Reviews

Singa-Pura-Pura by Nazry Bahrawi

c3rem0nials's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

Had higher hopes for this book, some stories were definitely stronger than others. I really liked the choice to open and end the book with Nor's stories, it was effective in driving home the distant, but heavy and hovering feeling of what seems to be dystopian and speculative -- yet so familiar all the same. Some stories needed a bit more refining, but the specfic scene, let alone Malay specfic, is so young still, so I can't say much about quality. 

chapteriosity's review

reflective 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? It's complicated

2.75

inkedinsummer's review

adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

insp84's review

challenging reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

mentaritorium's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

naddie_reads's review

3.75

I love the idea behind this collection of short stories of speculative fiction focused on the Malay community in Singapore! I especially loved the foreword re: how it can be speculated (ha) that the Malays of yonder times' storytelling were heavily founded on what we call speculative fiction today.

Alas, as with most short story collections, this one proves to be a mixed bag of offerings. Regardless, I enjoyed most of these stories, though my personal favorites are "Transgressions" (loved this and looking forward to read more of Diana Rahim's writings!), "Gold, Paper, and Bare Bones" & "Mother Techno".

Overall, I love the idea behind this anthology and hope to read more fiction in this vein. Also, kudos to the artist who conceptualized and brought the book cover art to life! 

krammedshelf's review

medium-paced

4.0

aqilahreads's review

3.0

CW: mental health issues, dying, dysfunctional familes

singa-pura-pura is a collection of short translated/new malay spec-fic stories by established & emerging writers from singapore.

teseyasfalcon's review

A really important collection in amplifying Malay voices in the local spec fic canon! A lot of the stories were more concept-driven and less character-driven than I prefer, though, but that's a lot of personal style for what I like in spec fic stories.

tonyk's review

hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.0