kjrstein's reviews
37 reviews

Keajaiban Toko Kelontong Namiya by Keigo Higashino

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

3.5

The ending is a bit rushed but overall it’s a good coming of age book.

Semua Untuk Hindia by Iksaka Banu

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adventurous challenging reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

These 13 short stories are rich of the history of East Indies and the timeline of each story is notably wide, nggak terbatas di periode waktu tertentu. Mulai dari masa kejayaan Pangeran Diponegoro, masa ketika stambul masih jadi hiburan favorit para Hollander, hingga masa ketika gencarnya KNIL beraksi jadi latar waktu masing-masing kisah. The main characters are either Belanda totok, Indo (blasteran Indo-Belanda), or Nyai. There are also an unexpected appearance of historical figures such as Cornelis de Houtman, Herman Willem Daendels, Pangeran Diponegoro, etc. The book gave me new point of view; tidak semua orang Belanda di era penjajahan adalah seorang penjajah. Ada yang sekadar jurnalis, pedagang, tentara berempati tinggi, bahkan seorang pro kemerdekaan Indonesia. Tapi tidak lantas menghilangkan fakta bahwa Belanda sebagai sebuah negara telah menjajah Indonesia. It’s crystal clear that Iksaka Banu knows history really well and doesn’t play with his research.

Malice by Keigo Higashino

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.25

It’s not a whodunit. It’s a whole whydunit. I like how the killer has already been revealed in the beginning but we don’t know what the real motive for the murder is and we keep on not knowing until almost the end. The way Detective Kaga explain his analysis itself is a page-turner for sure.

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

I always thought Peter Parker’s love story was the worst but goddamn Fyodor Dostoevsky decided to make one of his male characters friend-zoned when the relationship had so many potential.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

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dark medium-paced