Reviews

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

izzanami's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

2.75

srhnuraina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I like this book. Being set in KL, it defo gave that familiar sense especially the Rex being back in business. I believe the author succeeded in giving awareness to a lot of things: OCD, how mental health was treated in Malaysian society back then, May 13 brutal history, and defo race. To those that enjoyed this book and would like to learn more on May 13, I recommend reading ‘Life After: Oral Histories of the May 13 Incident by Members of the May 13 Oral History Group’.

shanndelier's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

lyndseyyyy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

jecinwv's review against another edition

3.0

After what feels like a year I finally finished this book. I want to say up front that I love this book despite how slow it was for me and my rating of it. The Weight of Our Sky follows Melati, a Malay girl in Malaysia during the 60s who suffers from OCD that manifests as a Djinn telling her scary things will happen if she doesn't appease him and count a lot. Melati is having a regular day until a race war breaks out in Kuala Lumpur. This whole book follows that war and Melati's place in it.
Things I loved: Malaysia in a Western book, OCD representation, a YA story that isn't clean and neat but gritty and uncovers the real awful things that happened in history and still make an impact today.
Things that led to a slow read/low star rating: The plot of Melati wandering around was a slow burn at times and made me tired. I started to loose track of what the goal or plot was. I also wanted more flushed out side characters.

amselbb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

freddie's review

5.0

Very emotional. The main character's motivation is very clear and believable and the stakes are high. Fascinating that there is a YA novel that sets in one of the most highly politically-charged, contentious events in Malaysian history. Made me cry.

lailybibliography's review against another edition

5.0

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, none of which I can properly put into words as of right now. However, this is an absolutely heart-wrenching, intimately written portrait of a tumultuous period in history. I am ashamed to admit that I have been unaware of the events previously but, I am now in the process of trying to educate myself the best I could and that perhaps, counts as something. Highly, highly recommend for its masterful depictions of race relations, racial violence, stigma of mental illness within Muslim communities, and OCD. This book will be in my thoughts for a long time to come.

aurnee's review

5.0

I actually read the webtoon adaptation of the book. But when I will be able to get my hands on the novel, I will definitely dread it.

This was a tragically beautiful story. This story showed all the sides of humanity, from the most cruel side to the most kindest side,from its most beautiful form to its most ugliest form. But what made this so impactful is the sheer accuracy with which it was portrayed.

Melati, our main character, has OCD and anxiety disorder.(Mainly OCD). And reading the comments in the webtoon, I realised that the way it was portrayed, it was pretty accurate. Many other who has suffered/still suffers shared their experiences. And my heart broke for Melati and all those people who suffered from this. And once again I was reminded that mental illness is not something, people who have not suffered from it, can comprehend. Hanan Alkaf even portrayed how mental illness was depicted as during the 1960s. And I would like to say one more thing in the light of this, that we should not say things like "Oh I am OCD cuz I like all my books organized in alphabetical order","I am OCD cuz I want all my school supplies in 1 colour." No. None of you has OCD. You are just a bit more organized than others. If you actually want to know what actual OCD is like then read this book or the webtoon. You will get to know how terrible it is. Then you will never be able to say OCD lightly.

The setting of this story. During the Race Riots in Malaysia, specifically Kuala Lampur. It all started on the terrible day of 13th May 1969. Before I read the synopsis of the book I had no clue about this event in history. So I immediately went to Wikipedia, and did some research of my own. When we read about these kinds of events in our history book or anywhere else, we don't feel anything. We just read what happened and take in the statistics. But when you will read this book you will (almost have a 1st hand) have a 2nd hand experience of what actually goes down during these frightening, horrible times. Another thing Hanan Alkaf( and in this case the illustrators) did not sugar coat the gruesomeness of the situation. They showed it for what it is. Killing. burning, destroying. Believe me when I say I almost cried in the gruesome chapters. They were so horrible! So many people died and got hurt! It was so painful to see and read. And all these was the result of racism at its ugliest form. We sometimes forget that before our race, before our religion, we are humans first. And when we forget that, that's when we become the most unkind,the most cruel! But it is also the kindness and courage, we see in these times prove that there's humanity left, that we all have not turned into monsters. The strongest thing you can do in these horribly cruel time is to be kind to others, and help those in need. And the 1st character who did it in this story was Aunty Bee, a Chinese Christian woman, mother and wife.

Spoiler

She was the one who saved Melati and gave her shelter. But not only to her, but also to others.

She is one of my most favourite characters in this story. She's such a strong, badass woman. If there were more people like her in today' world, then the world might've been a better place.

Now about the characters and plot. Melati was such an admirable character. She dealt with the djinn inside her(her OCD)in such wonderful progress. It was beautiful to see. She was so courageous! And we all know where her courage came from, her mother. Her wonderful is another wonderful being. She's so courageous! Putting herself in danger to save another. Helping others even when she's in search of her daughter. After I read this, did I start appreciating all the people who went out of their way to help others. Vincent was another character I love with all my heart. Even though I am a bit disappointed for him for lashing out at Melati but in the grand scheme of things, it can be put aside. He's also such a good person. He listened to Melati without any judgement and went of his way to make her feel better. Their friendship(or love?) was so pure! It was one of those heartwarming things in this otherwise heartwrenching story. Another heartwarming part was Jay.

Spoiler

Though in the end we never get to know if he's alive or not.

His puns were egg-cellent. Frankie was a more of a complex character. He's morally grey. And his experiences in life made him like this. It's so sad to see when life makes a person go bitter. But he eventually got his redemption.

At the heart of the plot was family love. Half(or may be full) of the story was Melati finding her mother and vice versa. When they finally reunited,IT WAS SO SATISFYING AND HEARTWARMING TO WATCH. We also see this display of family love in the Vincent and Frankie. They are both so driven and committed to keep their family safe.

This story was something I didn't know I, so, desperately needed in my life, until I read it. This story is one of those rare ones where all the faces of mankind in shown without any holding back. I absolutely loved this story! And I urge you all to read this in any of its format, whether be it the novel or the webtoon.

And lastly thank you if you have read this till the end!

rovie_reads's review against another edition

4.0

I fly through the book by reading it in two days, but the reading experience left me really emotional and it gave me a better appreciation for people who suffers from mental illness. I feel like this is an important book to read, not only because it will give you a perspective about the Malaysian people and history, but also because it covered a lot of heavy yet important topics that people should really be aware of. I highly recommend you read this book, if such contents will be tolerable for you.

Content warnings: graphic violence, death, racism, OCD, anxiety triggers.

You can read my full review here: https://rarevenclaw.wordpress.com/2020/10/05/book-review-16-the-weight-of-our-sky-by-hanna-alkaf/