Reviews

The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng

grangerdor's review

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

lizetteratura's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

charsiew21's review

5.0

This was my favourite book of 2023. The hype (locally in Singapore) is to be believed.

uvahoogirl's review

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

literaryrecap's review against another edition

3.75

3.5 stars! - I have my gripes, but I think this book is something everyone (especially Singaporeans) should read. It made me curious about my ancestors, and I questioned more about the history surrounding this book, which was absolutely my goal when picking this up. 

The writing was very "readable" - it felt easy to slip in and out of the pages, but for some reason, I couldn't connect with the writing (or maybe it was Boon). Certain metaphors felt modern, though this was set in the 1940s. 

Ah Boon's story was basically him getting "dragged" along by different people and ideals: in middle school, he was moved along by Mei and their friends from school, after that, he listened to Ma and led the life of a fisherman, before eventually joining the Gah Men and inching along with Natalie's help and the kampong's (sporadic) encouragement. It felt like he wasn't capable of doing things that he felt were right, and his decision to join the Gah Men was not clearly explored. He was incapable of making decisions for himself, instead defaulting to what others felt was best for him (even if the "others" changed with the tide). Of course, this may have been the intention of the author and I do love a good flawed protagonist, but I really couldn't understand his decisions and as a result, felt like it affected my reading experience

Overall though, I enjoyed the book! If not for Ah Boon, then for all the people around him, the mysterious islands, and the nature that surrounded the kampong. The scenes set were fascinating, the people nuanced and flawed, and the wonder at something so normal to us now is exhilarating. There's often unspoken nostalgia lingering in the pages,

and I could definitely understand some of the villager's refusal to leave their homes.

annawebstar's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

anpapillon's review

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

averagebee's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

readerrabbit23's review

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rkass's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0