninggal di dalam tong sampah, salah satu tokohnya yaitu Nenek yang hanya dikenal dengan nama Nenek Limun dibantu dengan asisten Bocah umur 6 tahun, dalam penyelidikannya malah membuka bobrok Desa Doran. Gue bisa melihat buku ini sebenarnya cocok buat dibikin film, karena walau pembukanya agak lambat, tapi mendekati endingnya pace cukup cepat walau sayangnya ada bbrp bagian yang kurang jelas. Lemonade Granny juga bukan mystery biasa, not even cozy if we judge from its cover.

Pada dasarnya buku ini juga sebagai kritik sosial kepada masyarakat, utamanya terhadap perlakuan kepada lansia pada umumnya dan penderita demensia. Walau tipis, tapi banyak juga hal yg dibahas selain kritik pada lansia dan ini sangat triggering. Ada kekerasan dalam rumah tangga dan bahkan kekerasan pada anak kecil. Ada kesenjangan sosial antara mereka yang kaya dan yang hidupnya pas - pasan seperti yang dijabarkan pengarang pada kos2an sederhana dan juga culture dimana ga boleh mandi tengah malam karena suaranya yg berisik bisa bikin tetangga protes (ini gue pernah baca di Twitter). Ada penggunaan obat terlarang dan aborsi, yang semuanya dibahas cukup blak - blakan tanpa tedeng aling - aling.

Sayangnya, meskipun premisnya menarik dan sebenarnya kritik sosialnya juga cukup bikin mikir, eksekusinya kurang oke. Buku ini awalnya dimulai dengan penceritaan serba tahu dari seorang narrator tak bernama, lalu pada bab selanjutnya semuanya diceritakan dari sudut pandang pertama. Masalahnya, tiap bab ganti orang dan kalau ga konsen, pembaca ga tahu ini sudut pandang siapa. Mungkin penulisnya bikin seperti ini dengan membayangkan ini jadi sebuah film, cuma kan buku dan film adalah media yang berbeda. Endingnya juga walau yang jahat-jahat kena batunya, tapi gue wondering darimana Nenek tahu siapa yang membuang bayi di tempat sampah?

Buku ini oke kalau kamu nyari misteri dengan setting tidak biasa. Tapi buku ini juga banyak banget trigger warningnya, jadi proceed with cause ya 

 

For me this book is all over the place. Also, judging from the cover alone, Jessica Clare apparently a fans of Reylo shipping and that's why instead being hazy I can't help to imagine the MCs's appearance are matched both Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. Bruh, even the cover illustration is so lazy with the hero face pretty much like Driver, lol. I'm shudder in thought to read another Reylo fanfic pulled to published such as The Love Hypothesis because I can't shake the image of the actor & actress when imagine how the h/H looks like. It's another thing to have a model on your cover because they are kinda anonymous. To have them look alike actor A or actress B can ruin your imagination.

Tbh, the premise for Go Hex Yourself is interesting. Rey...er Reggie is an ordinary human that happen to be a familiar for a 2ooo-ish year olds witch named Leia...er I mean, Drussila. Rey or Reggie didn't believe of magic at first but learn it in hard way and become closed with Dru's nephew that at first pretty gung ho to get rid of Reggie and think she's not suitable to be Dru's familiar. Dru's nephew, Caliban or Ben (I kid you not. Clare didn't try to change the name. It's literally Ben, the same with Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren. In this phase, I might be stupid to not recognize this as part of Reylo fanfic become published although maybe it's never posted in AO3 or what), at first is a misunderstand warlock. Cold, ruthless, always wear black from head to toe, with his ruffle wavy hair, but go from jerk to tsundere person when Reggie sees through him. There's another characters that pretty much Star Wars-ish, like Ben's acquaintance, Willem that remind me of General Hux and also Penny, Reggie's new friend that suspiciously feels like Rose Tico. Welp. Another thing that I'm not so sure is the gay best friend that become roommate. Don't get me wrong, I really like Nick and also his boyfriend, Diego. I just see that it kinda become staple in the some romance books I'd read.

However, despite so many similarities, the story is mix of modern setting and fantasy. The witches and warlocks are hiding in plain sight but have community of their own. The magic is pretty much simple although intriguing. The stake is also low so basically this can be categorized as mix of paranormal romance and cozy fantasy. Clare try to write both Reggie and Ben as more than 2D characters. Reggie with her control OCD and her manipulating parents, but I don't get her because she's sometimes pushover and doormat, sometimes become a spitfire. On the opposite, I did like the way Clare write about Ben, because I admit that an antihero that fall to the heroine first and fallin hard day by day is my catnip. It's just I can't help to imagine them as their SW counterpart so it can be distracting, lol. 

I read one of the review that called this porn because of so many "d" and "p" words so I expect this to be bordering erotica. But, eh, nope, pretty tame to be exact. The romance can be categorized as slow burn with some sexual tension and they only do the deed near the end of the book. Also, literally just have one proper sex scene (the previous didn't count since it's mostly foreplay heavy). So, pretty much tame for my taste and while well written it's just make me go bored and want to skip to the end of the story *sad noises*.

I just remember that I had read Clare's book before that is Jessica Sims book and realize that I didn't like that one so maybe this is the case when it's me not the author. I just didn't connect with her writing. Aside from the Reylo's element, Go Hex Yourself actually have potential and perfect if you want to read a witchy paranormal romance with low stake.