goldenelegy's reviews
150 reviews

The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree by Lucille Abendanon

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

i was curious the first time i read the title of this book. as far as i know, "rambutan" is a tree native to tropical regions in southeast asia, including indonesia. so i wondered, could the story take place in indonesia? and the answer is yes! i hesitated for a while though, could it provide fair and sensible portrayal of the situation during the time of dutch colonialization and japanese invasion in indonesia? still, i was curious so i picked it up.

this story is about emmy, a dutch born and live in batavia (now jakarta). she used to love singing with her mom, but ever since she passed away, she couldn't continue doing what she used to love to do. she had a native friend named bakti. set amidst the WW II, the story includes the invasion of japan. after the japanese arrival in batavia, the europeans were kept as prisoners, including emmy and her father. they had to separate though, cause they had different prison for women, children, and elders; and for men.

they didn't really talk about this part in the history classes here, but i remember vaguely about the mention of europeans being kept as prisoners during the japanese invasion. the portrayal of the situation in the tjideng prison, where emmy was kept, is horrifying. they were given small portion of food, even foods that are no longer edible. they had to do tenko under the blazing sun. people became prone to more diseases. i think the writer did a good job in describing the situations there. i read in the end section of the book that the author visited the place where it used to be tjideng prison in batavia. i learnt that now it became a subdistrict in jakarta named cideng. it's completely different to what that place used to be. i thought it must be really hard picturing the place that no longer exists.

to me this book added new insights of what happened around the WW II, also the era of japanese invasion in indonesia. this book also portrays the colonial dutch governtment's unfair treatments to the natives like bakti compared to what the europeans get. i have so little knowledge about jakarta or batavia around that time though so i can't say much about the social and cultural context.

emmy is a clever and brave girl, but she's also innocent, which also makes sense because she's still a child in the story. suitable protagonist for a middle grade book. but looking at what are portrayed in the story, i wonder, is it really suitable for children? but this could add new insights to them cause i honestly barely found other historical fiction books during the WW II that is set in southeast asia.

if you want to give this book a try then give it a try!!

Content Warnings

XOXO by Axie Oh

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-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? Yes

4.0

Lost Inside My Head by Vigg

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hopeful informative fast-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

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informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i think this is my first time reading a book with no favorable characters?? but i still enjoyed the book. it's a light read but it gives you insights about the reality of the publishing industry, its racism, its discrimination, how it picks the books that's gonna be called as bestseller, with the pov of a white woman—racist and self entitled white woman. oh my god i can't stand her.

Content Warnings