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A review by bristoni74
Revenge, Murder in Three Parts by S.L. Lim
3.0
This was short-listed for the Stella Prize 2021. It’s about Yannie who is Malaysian and has a lot of potential and the unfairness she feels given her parents invest all their financial resources in her mediocre brother. As the daughter, she is expected to care for her parents, work in the family shop and put everyone else’s needs before her own while her brother goes to university. This is hard for her to accept because she is the clever one and her brother is a violent and nasty bully.
The title is probably misleading as it isn’t a thriller (although it is a story of revenge and murder) but rather story of East meets West with the story set in both Malaysia and Australia and the exploration of cultural and family expectations and values. I did enjoy how the book explored these themes. I also enjoyed how the author presents Yannie as outwardly conforming to her gender role, but inside she is angry and wants her revenge.
I did feel though that Yannie's life moves very quickly from childhood to adulthood and then to middle-age and the murder itself is strange – I didn’t really feel the impact of it. Also the ending/prologue didn’t also seem to be consistent with Yannie’s character. But I will definitely read more by this author.
The title is probably misleading as it isn’t a thriller (although it is a story of revenge and murder) but rather story of East meets West with the story set in both Malaysia and Australia and the exploration of cultural and family expectations and values. I did enjoy how the book explored these themes. I also enjoyed how the author presents Yannie as outwardly conforming to her gender role, but inside she is angry and wants her revenge.
I did feel though that Yannie's life moves very quickly from childhood to adulthood and then to middle-age and the murder itself is strange – I didn’t really feel the impact of it. Also the ending/prologue didn’t also seem to be consistent with Yannie’s character. But I will definitely read more by this author.