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4.46 AVERAGE
4.46 AVERAGE
Thật sự quá hay và lôi cuốn! Mình đã ngấu nghiến đọc hết cuốn này đến quên ăn quên ngủ. Hay quá đi mất!!!
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
i was really excited to finally pick up a mystery book, i've been meaning to for so long but i have zero experience with this genre so i had no idea where to start. fortunately the book club picked this one so here we are!
overall, i have enjoyed my experience more than not. i liked the core mystery of the book and it was really interesting to follow the investigation, especially since it was mainly a digital investigation and the author clearly knows his technological lingo very well. even to someone who doesn't know much about all that stuff, the explanations were easy to understand.
however, i found the characters and the way most of the story was told a bit tedious. the main characters are nga-yee and the hacker N who she hires to investigate her sister's suicide. the main dynamic between these two characters was basically nga-yee not knowing anything at all about anything and N calling her stupid and spending paragraphs explaining stuff, which includes everything from technological terms she's not familiar with to basically the entire investigation. and that's how a good 80% of their conversations went, which can work at first but it goes on through the entire story. this unfortunately made nga-yee seem like a very one dimensional and passive character, to me it felt like her only role was to be there to not know things so that the other character could explain them to us and move the plot forward.
N on the other hand i ended up finding kinda insufferable. he knows everything and he can do everything, he's never wrong, he's always one step ahead of everyone and he's also very smart and wise anda rich CEO and even tho he's a self-proclaimed loner he's very good at socializing when he needs to. the constant success in everything he does, to me, made him a bit boring and annoying.
and i'm not even gong to get intohow ridiculous it was to watch two grown adults psychologically torture an already unstable teenager into suicide. i found that bit unnecessary and it only made both characters look extremely bad, no matter the outcome.
i'd say that i came out of this book with a little bit more understanding of what i like in a mystery, with a new paranoia for internet security and with an intense curiosity for the history of hong kong, which i'm really interested in exploring.
overall, i have enjoyed my experience more than not. i liked the core mystery of the book and it was really interesting to follow the investigation, especially since it was mainly a digital investigation and the author clearly knows his technological lingo very well. even to someone who doesn't know much about all that stuff, the explanations were easy to understand.
however, i found the characters and the way most of the story was told a bit tedious. the main characters are nga-yee and the hacker N who she hires to investigate her sister's suicide. the main dynamic between these two characters was basically nga-yee not knowing anything at all about anything and N calling her stupid and spending paragraphs explaining stuff, which includes everything from technological terms she's not familiar with to basically the entire investigation. and that's how a good 80% of their conversations went, which can work at first but it goes on through the entire story. this unfortunately made nga-yee seem like a very one dimensional and passive character, to me it felt like her only role was to be there to not know things so that the other character could explain them to us and move the plot forward.
N on the other hand i ended up finding kinda insufferable. he knows everything and he can do everything, he's never wrong, he's always one step ahead of everyone and he's also very smart and wise and
and i'm not even gong to get into
i'd say that i came out of this book with a little bit more understanding of what i like in a mystery, with a new paranoia for internet security and with an intense curiosity for the history of hong kong, which i'm really interested in exploring.
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
oh boy where do i begin
well, the story was amazing, i’m not gonna lie. the premise was interesting: cyberbullying, the gap between rich/poor, the justice systems, moral values, even revenge - all in one book. from the prologue i knew what’s gonna happen at the beginning, but i didn’t expect such a depressing turn regarding the nga-yee’s life history. nonetheless, i truly thought the story was executed quite well, and it had me thinking A and B when it reality it was C and D (i thought N was actl Satoshi hence the lack of his information on the SIQ site, and i really thought Chungnam was Violet’s brother).
it was so fast-paced,and i appreciated that the book didn’t force any romance (esp between the main characters). i would’ve disliked them even more LOL at first i didn’t really care much about nga-yee - sure, she was pitiful etc etc etc but her voice didn’t really leave any impact on me. then the investigation started, at first i could excuse her “interferences” and attribute them to her grief(s), but then she quickly became annoying. probably bc so the author could portray N as this clever/upright/morally good/know-it-all person but idk it felt like her sole existence throughout the story was to question N’s methods and contradict N’s statements whatsoever only to have them handed back to her bc of course N is always right. he’s always good. he’s the epitome of goodness that knows best. i didn’t like him then, and i didn’t like him now. even the twist couldn’t help him.
