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A review by thereadingmum
Ponti by Sharlene Teo
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the kind of book that makes you insanely jealous of the author.
This is the second time I'm giving 5 stars to a Singaporean author and it is my second favourite Singaporean based book. My favourite being The Teenage Textbook.
This is a story of three different women. Friendless gentle giant, Szu lives under the shadow of her mother, Amisa's unearthly beauty in a decrepit house bought from her absent father's lottery winnings. She meets Circe, an ascerbic, equally friendless nouveau rich, at school and the unlikely pair become best friends. However Szu's life is coming to a crisis, as is Circe's 17 years later, while Amisa's twenty years ago fizzles disappointingly.
Sharlene Teo writes irritatingly well. Her prose is beautiful without being pretentious. I love how strange and awkward Szu and Circe are and how well they complement each other for the brief period that they were best friends. I love Amisa's back story and brush with cinematic cult fame. The fable of the pontianak, a scorned/grief-stricken woman turning into a monster, goes well with the overarching story of the three women struggling through their own neuroses and journey through and past adolescence. Szu and Circe's friendship and personal stories spiral together yet on different grooves that come together in a poignant but subtle clash at the end.
It's a shame Teo hasn't written anything since.
This is the second time I'm giving 5 stars to a Singaporean author and it is my second favourite Singaporean based book. My favourite being The Teenage Textbook.
This is a story of three different women. Friendless gentle giant, Szu lives under the shadow of her mother, Amisa's unearthly beauty in a decrepit house bought from her absent father's lottery winnings. She meets Circe, an ascerbic, equally friendless nouveau rich, at school and the unlikely pair become best friends. However Szu's life is coming to a crisis, as is Circe's 17 years later, while Amisa's twenty years ago fizzles disappointingly.
Sharlene Teo writes irritatingly well. Her prose is beautiful without being pretentious. I love how strange and awkward Szu and Circe are and how well they complement each other for the brief period that they were best friends. I love Amisa's back story and brush with cinematic cult fame. The fable of the pontianak, a scorned/grief-stricken woman turning into a monster, goes well with the overarching story of the three women struggling through their own neuroses and journey through and past adolescence. Szu and Circe's friendship and personal stories spiral together yet on different grooves that come together in a poignant but subtle clash at the end.
It's a shame Teo hasn't written anything since.