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thebooktrail88's review
4.0
Visit the locations of Ponti in Singapore!
Ponti is a fresh, and very unique tale told in three very distinct voices. Three women of various ages and backgrounds are all living in Singapore. Their lives linked in various ways by a series of now cult horror movies, called Ponti. Ponti, it turns out is a female vampire figure of Malay legends. Was I going to have to read this behind the sofa? Well no. It’s a symbol, an idea and a fascinating way of linking culture and experience rather than anything horror like.
The novel flits back and forth which could almost short vignettes in the same film with the snow from the TV screen separating one character from another. These are snapshots of their lives, their chance to tell their story and it works very well indeed. The timelines, the gaps inbetween the years felt very well handled by this author.
This is a novel of many themes and layers – it’s definitely focused on characters and their shared background. And what a background it is. Obsessive friendships, ugliness and beauty, overpowering mothers and so much more. There is a lot of sharp social commentary which reveals just as much about the cultural setting and the time than the characters do.
That’s not to say Singapore is not a character. The heat steams from each and every page. The colourful streets, the noise, the grey tower blocks all play their role as the characters move around like chess pieces. Each thing has an effect on someone and something else.
Unique and recommended.
whamydid's review
3.0
Overall just an ok read for me, not as great as I was expecting but not left bitterly disappointed. I enjoyed Teo’s writing and the first half of the book had me invested but from the middle onwards, it didn’t grab my attention as much and I found myself a little bored as the story didn’t really go anywhere. It was beautifully written but I feel like I wanted more from the book and sadly didn’t.
veelaughtland's review
3.0
I went into this book thinking it would be in some way horror-related, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. It was simply a story of three women - two friends, Szu and Circe, and Szu's mother Amisa who starred in a trilogy of horror movies called Ponti! in the late 70s/80s. That's where the horror part stops. However, I did still enjoy this book for what it was, despite my initial disappointment.
The novel isn't heavy on plot, but I wouldn't say it's massively heavy on characterisation either, and I think this is to do with the fact that it's a multiple-perspective, multiple-timeline book. We jump around in time, mainly in the past with Amisa seeing her childhood and burgeoning 'career', but also in 2003 when Circe and Szu are at school, and later in 2020 where Circe is an adult looking back at their friendship. Because there was no intense focus on any one character, I didn't feel like I was pulled into their minds enough, and although each character was interesting in their own way, I still felt like someone on the outside looking in.
Saying all this, Sharlene Teo is obviously a massively talented writer. Within the first few pages I was reading out wonderful turns of phrase and clever use of imagery to my husband, and marvelling at how painterly her prose was. The scene setting of Singapore was one I'd never experienced in a book, and it was often both offensive and magical at the same time which isn't a common mix. She brought the image of Szu and Circe's school days, as well as the Ponti horror movies of Amisa's past, into my head almost immediately, and this was the main thing that kept me reading.
So overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn't what I was expecting, and I would have loved a bit more of a deep-dive into the characters' heads, but I will definitely be keeping my eye out for Teo's future novels.
The novel isn't heavy on plot, but I wouldn't say it's massively heavy on characterisation either, and I think this is to do with the fact that it's a multiple-perspective, multiple-timeline book. We jump around in time, mainly in the past with Amisa seeing her childhood and burgeoning 'career', but also in 2003 when Circe and Szu are at school, and later in 2020 where Circe is an adult looking back at their friendship. Because there was no intense focus on any one character, I didn't feel like I was pulled into their minds enough, and although each character was interesting in their own way, I still felt like someone on the outside looking in.
Saying all this, Sharlene Teo is obviously a massively talented writer. Within the first few pages I was reading out wonderful turns of phrase and clever use of imagery to my husband, and marvelling at how painterly her prose was. The scene setting of Singapore was one I'd never experienced in a book, and it was often both offensive and magical at the same time which isn't a common mix. She brought the image of Szu and Circe's school days, as well as the Ponti horror movies of Amisa's past, into my head almost immediately, and this was the main thing that kept me reading.
So overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn't what I was expecting, and I would have loved a bit more of a deep-dive into the characters' heads, but I will definitely be keeping my eye out for Teo's future novels.
jaclyn_sixminutesforme's review
4.0
Ponti is a multi-perspective and non-linear exploration of female relationships and their complexities, interspersed with the impact that a series of Singaporean horror films (Ponti 1-3) had on three women. Through alternating perspective chapters that dance between these time frames, we experience the making and unraveling of the women and their relationships all at once.
We follow the perspectives of Amisa, a mother who starred in these films as the title monster-like character, her daughter Szu, and Szu's friend Circe. Amisa's role in these films took place in the late 1960s/early 1970s, so this forms the basis for one of the time periods the narrative is told from. Interestingly, Amisa's chapters are the only ones told in the third person, almost mirroring her literal role as an actress and being the subject of viewing. Both Szu and Circe's chapters as first person narratives, so we slip into their mindset while they are sixteen-year olds in 2003, and as thirty-three year old women becoming reunited again in 2020.
What I found most effective, and perhaps did not appreciate until quite late in the novel, was the central role that the Ponti films played in the development of each of the women, but also in the way that their relationships became fractured because of it in some way. Szu and Amisa have a troubled mother-daughter relationship from very early in the novel, and Szu often describes Amisa interchangeably in the same monster-like language that she uses for her character in the Ponti films. We also see how Szu and Circe's relationship changes over time, in a way still as a byproduct of the films. None of the women aew presented in a particularly likable manner, with more of the subtleties of their character traits left until quite late in the narrative to be unearthed. Its an effective discussion about people being victims of their circumstances in a way, and not being told every detail at the onset of the novel was an effective device to draw this introspection out.
I really enjoyed this novel, and just flew through the second half particularly. I think the characters are written both in a way that gives agency to the experience of growing up as a woman in Singapore, but also with a lens of universality that makes their experiences identifiable more broadly. I found Teo's language quite gritty and sometimes confronting (I'm thinking particularly of the extensive references to bowel movements and intestinal worms, for example!), but I look forward to her next book as her style is refreshing and unique.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
We follow the perspectives of Amisa, a mother who starred in these films as the title monster-like character, her daughter Szu, and Szu's friend Circe. Amisa's role in these films took place in the late 1960s/early 1970s, so this forms the basis for one of the time periods the narrative is told from. Interestingly, Amisa's chapters are the only ones told in the third person, almost mirroring her literal role as an actress and being the subject of viewing. Both Szu and Circe's chapters as first person narratives, so we slip into their mindset while they are sixteen-year olds in 2003, and as thirty-three year old women becoming reunited again in 2020.
What I found most effective, and perhaps did not appreciate until quite late in the novel, was the central role that the Ponti films played in the development of each of the women, but also in the way that their relationships became fractured because of it in some way. Szu and Amisa have a troubled mother-daughter relationship from very early in the novel, and Szu often describes Amisa interchangeably in the same monster-like language that she uses for her character in the Ponti films. We also see how Szu and Circe's relationship changes over time, in a way still as a byproduct of the films. None of the women aew presented in a particularly likable manner, with more of the subtleties of their character traits left until quite late in the narrative to be unearthed. Its an effective discussion about people being victims of their circumstances in a way, and not being told every detail at the onset of the novel was an effective device to draw this introspection out.
I really enjoyed this novel, and just flew through the second half particularly. I think the characters are written both in a way that gives agency to the experience of growing up as a woman in Singapore, but also with a lens of universality that makes their experiences identifiable more broadly. I found Teo's language quite gritty and sometimes confronting (I'm thinking particularly of the extensive references to bowel movements and intestinal worms, for example!), but I look forward to her next book as her style is refreshing and unique.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
zazreads's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
2.0
Really I just wanted to read a book about the actual Ponti series.
adie2020's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Haunting and captivating prose. A transfixing study of female friendships and maternal pain.
oceanelle's review against another edition
3.0
the writing is beautiful and there were moments when i loved this, but i feel like i only caught the similarities to emma cline’s the girls in glimpses. i surprisingly understood amisa, and liked her in the moments i didn’t understand her as well, but circe’s character felt odd and underdeveloped, and i would’ve liked literally anyone to pay marginally more attention to szu so that we could explore her grief and eating disorder and fraught relationship with her mother in greater depth.
sophiavass's review
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
erinmcentegart's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5