if i rated this based only on the story - the mystery, the premises, the social commentary, i’d give it a solid four. but considering everything (have i mentioned that i didn’t like N?), and the fact that the ending fell quite flat on me, i think i’m gonna stick with a three.
it was so fast-paced,
if i rated this based only on the story - the mystery, the premises, the social commentary, i’d give it a solid four. but considering everything (have i mentioned that i didn’t like N?), and the fact that the ending fell quite flat on me, i think i’m gonna stick with a three.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
"Masing-masing mempunyai cara tersendiri untuk hidup. Menjalani kehidupan mengikut telunjuk orang lain merupakan suatu kebodohan."
Second Sister, sebuah novel bergenre seriau/misteri, mengisahkan Nga-Yee ingin menegakkan keadilan terhadap kematian adiknya, Siu-Man, yang telah diklasifikasikan sebagai bunuh diri. Dirinya kini mengharapkan seorang penggodam penuh misteri bergelar N dan hanya dialah harapan terakhir bagi mencari jawapan di balik pemergian adiknya yang disyaki mempunyai unsur jenayah.
Novel ini bertemakan kasih sayang berpanjangan digambarkan melalui Nga-Yee dalam menjejak dalang di balik kematian adik kesayangannya. Penulis berjaya menggambarkan keakraban mereka yang harus menghadapi konflik kekeluargaan yang terkesan akibat masalah sosial dan ekonomi berlatarbelakangkan Hong Kong. Pertemuannya dengan N merancakkan lagi plot yang kini memberi fokus pada penyiasatan kompleks berteraskan keselamatan siber tanpa mengelirukan pembaca. Cara bagaimana N mengorek petunjuk dan menapis suspeknya bakal membuatkan pembaca kagum akan kelicikannya. Selain itu, dinamik antara Nga-Yee dan N pula saling melengkapi serta mempunyai perkembangan watak yang baik. Pemergian Siu-Man yang mengejutkan ini mempunyai lapisan melibatkan pelbagai tema di mana penyelesaiannya bakal memberikan kepuasan dengan setiap misteri yang tersingkap. Secara keseluruhannya, novel ini untuk mereka yang mahukan kisah balas dendam mengenai sisi gelap dunia digital yang menakutkan serta meruntun hati. Novel ini lebih memainkan emosi pembaca melalui keeratan adik-beradik ini dan seperti The Borrowed, plot novel ini juga dirangka dengan bijak serta teliti bagi menyampaikan penamat di luar jangka yang mampu membuat pembaca termenung seketika.
Sesungguhnya penulis mempunyai kredibiliti seorang penulis misteri yang hebat dan tidak salah jika karyanya dianggap setara karya Keigo Higashino yang sinonim dengan menggabungkan elemen emosi dan elemen misteri begitu baik sekali.
Second Sister, sebuah novel bergenre seriau/misteri, mengisahkan Nga-Yee ingin menegakkan keadilan terhadap kematian adiknya, Siu-Man, yang telah diklasifikasikan sebagai bunuh diri. Dirinya kini mengharapkan seorang penggodam penuh misteri bergelar N dan hanya dialah harapan terakhir bagi mencari jawapan di balik pemergian adiknya yang disyaki mempunyai unsur jenayah.
Novel ini bertemakan kasih sayang berpanjangan digambarkan melalui Nga-Yee dalam menjejak dalang di balik kematian adik kesayangannya. Penulis berjaya menggambarkan keakraban mereka yang harus menghadapi konflik kekeluargaan yang terkesan akibat masalah sosial dan ekonomi berlatarbelakangkan Hong Kong. Pertemuannya dengan N merancakkan lagi plot yang kini memberi fokus pada penyiasatan kompleks berteraskan keselamatan siber tanpa mengelirukan pembaca. Cara bagaimana N mengorek petunjuk dan menapis suspeknya bakal membuatkan pembaca kagum akan kelicikannya. Selain itu, dinamik antara Nga-Yee dan N pula saling melengkapi serta mempunyai perkembangan watak yang baik. Pemergian Siu-Man yang mengejutkan ini mempunyai lapisan melibatkan pelbagai tema di mana penyelesaiannya bakal memberikan kepuasan dengan setiap misteri yang tersingkap. Secara keseluruhannya, novel ini untuk mereka yang mahukan kisah balas dendam mengenai sisi gelap dunia digital yang menakutkan serta meruntun hati. Novel ini lebih memainkan emosi pembaca melalui keeratan adik-beradik ini dan seperti The Borrowed, plot novel ini juga dirangka dengan bijak serta teliti bagi menyampaikan penamat di luar jangka yang mampu membuat pembaca termenung seketika.
