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A review by akhmalaiman
The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf
4.0
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Thank God for the trigger warning.
This book is so emotionally heavy and it could definitely trigger an anxiety. The cover can look deceiving because in contrast to the colourful cover (it's beautiful, by the way), you can't almost see light and hope in every chapter (thanks to the inner demonic voice).
You might this it is overwhelming but I think the beautiful narrative counters that. I don't know how Hanna Alkaf does it - it surely is a good blend and the weight of the book is well-balanced. It doesn't get you to that point where you have to stop reading the book entirely. You would read until the end.
Speaking of ends, I was slightly disappointed with how Melati deals with the quote-unquote Djinn in the later part of the book, and that one scene where they are caught in the middle of the chaos with the Malays on one side and the Chinese on the other. Too good to be true it almost feels like a shot sequence for a drama series on TV3.
Nevertheless, worth a read especially since this is applicable to what is happening today with the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If reading a non-fiction is too heavy, this historical fiction helps you understand such case (even by just a little). It's also more relatable to us as it talks about the 1969 race riots in Malaysia.
Thank God for the trigger warning.
This book is so emotionally heavy and it could definitely trigger an anxiety. The cover can look deceiving because in contrast to the colourful cover (it's beautiful, by the way), you can't almost see light and hope in every chapter (thanks to the inner demonic voice).
You might this it is overwhelming but I think the beautiful narrative counters that. I don't know how Hanna Alkaf does it - it surely is a good blend and the weight of the book is well-balanced. It doesn't get you to that point where you have to stop reading the book entirely. You would read until the end.
Speaking of ends, I was slightly disappointed with how Melati deals with the quote-unquote Djinn in the later part of the book, and that one scene where they are caught in the middle of the chaos with the Malays on one side and the Chinese on the other. Too good to be true it almost feels like a shot sequence for a drama series on TV3.
Nevertheless, worth a read especially since this is applicable to what is happening today with the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If reading a non-fiction is too heavy, this historical fiction helps you understand such case (even by just a little). It's also more relatable to us as it talks about the 1969 race riots in Malaysia.