Sesungguhnya penulis mempunyai kredibiliti seorang penulis misteri yang hebat dan tidak salah jika karyanya dianggap setara karya Keigo Higashino yang sinonim dengan menggabungkan elemen emosi dan elemen misteri begitu baik sekali.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual harassment
Buku yang ditamatkan dalam waktu satu hari. Apa yang menarik adalah bagaimana terus-terusan pembaca dibuat penasaran apa yang sebenarnya terjadi dengan Siu Man dan benang merah dengan kasus satunya lagi. Yang menarik juga, tokoh N yang too good to be true tapi ya kenapa nggak mungkin juga (bingung kan?), intinya N ini tokoh yang unik dan sedikit sombong. Di satu sisi ada tokoh N yang seolah segala bisa, ada juga Nga Yee yang pasrah dan clueless. Yang membuat keduanya memang nggak cocok barengan, tapi kudu menyelesaikan kasus bareng.
Ceritanya berpusat pasa cyber bullying dan kejahatan berbasis internet. Seru juga membahas segala macam istilah IT. Ngeri-ngeri sedap membahas bahwa apapun yang kita tinggalkan di dunia digital akan sukar dihilangkan. Beware!
Ceritanya berpusat pasa cyber bullying dan kejahatan berbasis internet. Seru juga membahas segala macam istilah IT. Ngeri-ngeri sedap membahas bahwa apapun yang kita tinggalkan di dunia digital akan sukar dihilangkan. Beware!
1. Read CW first before picking up this book, there are a lot of them!! (and please let me know if I missed any)
2. Try not to read the summary on here/the back of the book -- it gives away too many plot points imo.
I am absolutely reeling from this book. My synapses are all spent from trying to solve the damn mystery myself and my heart is sickened from the absolute depravity inside this book.
At first, I thought it was just really dark YA and got annoyed by the techno-babble, but as the plot got darker and more psychological I was hooked. I read from the 24% mark to 100% without stopping, literally unable to put it down. The twists come at you relentlessly, but none* of them felt either forced or obvious to me.
A couple reasons why it's four stars instead of five -- still got annoyed at the techno-babble. *The exception is...
Yes, it's really long, but if you like mysteries/thrillers with really messed up plotlines and outcomes, you should absolutely read this.
Major CW: suicide, sexual assault, drugging, sexual slavery, murder, pedophilia, cyberbullying, doxxing, gaslighting, stalking
Moderate CW: poverty
Minor CW: forced outing, homophobia
2. Try not to read the summary on here/the back of the book -- it gives away too many plot points imo.
I am absolutely reeling from this book. My synapses are all spent from trying to solve the damn mystery myself and my heart is sickened from the absolute depravity inside this book.
At first, I thought it was just really dark YA and got annoyed by the techno-babble, but as the plot got darker and more psychological I was hooked. I read from the 24% mark to 100% without stopping, literally unable to put it down. The twists come at you relentlessly, but none* of them felt either forced or obvious to me.
A couple reasons why it's four stars instead of five -- still got annoyed at the techno-babble. *The exception is...
Spoiler
N was too much of a godlike figure imo, I rolled my eyes at him actually being the real character Mr. Szeto and the epilogue.Yes, it's really long, but if you like mysteries/thrillers with really messed up plotlines and outcomes, you should absolutely read this.
Major CW: suicide, sexual assault, drugging, sexual slavery, murder, pedophilia, cyberbullying, doxxing, gaslighting, stalking
Moderate CW: poverty
Minor CW: forced outing, homophobia
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Sexual harassment